Democratic participation, as we rethink it every day at Make.org, is a precious right. The current geopolitical context and the pressures on democracy from many sides prove how quickly and easily these rights can be weakened – if not revoked.

This is also reflected by the highest European leadership’s priorities. In Von der Leyen’s State of the Union speech, it became clear that democracy and resilience are the heart of the current high-level debate. With a big emphasis on the European Democracy Shield and the new European Centre for Democratic Resilience, she has placed the fight against disinformation and the protection of democratic processes at the centre of the political agenda. By doing so, the President of the European Commission aligns with many other democratically elected leaders – both in Europe and beyond - who highlight the urgency of acting to strengthen our democracies.

👉 Read our Op-Ed in response to Ursula von der Leyen's SOTEU: “The fight for Europe’s survival: why the European Democracy Shield must deliver”

At Make.org, our mission is to empower citizens and institutions to counter these threats with tools that strengthen trust, dialogue, and participation. We believe that democracy can only thrive when citizens are both well-informed and actively engaged in shaping the future.

That is why we have developed a comprehensive toolbox of solutions designed to strengthen democratic resilience and fight against disinformation. Rooted in citizen participation and dialogue, this toolbox is tailored to the needs of governments, public administrations, institutions, media, and organisations working for the common democratic good.

Drawing on our expertise in building technological tools to support democracy, we focus on three core challenges:

• ensuring easy access to reliable information on key issues
• fostering constructive dialogue to reduce polarisation
• empowering citizens with the skills to recognise and resist disinformation.

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That is why we propose six concrete solutions within our toolbox:

1. Reliable AI-powered platform to share information on elections: an AI-powered tool to share reliable information about elections (such as programs, information on how to vote, etc.) in an accessible way. One example of this innovative solution is the Wahlcheck 2025, which provides information on the Bundestag elections 2025.
2. Citizen agenda consultation based on consensus: a large-scale collaborative process to identify citizens’ priorities and put them at the heart of the electoral debate, such as Ma France 2022 which established an agenda with the 12 priorities of French people.
3. Agenda-setting consultation based on consensus at the beginning of a mandate: a large-scale collaborative process to identify citizens’ priorities for the upcoming mandate and put them at the heart of the government’s / administration's work. Although not at the beginning of a mandate, Les Dialogues Parisiens collected more than 10,000 propositions on how to live better in Paris.
4. Participatory campaigns for education on disinformation: an online experience to make citizens confront other opinions (incl. opposing views), increase their acceptance of pluralism and therefore reduce their vulnerability to disinformation.
5. Depolarisation dialogue: a large-scale dialogue to find common grounds between citizens, or between citizens and institutions, and reduce polarisation on particularly divisive topics.
6. Reliable AI-powered reference platform on a public or general interest topic: an AI-powered tool to share reliable information about a public or general interest topic, built with the expert actor(s) in the field, such as the Panoramic for EuroPCom 2025, which allows citizens to revisit every session of the conference.

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By combining innovation, citizen engagement, and consensus-building, we can strengthen democratic resilience and create a healthier public debate for the years to come.

You can explore these tools here or contact us directly.

To go further:

• Empowering Youth: Innovative Solutions to Combat Disinformation in Democracies
• New Generation Citizens' Panel: a World Premiere in Germany on the fight against disinformation
• WahlCheck 2025: Everything You Need to Know About the German Federal Election on Make.org’s Innovative AI Platform
• Introducing Panoramic AI: Bridging the Gap Between Citizens and Institutions
• The Power of Consensus: Inside Make.org’s Methodology (A Path to Collective Progress)
• European Democracy Shield: Make.org presents recommendations at the European Parliament

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