These methods were created and tested at the Democracy Festival and training camps. Feel free to use them — download the description and try them in your community, school or workplace.
Democracy Café
3 hours
A Square Metre of Democracy
40 minutes
Responsibility in the Dark
1.5 hours
We Can Do More!
1.5 hours
5 Steps of the Will to Justice
80 minutes
Democracy Café
- Duration
- 3 hours
- Participants
- 15 or more
Democracy allows everyone to pursue a life shaped by their own goals, views and hopes. It guarantees the freedom of each individual. But individuals are not lonely islands – they live together, side by side, which raises the question of where one person’s freedom ends and another’s begins. Democracy is the art of accepting one another in order to live together. How do we accept and live alongside an unknown, unfamiliar neighbour?
In public space, leaving the comfort of our private lives, we get to know the unfamiliar. And only by getting to know what is different and unfamiliar can we appreciate democracy as a value that allows everyone to strive for a happy life. Unlike democracy, authoritarianism and totalitarianism do not tolerate deviation from the views, ideas and plans of a leader or ruling group. The strength of democracy lies in seeing the many forms of life, views and perspectives that emerge most clearly in a free conversation between free people. Freedom also means chance, responsibility and respect for the freedom of others.
The “Democracy Café” is a tribute to chance – conversations between people who meet by chance, led by secret guests drawn by lot, without knowing the topic in advance. The conversations take place in the relaxed atmosphere of a café, but unlike an ordinary café, where people mostly talk to those they already know, here visitors talk with strangers. Each table is assigned, by lot, one of the secret guests invited by the organisers, who becomes the host of the table and leads the conversation. There are two conversations in total – one on a topic chosen by the secret guests and one on a topic proposed by the participants. The aim of the café is to encourage respectful conversation between strangers even when their opinions differ. The task is not to reach agreement, but to better understand one’s conversation partners and the different perspectives from which a topic can be viewed.
Authors of the method: philosophers Maija and Ģirts Jankovskis
A Square Metre of Democracy
- Duration
- 40 minutes
- Participants
- 8 or more
Most things are not black or white – the truth lies somewhere in between, and it is good to look for compromises. But there are situations where we have to choose one path or the other: coffee with or without milk, voting for or against (rather than abstaining). Making a decision on our own may not be easy. Or perhaps the choice itself is easy, but other difficulties arise – sometimes we have to agree with others to make a decision together, because we are not each kings of our own kingdom, but live together with other individuals in a democratic society.
The game “A Square Metre of Democracy” was created to develop skills in and understanding of democratic decision-making, inspired by artist Marina Abramović’s performative games with time and space. Participants are divided into groups of four. First, each group has to agree on which of the proposed questions to discuss, and then reach agreement on an answer to the chosen question. All of this must be done while the group members stand close together in a confined space – a square metre of democracy. Why such crowding? Because resources are limited, living together is not always easy, and it is important to be aware of and feel that there are other people beside us with different opinions, values and goals that we must respect.
Author of the method: Jurģis Spulenieks
Responsibility in the Dark
- Duration
- 1.5 hours
- Participants
- 10–30
Freedom is one of the foundations of democracy – the freedom to make choices that allow us to build a happy life. We are ready to take responsibility for the choices we have made ourselves. But living among other free people, we make choices that shape society, and these choices determine our freedom and our responsibility for what happens in society. This process reflects the essence of democracy – the ability to agree, to share and to carry out plans together, thus building a civically active and responsible society.
At present, a large part of society refuses or is unwilling to take part in community activities, which is necessary in order to take full responsibility for one’s freedom as a member of society.
The aim of the session is to help each participant understand what prevents them from getting involved in community activities and to find ways to overcome these obstacles. The task is to identify one’s obstacles and resources, and to experience together a shared responsibility for what happens in society.
Authors of the method: participants of the 2024 Democracy Training Camp Līga Šaule, Ivars Redisons, Irina Baklanova and Jānis Fēlikss Vītiņš, together with Maija, Ģirts and Ilze Jankovskis from the Democracy Foundation.
We Can Do More!
- Duration
- 1.5 hours
- Participants
- 10–30
Democracy rests on the belief that every individual has value and a role in society, and that taking part in social processes strengthens both the individual and society as a whole. The session “We Can Do More!” encourages this kind of democratic thinking by inviting participants to recognise their strengths and resources in order to look for solutions together and develop cooperation skills. This process reflects the essence of democracy – the ability to agree, to share and to carry out plans together, thus building a civically active and responsible society.
The aim of the session is to help each participant feel their own capability and their riches, and to realise what we can achieve when we work together. The task is for everyone to identify their resources and, by pooling them, to meet a shared need. It is a micro-model of how society itself can find solutions to problems through cooperation. As in life, there will be challenges: it is not easy to agree on a common goal and the means of reaching it, to take on leadership, and to carry out an idea together – involving everyone and leaving no one out – especially when time is short. Special attention is also given to moments when the group pauses its focused work to come close together, bond and feel each other’s supportive shoulder.
Authors of the method: participants of the 2024 Democracy Training Camp Agnese Lietuviete, Gundega Siliņa, Dainis Vītols, Dimantra Bērica and Elizabete Sitņikova, together with Maija, Ģirts and Ilze Jankovskis from the Democracy Foundation.
5 Steps of the Will to Justice
- Duration
- 80 minutes
- Participants
- 10–20
In life we often have to choose between two mutually exclusive options – this is called a dilemma. One kind of dilemma we tend to face is whether, when experiencing an injustice, to try to fight for justice or to turn a blind eye and accept it.
The activity “5 Steps of the Will to Justice” offers five situations in which, based on a description, participants must choose between two courses of action: one involves active engagement that may bring about change from which wider society can also benefit, while the other means holding back and keeping the status quo, which is less risky for the individual. The choices are not simple – just like in life.
A person who does nothing often commits injustice too.
— Marcus Aurelius
Authors of the method: participants of the 2024 Democracy Training Camp Nora Sudmale, Aleksandrs Vabelis, Irina Makarova, Daniēls Zeltiņš and Areta Lakutijevska, together with Maija, Ģirts and Ilze Jankovskis from the Democracy Foundation.