Exploring Citizen and Stakeholder Engagement in Service Design
The Department of Design shares the experience gained by its researchers in designing innovative and desirable services, tailored to the real needs of users. The…
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Augmenting participation,
ORBIS has received funding from the Eruopean Union’s Horizon Europe Framework Programme under grant agreement no 101094765
About us
Citizens increasingly demand to be engaged in democratic and inclusive discussions about new ways to prevent, mitigate, and even resolve ongoing crises and conflicts.
Advancing digital democracy through innovation, fostering inclusive participation and transparent governance across Europe.
Pilots: testing democracy in action
Discover our diverse pilots, spanning local, regional, national, and European scales, each designed to innovate democratic processes.
Pilot 1
Reimagining the Building Blocks of Democracy
This pilot will test the ORBIS solution by using it in democratic debates in some of the core parts of democracy: the people, leadership, information, voting and funding. These discussions have so far been held in expert roundtables worldwide. The pilot will focus on evaluating how ORBIS gathers and combines opinions, identifies conflicts and helps create policies and reforms based on evidence for each of these key areas.
Pilot 2
Teens for Democracy
This pilot will use the ORBIS solution in projects with teenagers and decision makers to see how well it meets goals, gains support and makes an impact.
It will also act as an educational tool, empowering young people with democratic principles and processes and encouraging their meaningful participation in different parts of their civic life.
Pilot 3
Young Thinkers and EU decision-makers
This pilot will use the ORBIS solution in projects with teenagers and decision makers to see how well it meets goals, gains support and makes an impact. It will also act as an educational tool, empowering young people with democratic principles and processes and encouraging their meaningful participation in different parts of their civic life.
Pilot 4
Future4Citizens
Re-Imagine Europa (RIE) is an international non-partisan think-tank dedicated to fostering innovative political ideas and inclusive dialogue for a democratic Europe. Within its Future4Citizens programme, RIE will pilot the ORBIS toolkit to explore AI-enhanced deliberation on critical topics like sustainable agriculture. The initiative unites diverse stakeholders to co-create solutions for Europe’s shared future.
Pilot 5
Transition Frameworks for Democratic Urban Governance
The Pilot relies on gathering emerging voices from loosely coordinated groups in Milan advocating for democratic processes in urban challenges. Through Orbis the experimentation, lead by Rob de Matt, facilitates citizen-institution dialogue using a hybrid digital/in-person deliberation methodology, for space-based action across various scales and issues.
Pilot 6
Alliance for Entrepreneurship and Development in Western Greece
This pilot application will test the ORBIS solution by using it in in-person (and hybrid) meetings on topics related to entrepreneurship, research, and innovation. The focus will be on evaluating how well the ORBIS solution facilitates the collection and aggregation of citizens’ opinions and feedback.
Technology
ORBIS leverages the power of AI to enhance public engagement and support deliberative democracy. With advanced tools, it makes complex debates more accessible, understandable, and impactful. By employing data analysis techniques such as natural language processing, ORBIS transforms extensive public input into meaningful insights that foster better democratic discussions. Integrated into platforms like BCause, PolisOrbis, and Democratic Reflection, these tools promote inclusive, reflective, and data-driven dialogue.
ORBIS uses AI-enhanced tools to support democratic deliberation by simplifying and enriching public engagement. These tools improve the clarity and reach of debates, turning complex input into actionable insights. Platforms like BCause, PolisOrbis, and Democratic Reflection apply these tools in different contexts, from structured debates to large-scale discussions, promoting participation and reflective thinking in decision-making processes.
Events that shape the future of democracy, innovation, and engagement.
This section collects all the information about meetings, events, publications of the Orbis Project
ORBIS Pilot 5 kicks off public mapping in Milan’s Municipio 9
“Space and Change in the Districts of Municipio 9 – Milan” marks the launch of a new participatory journey within Pilot 5 of the European…
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Aristotle, Artificial Intelligence and Deliberative Democracy: Orbis at the Academy of Athens
From April 7th to 10th, 2025, the Academy of Athens hosted the international conference “Aristotle in the Era of Artificial Intelligence”, in collaboration with the…
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ORBIS alongside AI Innovation in Governance: We Will Participate in the AI4Gov Open Day
📅 When: March 20, 2025 📍 Where: Electra Palace Hotel, Athens (Hybrid Event) ORBIS will be present at the AI4Gov Open Day, an event dedicated…
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