A climate assembly for your city’s administration? Inspirations from Lyon

Citizen assemblies are a powerful tool for engaging diverse populations in democratic decision-making. Lyon has taken this model to new heights with an innovative twist: applying the citizen assembly model to engage its own municipal workforce. The Citizen’s Climate Assembly of Civil Servants (3CA), launched by the City of Lyon, reimagines how public service institutions can lead by example in addressing pressing challenges such as ecological transition, inclusion, and democracy.

An Innovative Approach: civil servants at the heart of a climate assembly

The 3CA represents a first-of-its-kind initiative aimed at transforming the municipal public service itself. By involving civil servants in collaborative problem-solving, the City of Lyon seeks to ensure that public administration is not just a facilitator but a leader in the ecological and democratic transition.

This initiative began on September 19, 2023, and is set to culminate on September 17, 2024, with the delivery of a booklet containing actionable proposals to Lyon’s Mayor, Deputy Mayors, and Executive Board. The process engages civil servants on critical topics such as biodiversity, ecological transition, health, mobility, waste management, and work conditions.

The Process: a framework for civic engagement within public administration

1. Recruitment and Training

A total of 74 civil servants were randomly selected to participate, ensuring diverse representation from within the city administration. Following their selection, participants underwent six awareness-raising sessions. These sessions combined conferences, site visits, interactive activities, and discussions with local actors and experts, both internal and external. This robust preparation empowered participants to understand the multifaceted challenges of the ecological transition.

2. Collaborative Ideation

The civil servants formed working groups, with over 50 participants actively collaborating on concrete proposals. Methodological guidance was provided through four production sessions. Participants were supported by internal and external experts, as well as volunteer staff from the city administration

3. Deliberation and Consensus

The final proposals were approved using the principle of adoption by consent, ensuring that the recommendations reflected broad agreement among participants. This collaborative approach fostered a sense of ownership and collective responsibility.

The Outputs: concrete proposals from across departments

After a year of deliberation, the assembly produced a comprehensive booklet featuring:

• Five opinions addressing two core questions posed by city leadership:
  1. What would an exemplary administration look like in leading the ecological transition?
  2. How can public services continue during heatwaves while safeguarding staff health?

• Twelve proposals for administrative organisation and municipal public policies aimed at ecological transition. The proposals were organised into five thematic blocks: work conditions, endocrine disruptors, water use in the city, biodiversity and solidarity.

Each recommendation included a detailed analysis of the context, objectives, implementation stages, responsible departments, success conditions, and measurable indicators.

The Outcomes: a better plan, but most importantly improved governance

The assembly’s recommendations contributed significantly to Lyon’s plan to become a climate-neutral city by 2030. By engaging the whole city administration around its climate objectives, Lyon leverages the expertise and dedication of its workforce across departments, coming together to find solutions to meet the challenges of the transition. Adapting the citizen assembly model to engage public administration in this way can help a city break silos and reinvent its internal governance around the ecological transition.

The process is as vital as the outcome. The City of Lyon meticulously documented each stage, with the Convention carefully defining each proposal, outlining the conditions for its implementation, and establishing a realistic timetable to drive meaningful transformation.

Could your city replicate this model?

Find out all about it here.

You want to find more inspiration from local Citizens’ Assemblies across Europe? Check out our publication.