The FIDE Forum is a conference dedicated to moving deliberative democracy from the margins to the mainstream. It brings together practitioners, public officials, political parties, NGOs, and funders to build the infrastructure, lift the standards, and create the political will to make deliberation a permanent feature of democratic governance.
This year, the conference will take place in
Vienna, Austria, on 18 and 19 November 2026, and will be shaped around the theme
"From novel to normal: deliberation as democratic infrastructure". Democracy is built on public infrastructure. From public education to independent judiciaries and electoral systems, deliberation belongs in that same category. This conference is not a space to debate whether deliberation works. It is a space to act on it.
More than 1,000 deliberative processes have tackled some of the most difficult questions governments struggle to answer alone. More than 80,000 citizens have contributed to key decisions, including constitutional reform, national legislation, and public spending. The FIDE Forum brings together the people working to turn that track record into lasting democratic infrastructure.