Second edition of MPG’s Democracy Academy is a Success!

Participants successfully complete MPG’s second
Democracy Academy and promise to stay in touch for future
collaborations
In December 2024, a second ‘class’ of participants successfully completed MPG’s annual Democracy Academy. Part of the New Europeans Initiative, the academy is an online series of events dedicated to boosting the civic and political participation of people with various migration backgrounds.
The goal of the academy is to bring together emerging New European leaders with prior civic and political participation experience in a space for training, knowledge-sharing and networking. Each session of the academy is led by a speaker – an experienced professional of similar background with proven successes in work on the topics the academy.
2024 edition
The online academy included five sessions, each lasting three hours and dedicated to a different topic. These topics were identified by New Europeans themselves through interviews conducted by MPG prior to the start. The following sessions took place:
- Session 1, 5 November 2024: Welcome & meaningful participation, led by Razan Ismail, Founder of Kudwa Association
- Session 2, 12 November 2024: Evidence-based advocacy, led by Jair Schalkwijk, Project Leader at Controle Alt Delete & IZI Solutions
- Session 3, 19 November 2024: Organising for sustainability and resilience, led by Juliana Santos Wahlgren, Director of the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN)
- Session 4, 26 November 2024: Mobilising and campaigning, led by Adnan Abdul Ghani, Founder of the Support Group Network (SGN) and EU Project Manager at Save the Children
- Session 5, 10 December 2024: Communicating for change & lessons learned, led by Thomas Coombes, hope-based communications founder
To create the 2024 academy curriculum, MPG paid special attention to the detailed feedback gathered from the participants in the first, 2023 edition of the initiative. This year’s academy thus put extra focus on allowing the speakers and the participants to better connect and work more closely together. In addition to the presentations of the speakers, the sessions included additional practical assignments and quandaries to solve, often in breakout rooms and with the guidance of the respective speaker. During those exercises, the participants were asked to draw upon their own experience and expertise to distill their own answers to the different questions posed. Along many others, examples of the issues discussed include:
- how to build and continually revise the rules of a community of practice;
- how to approach different (non-)state stakeholders when advocating against racial
profiling practices; - how to address burnout and foster resilience within our teams;
- how to create action plans to mobilise voters’ turnout;
- how to draft concrete media outputs that switch to positive, hope-based narratives on
the increasingly contested issues of migration and migrant participation.
The ideas generated during these exercises are meant to serve as transferable solutions to similar real-life situations the participants are likely to encounter in their work. The sessions also included presentations of MPG’s latest publications within the New Europeans Initiatives, including its new Political Participation Policy Index 2024. This equipped the participants with further tools and analyses to refer to in their work.
Results and feedback
A total of 22 participants (12 women and 10 men) attended the academy, just like in the first edition. Out of the 22 participants, 16 received certificates for their successful completion of the academy in January 2025. Awarding the certificate is contingent on active participation and contribution, as well as to attending all sessions.
Following the wrap-up of the 2024 event series, the participants, already in active exchange with each other, expressed desire to continue to stay in touch and collaborate. They also shared ways in which they will introduce the lessons learned from the academy in their work.
Benta Mbare, PhD researcher at Tampere University and graduate of the 2024 academy, noted: “The programme equipped me with practical tools and strategies essential for promoting equity. […] Interactions and exchange of experiences and expertise with diverse multi-professionals did not only enhance networking opportunities but also broadened my perspectives.” She added that the lessons learned could be applied to promote equity and inclusion in various contexts.
Benta also invited all those interested to apply for the next edition: “I would encourage anyone considering joining next year’s Academy to take the opportunity. It provides practical tools, invaluable insights, and a platform to connect with diverse professionals who are passionate about democracy and inclusion. The academy equips individuals with strategies to support meaningful change in their communities, focusing on fostering inclusive societies that prioritise fairness.”
Stay tuned for the next edition
MPG also collected detailed feedback from the outgoing class in order to further improve the upcoming third edition of the academy. More information about the upcoming third academy will be shared in the summer.
For any questions regarding the Democracy Academy’s past and future events, as well as the certificates awarded, please contact Gergana Yovova, Project Manager.
About the Migration Policy Group (MPG)
MPG is an independent think-and-do-tank based in Brussels. MPG’s purpose is rooted in its ability to inspire networks to provide evidence-based projects, research and campaigns in the areas of integration, migration and anti-discrimination.
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