L-R: Dr. Raphaël Kies, Research Scientist at Uni.lu; Prime Minister Xavier Bettel; Prof Dr Christine Schiltz, Vice Dean of Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education at Uni.lu;
Credit: ME
On Thursday 17 March 2022, Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel signed an agreement with the University of Luxembourg which relates to cooperation within the framework of the "Klima-Biergerrot" (citizens' climate council).
Through this agreement, the government will support the University of Luxembourg's research programme on participatory democracy, which aims, among other things, to explore and more widely adopt new modes of governance that involve citizens more directly.
The financial support provided by the government to the Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences concerns citizen consultation in Luxembourg as well as the deepening (in an objective of general interest) of the state of knowledge of the mechanisms of participatory democracy.
The University of Luxembourg will set up a support group for the citizens' climate council intended to ensure the integrity of the conduct of the consultation work, as well as a scientific monitoring process, in particular through the carrying out of surveys.
The "Klima-Biergerrot" is a citizen consultation project announced by Luxembourg's Prime Minister in his State of the Nation address on 12 October 2021 as a new initiative within the framework of Luxembourg's policy linked to the fight against global warming. The specific question posed to the Klima-Biergerrot is:"Can and does Luxembourg want to go further in the fight against climate change? And if so, by what measures?"
The citizens' climate council began its work at the end of January 2022 and is expected to present its conclusions to the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg's Parliament) before the summer break.
