The Gipuzkoa Citizens’ Assembly concludes: 32 assembly members, 9 recommendations, and a 3.5-year process

Following its launch in 2022, the Gipuzkoa Citizens’ Assembly held its closing session on 30 May at the Gunea space of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa. This innovative deliberative process has encouraged meaningful citizen participation in public policy-making. 

Participants deliberated on the following question: How can society in Gipuzkoa support the agricultural sector in facing the impacts of the climate emergency, and ensure its resilience? This pioneering initiative was driven by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, the democracy innovation lab Arantzazulab, and Telesforo Monzon eLab. 

The process spanned three and a half years, during which time several organisations collaborated through three main phases. First came the design and preparation phase (February–September 2022), followed by the deliberation phase and drafting of recommendations (October 2022–January 2023). Finally, from January 2023 to May 2025, the Provincial Council responded and followed up on the commitments made. 

The Citizens’ Assembly of Gipuzkoa presented 9 recommendations to address the challenge. The Provincial Council committed to implementing all of them, with some adaptations. Two months later, it presented a public response, followed by detailed progress updates at 6, 15, and 26 months. The final session of the process took place on May 30. 

The closing session had three main objectives: (1) To inform about the implementation progress of the recommendations and reflect on them with the assembly members; (2) To present the evaluation of the process and the recommendations by the involved actors; (3) To celebrate the completion of the Assembly and the impact it generated. 

The event was moderated by journalist and bertsolari Xabier Euzkitze, who gave participants the floor to share their final reflections. 

Gipuzkoa’s General Deputy, Eider Mendoza, opened the session by emphasising the value of the process. ‘This project, which is part of the Provincial Council’s Etorkizuna Eraikiz initiative, provides a practical and creative way to boost citizen involvement in the development of public policy. Our commitment as a council is to continue promoting exercises in which citizens are at the heart of policymaking, in terms of both outcomes and how policies are conceived and developed.” Mendoza highlighted the “innovative and exemplary” nature of the Assembly and stated that “processes like this will become increasingly important for addressing the current and future challenges of Gipuzkoa”.

Next, Arantxa Ariztimuño, Director of Agriculture and Territorial Balance at the Provincial Department for Green Territorial Balance, outlined the progress made in implementing the recommendations. She went through the actions taken by the Council, explaining how each responds to the respective recommendations. The full official response is available in Basque and Spanish. 

Four assembly members — Ernesto, Mar, Xabier and Begoña — then spoke on behalf of the Citizens’ Assembly. They provided an overall evaluation and raised various questions regarding the nine recommendations, particularly emphasising those aimed at establishing the primary sector as strategic and valuing the Baserritar Misto Profesional programme. Looking ahead, they suggested questions and adjustments to further develop the actions reflected in the Council’s response. They gave a positive assessment of the process and emphasised the need for more such initiatives to encourage greater citizen engagement. For future assemblies, they made two key suggestions: First, the question should be specific enough to support the information and deliberation phases. Second, assembly members should be clearly communicated with regarding the extent to which the recommendations have been fulfilled during the follow-up phase. 

Mikel Pagola, Director of Good Governance and Political-Social Innovation, continued the session by asking various participants in the Assembly questions. First, he addressed the members of the Monitoring Commission and the Content Committee. Xabier Ezeizabarrena, President of the Gipuzkoa General Assembly and representing the Monitoring Commission, stressed the importance of institutionalising such processes to ensure their sustainability. Jon Mikel Zabala (University of Deusto) and Elisa Sainz de Murieta (University of the Basque Country -EHU-), representing the Content Committee, then shared their insights. Zabala praised the committee’s role in developing the content, while Sainz de Murieta emphasised the importance of ensuring a diversity of perspectives and expertise. 

Pagola then spoke with representatives of the promoting labs: Urko Aiartza, Director of Telesforo Monzon eLab, and Naiara Goia, Director of Arantzazulab. Goia highlighted that citizen engagement in these processes leads to informed public judgments rather than mere public opinion. She also noted that the OECD showcases the Gipuzkoa Citizens’ Assembly as a good practice and offers strategies for institutionalizing such processes in its 2024 report, available here. Arantzazulab contributed to the report and works with various institutions to integrate democratic innovation practices into governance structures.

Urko Aiartza emphasised the trust that this process has generated both internally and externally. He reflected on how such processes help to build trust and shared some of the experiences that have been gained throughout the initiative. According to an evaluation by the Parte Hartuz research group at the University of the Basque Country (EHU), assembly members reported increased trust in politics (and politicians), democracy, and participatory processes. The full evaluation is available in Basque and Spanish.

The final reflection came from Arantxa Mendiharat, deliberative process expert and member of Deliberativa. She praised the Assembly’s design and development, aligned with the OECD’s principles of good practice, and suggested that future processes focus more on politically complex dilemmas. Before the end of the day, there was a surprise performance by two renowned bertsolaris, Xabier Euzkitze and Unai Agirre. To celebrate the Assembly’s work, they performed ten verses, one for each recommendation. 

Irune Berasaluze, Provincial Deputy for Governance, delivered the closing remarks. She thanked the experts, collaborators, and institutional representatives who had been involved in the deliberative process, especially the members of the Citizens’ Assembly, for their commitment, recommendations, and continued support. Before concluding, the General Deputy and the Deputy for Governance presented each assembly member with a basket containing nine local products as a token of appreciation and to symbolise the nine recommendations presented. 

You can find all the information about the process on the initiative’s official website.