Graphic representing UK Democracy Handbook

UK Democracy Handbook


http://web.archive.org/web/20220317052353/https://democracyhandbook.org.uk/
133 Bethnal Green Road, London, UK

Collectively created online space to inform and connect people working for a better democracy in the UK

UK Democracy Handbook began in February 2021. Based on the work of Jonny Will Chambers' Democracy Map and Joe Mitchell's Networking for Democracy report, the handbook aims to bring together and connect the organisations working in the UK democracy sector.

According to our research the UK democracy space is small, lacks funding, isn't well-connected internally or with other sectors, doesn't talk convincingly to the public, and that the structure of funding can drive competitive behaviours that exclude more productive joint approaches. This is an attempt to correct this.

The Handbook aims to provide a foundational information source for the sector to use and for all networking efforts to build from. But the foundation source can't be the job of one person, everyone has to chip in some time to co-create it, to ensure it captures everything that everyone thinks is important.

Because the Handbook is live it can be edited at any time by anyone, like a wiki. It becomes a living document that changes to meet the needs of its users. At the same time, it helps strengthen the community by allowing people to see who's working on what, to reach out and connect and potentially to work together, or at least avoid duplication.

We've identified more than 750 organisations in the UK democracy space – and we've signed up to all of their newsletters. Each week we read all of these communiques, summarise them, hold a quick weekly 30-minute meetup where everyone jots down their organisation's plans, blockers and current activities – what they're working on, who they're talking to, what funding they’re applying for, that sort of stuff. We condense all of this information – from the meetup and newsletters – together and send out a weekly bulletin to the sector, and update the handbook with that information too!

The Handbook is for anyone working on improving any aspect of our democracy. Anyone looking to understand what’s happening across the space will find the Handbook a vital resource.

Status: Inactive
Claimed Status: Claimed
Last Modified: 11/29/2023
Added on: 6/22/2021

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