Insights
ScaleDem is designed to enhance the scalability of solutions that strengthen democratic processes by building on the work of existing R&I projects. Rather than duplicating these efforts, we go further by creating a scaling infrastructure that will support both present and future democratic innovations.
How we put innovative solutions to work – at scale!
To bridge the gap between research and real-world impact, we identify 4 dimensions of scaling:
Scaling High
Embedding innovations in institutionsInfluencing law and policy to ensure long-term adoption.
Scaling Deep
Rooting participation in cultureIntegrating innovations into social and cultural norms.
Scaling Out
Engaging more citizensExpanding participation to reach broader audiences.
Scaling In
Improving the quality of the democratic innovationBuilding capacity for quality standards.
To support our infrastructure, we will consolidate, translate and validate knowledge (our three pillars):
We first lay the groundwork for understanding the current state of research, identifying barriers and opportunities for scaling. We engage a community of end-users to translate theory into practice and, finally, we test the adaptability and feasibility of the solutions.
Insights into the ScaleDem project
Through this process, we develop key resources to support scalability:
Knowledge Map
ScaleDem sets out a map and framework for exploring and supporting the diversity of existing democratic innovations. It provides a shared, accessible resource to assess their strengths and address their weaknesses.
Grounded Theory of Scaling
Developed through an analysis of past EU and publicly funded projects and solutions from across the globe, this theory guides the long-term impact of democratic innovations.
Translation Hub
ScaleDem acts as a bridge between theory and practice by engaging end-users in the co-design of open calls. We also foster a community of potential adopters of democratic innovations.
Two Scaling Grounds
ScaleDem supports third parties in real-world experimentation with two capacity-building programmes, running for 12 months to validate and scale selected solutions.