Many civic initiatives aim to strengthen democratic resilience – but how do we know whether they actually do? This NECE Campus session introduces the new Democratic Resilience Instrument (DRI), a framework designed to measure changes in democratic resilience among participants in civic-tech programmes.

Together with its author, Sophie Vériter, we will explore the instrument’s four dimensions, look at how it could be applied to real-life initiatives, and discuss its potential and limitations from a practitioner perspective.

Who this session is for

Civic educators, civic-tech practitioners, programme designers and managers, researchers and evaluators, and organisations interested in understanding and demonstrating the democratic impact of their work.

Takeaways

Participants will leave with:

• a clearer understanding of what democratic resilience might mean in measurable terms;

• an introduction to a concrete framework for assessing changes in democratic resilience;

• practical ideas for connecting programme objectives with measurable outcomes;

• an opportunity to critically examine the DRI and consider whether it could be relevant to their own work.

Speaker

Dr. Sophie L. Vériter is the Founder and Executive Director of the Global Society Foundation, where she leads work on democratic resilience and civic technology infrastructure. A political scientist specialising in misinformation, strategic communications, and democracy, she holds a PhD in Security and Global Affairs from Leiden University and an MPhil in Politics from the University of Oxford. Her research has appeared in International Affairs, the Journal of Common Market Studies, and The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, as well as Tech Policy Press and Carnegie. Sophie’s work has been recognised with international awards and fellowships including from The Europaeum, Harvard Kennedy School, and the Kofi Annan Foundation.