ABSTRACT
Since the 1990s we have seen a ‘turn’ to deliberation in decision-making, but deliberative democracy is more than just learning how to debate. Deliberative democracy requires skills to listen across deep differences of life experience and values, and the ability to challenge illegitimate power through discussion. In this chapter we consider how student climate change activism has helped reignite the debate about deliberative democracy, by advocating greater use of citizen assemblies as a way to include a wider range of voices in decision -making. We also consider the power of storytelling as a democratic practice, reflecting on children’s stories and on our shared carbon story. We ask why advocates of deliberation differ over the purpose of deliberation (what are we intending to do?), the participants of deliberation (who should legitimately deliberate?), the practice (how should we deliberate?) and the place (where and when should we deliberate?). We review the implications of these debates for ecological citizenship, before turning to consider the example offered by the Pacific Youth Leadership and Transformation (PYLAT) council as an example of a youth-led deliberative forum aimed at building citizenship skills and advocacy by and for Pacific youth.
