ABSTRACT
On 26 September 2009, ordinary citizens convened at 44 sites in 38 countries to discuss the issues that would be on the agenda at the December 2009 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) summit in Copenhagen, also known as COP15. 1 Armed with 40-page briefing reports they had received before the event and seated at tables of six to eight (approximately 90 people in total at each site), participants debated and voted on a common set of policy choices and developed their own recommendations to policy-makers in the first global citizen consultation in history. In the words of the project organizer, The Danish Board of Technology (DBT), World Wide Views on Global Warming (WWViews) aimed
… to give a broad sample of citizens from across the Earth the opportunity to influence global climate policy. An overarching purpose was to set a groundbreaking precedent by demonstrating that political decision-making processes on a global scale benefit when everyday people participate. (www.wwviews.org/node/223)
