----------- Internet Governance with and for the Citizens: Setting the Agenda for IGF2020 -----------

Humanity deserves and asks for better governance. Both citizens and decision makers are ready to experiment with new approaches. Decisions taken on behalf of 7+ billion human beings require to augment the traditional expertise with the vision and experience of ordinary citizens that will enrich, legitimize and strengthen the decisions. New forms of political non-partisan dialogue between citizens, decision makers and experts are one of the most promising solutions to improve governance towards a more inclusive, more trustful and less divided society, at all levels, from local to global. By relying on such processes, decisions become more in tune with the complexity of our age, more legitimate and more sustainable. Decision makers gain in legitimacy, insights and transparency. Citizens enter the realm of complexity of decision making and get the feeling of being respected and considered by the political sphere. Both are strengthened by this unique interaction.

------------------------------------------ Bringing Citizens into Internet Governance ------------------------------------------

The Global Citizens’ Debate on the Future of Internet (https://www.wetheinternet.org) aims at opening a dialogue between the Internet Governance community and ordinary citizens of the world.

In June 2020, thousands of citizens selected to represent the diversity of their country will gather, inform themselves and discuss core questions related to the future of internet and articulate their wishes, concerns, arguments and opinions.

This full scale Dialogue will build upon a series of preliminary conversations and workshops organized in 13 countries on 4 continents in 2018 and 2019 that have raised topics that are of high concern to both citizens and decision makers.

---------------------- Goal of the Open Forum ----------------------

The Open forum aims at:

1. Presenting the results of the preliminary conversations and the workshops to the Internet Governance Community in order to transform them into actionable actions and discussions for the multi-stakeholder process.

2. Reflecting the method in order to improve it and to understand how to best integrate it in the Multi-stakeholder process in the coming years.

3. Launch the Full scale process for 2020.

---------------------- Program ----------------------

The Forum will be shaped as a participatory event: participants will sit at tables and discuss the results of the debate in order to transform them into actionable learnings and actions for them.

1. Opening (15’) Short presentation of project and process (Missions Publiques). Feedback from core partners of the Advisory Board and national partners of the project.

2. Discussion / Break-out groups (45’) Participants are randomly split into groups of 5 (maximum diversity). In each group, a facilitator and a note taker guide the discussion. They discuss the following questions (not exclusive): How do these results inspire me for my strategy, my advocacy, my position? What do they mean for us as a community? What are most meaningful results in relation with the IGF agenda?” Which discussions do they impulse, which actions?

3. Presentation of results of the groups and conclusion (30’) Participants gather in plenary, note takers present the key results of their group.

Online participation will be organized as a mirror of the f2f participation: 1. E-Opening (15’) The remote participants will be in a listening position and will be in the virtual room. Two of the feedback in the beginning will be delivered by remote participants: One organizer and one participant. 2. E-Discussion / E-Break-out groups (45’) Online participants will be invited to join virtual rooms (links will be provided at the beginning of the session - participants will be dispatched in function of the first letter of their country of origin). In each group, a facilitator and a note taker will guide the discussion. The virtual group will discuss the same two questions as the f2f groups. 3. E-Presentation of results of the groups and conclusion (30’) Online participants will join back the plenary, remote note takers will present the key results of their group.