Via social action to public political action: organising a citizens’ assembly in northeastern Germany with an action learning ethos

Thomas Radke

Action Learning: Research and Practice, 2025, vol. 22, issue 2, 119-135

Abstract: Following on from the reflections on ‘social action’ [Pedler 2020, “On Social Action.” Action Learning: Research and Practice 17 (1): 1–9., and Pedler 2021, Action Learning for Social Action Taking Part in Social Change. Abingdon: Routledge], this paper examines how an ‘action learning ethos’ can provide guidance in the application of deliberative participation processes. A lot-based citizens’ council from 2024 in north-east Germany on the topic of the municipal energy transition serves as an example. It becomes clear that one of the biggest challenges compared to working in or with organisations is critical observation by the media, politicians, administration and citizens. This elevates ‘social action’ to ‘public political action’ and shifts the rather less frequently reflected ‘accoucheur’ role of the set adviser into focus and thus also the design and process perspective. The experience gained shows that both designers of deliberative processes can learn from an action learning ethos and the role of the acchoucheur, and facilitators in entrepreneurial contexts can learn from experiences in social, public and political contexts.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/14767333.2025.2510785

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