Building inclusive and participatory democratic spaces in Europe
There are silenced voices in democratic spaces as millions of people face language barriers and are excluded from key deliberative processes. In the European Union (EU) alone, around 6 million individuals, and globally over 90 million, have difficulties to read, write, and comprehend language, which restricts their full participation in democracy. In this context, the EU-funded iDEM project aims to break these linguistic barriers and begin a new era of inclusive and participatory democratic spaces for marginalised communities. Specifically, the project will create next-generation multilingual models, automatically adapting texts to the needs of each person and provide Artificial Intelligence tools for unbiased communication.
Promoting inclusivity and representation
iDEM Project started in January 2024 and will run for 3 years. It has a dual purpose:
- Design accessible tools to facilitate the reading and understanding of public documents.
- Promote the inclusion of people experiencing marginalisation and support them in sharing their own opinions and messages.
iDEM project will provide...
Analysis of language complexity barriers in participatory democratic spaces, to identify users' needs and the reasons behind their difficulties in understanding information on public matters.
Artificial Intelligence tools that simplify and make information more understandable to participate in democratic debates. These tools are aimed at people with communication difficulties or intellectual disabilities.
Develop and implement three use cases in different languages, and a deliberative approach, engaging groups who experience marginalisation, whilst considering a gender perspective.
Solutions to enhance participation
The tools will be available in four languages: Catalan, Spanish, Italian and English.
Free and open source.
Comprehensive, accessible and user-centered approach.
Want to know more?
We would love to hear from you! Whether you have a question about our use cases or the team of European experts behind iDEM, we’re ready!
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This website is part of a project that has received funding from the European Union´s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under the Grant Agreement No. 101132431 . Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.