Democratic innovations have multiplied across Europe, including through publicly funded research and innovation projects, yet many proven approaches remain little known, difficult to adapt, or hard to embed in real institutional and political settings. ScaleDem addresses this “last mile” challenge by bridging research evidence and practical implementation needs, focusing on how democratic innovations can gain societal uptake and durability rather than simply being replicated.
The project’s overall objective is to build an evidence-based and usable understanding of scaling democratic innovations, combining systematic mapping of solutions and lessons from recent R&I projects with original comparative analysis of enablers and barriers across four scaling dimensions (out, high, deep and in), and translating this into an actionable “compass” for practitioners and policymakers. In parallel, ScaleDem creates a practical scaling infrastructure (“Scaling Grounds”) that supports testing, consolidation and learning in new operational environments through targeted support and cascade funding.
Expected impacts include stronger uptake and re-use of EU-funded democratic innovation results, reinforced cross-sector and interdisciplinary collaboration, and more accessible tools for decision-makers (e.g. policy-oriented roadmaps and communication products) to help strengthen citizen-centred democratic practices across diverse contexts. Social sciences and humanities are central throughout: ScaleDem mobilises SSH research to analyse democratic institutions and participation in context, and integrates this with practitioner and policy expertise to turn findings into operational guidance and implementable pathways for change.
