Policy Voices | Bottom-Up Pressure: Can Communities Shape the Green Future?

This is the fourth episode of Overcoming Polarisation: Paths to Common Ground, a podcast series from Debating Europe, Friends of Europe’s citizen engagement unit. In this episode, we’re discussing how citizens can influence climate policy. Europe is feeling fractured. Whether it’s politics, climate, tech, or trust in institutions, more and more people are feeling left out, unheard, and uncertain about the future. But what if we could flip the script? What if instead of fuelling division, we looked for common ground? In this series, we’re diving into the real issues behind polarisation. Economic inequality, climate anxiety, digital disruption, and bringing together voices from across the spectrum. From policymakers, activists, business leaders, and most importantly, citizens’ voices via our latest study “Voices for Choices”. In today’s show, former host Catarina Vila Nova sat down with Chloé Mikolajczak, an environmental and social justice activist bridging European policy and grassroots organising, to discuss the accessibility of a more sustainable life, inspiring figures driving a greener future, and the divide between citizens’ desires and institutions’ willingness to act. Host Sabina Șancu spoke with Graham Smith, professor of politics at the University of Westminster, about climate assemblies – a unique model for citizen participation in policymaking. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: [email protected]