The association Demokrative

The Demokrative – Initiative for civic education is a not-for-profit organization with headquarters in Bern, Switzerland. The Demokrative is guided by a five-member board, the operational work is carried out by a small team of part-time and freelance employees which is managed by Sabine Jenni, co-founder of the association.

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At first, the project building blocks of democracy was developed by Rebecca Welge and Sabine Jenni. This project needed a vessel. The initiators found six other enthusiasts in the environment around the ETH and the University of Zurich and together they founded the association Demokrative – Initiative for civic education in 2016. Since then, the Demokrative has become a vessel, platform and network for much more than the building blocks for democracy.

Since its foundation, the association has slowly and steadily evolved. Important milestones were the first workshops with school classes in German-speaking Switzerland through the project Building blocks of democracy in 2017; the international project Demogames 2019-2022; the coaching-project Peer processes democratic competences 2021-2022; and finally the project Multiplying democracy since 2022.

The organisational structure of the association developed at the same time. In 2021, the operative work and strategic guidance of the association were separated. The team is now responsible for the operative work whereas the strategic guidance is the responsibility of the board. In the same year, we were granted tax exemption due to our non-profit status. Since 2022 the board, executive management and founders meet for a yearly retreat.

In 2023 the Demokrative counted almost 40 members. Instead of an office, Demokrative maintains the Demokrative Workhsop, a virtual platform in order to save on administrative and fixed costs.

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Join us!

Every member increases our resources and thus our impact. Just like in a democracy, many individuals make their contribution – and at Demokrative, they decide for themselves what this contribution may be exactly.


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