Help Shape Global Decision-Making: Community Hosts Needed for the Global Citizens' Assembly

​The Global Citizens' Assembly—organized by Mediators Beyond Borders International and the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition—will bring together 105 randomly selected participants to deliberate on global food systems from January to March 2026, supported locally by newly recruited Community Hosts. These hosts, working from late October 2025 through early March 2026, will help ensure equitable participation by providing technological, logistical, and cultural support, especially in regions such as Moscow, Sevastopol, Jeddah, northern Honshu, eastern Uzbekistan, Weno, and select U.S. counties. Designed around 14 small-group sessions that foster deep dialogue and relationship-building, the Assembly aims to model more inclusive, globally connected democratic decision-making. Those interested in becoming Community Hosts are encouraged to contact [email protected] by 5 PM ET on Monday, December 8th.

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Imagine a world where everyday people from vastly different corners of the globe—from Moscow to Micronesia, from Texas to Tokyo—come together to tackle our most pressing shared challenges. That's the vision driving the Global Citizens' Assembly, an ambitious initiative that's redefining how we approach collective decision-making at the planetary scale.
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Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBBI), in collaboration with the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition (ISWE), is recruiting Community Hosts for this groundbreaking project, which brings together 105 randomly selected citizens from around the world to deliberate on global food systems between January and March 2026. This isn't just another conference or policy forum—it's a carefully designed space where diverse voices can engage in meaningful dialogue, build understanding across differences, and contribute to solutions that reflect our collective wisdom.

Building Trust Through Inclusive Deliberation

The Global Citizens' Assembly embodies principles that resonate deeply with NCDD's mission. At its core, this initiative recognizes that our interconnected global challenges demand interconnected global solutions—and that those solutions are stronger when they emerge from authentic dialogue among people with varied perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds.

The project's structure reflects a commitment to equity and inclusion that goes beyond rhetoric. Community Hosts serve as vital bridges between global processes and local communities, ensuring that participants who might otherwise be excluded from international decision-making can meaningfully contribute. This means providing not just technical support like internet access and quiet spaces, but also cultural contextualization—translating materials, adapting concepts to local understanding, and creating conditions where every voice can be genuinely heard.
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The Assembly's design also honors the transformative potential of small-group deliberation. Rather than creating a stage for pre-formed opinions to clash, most sessions bring together just five or six participants in sustained dialogue over 14 three-hour sessions. This structure creates space for the kind of deep listening, perspective-taking, and relationship-building that enables people to move beyond polarization toward collaborative problem-solving.

An Opportunity to Expand Democratic Participation

MBBI is currently seeking Community Hosts in specific locations including Moscow, Sevastopol, Jeddah, northern Honshu, eastern Uzbekistan, Weno, and several U.S. counties in Washington, Texas, and Florida. The role offers £3,000 GBP (approximately $3,800 USD) for work spanning late October 2025 through early March 2026, with comprehensive training and ongoing support provided throughout.

Community Hosts will recruit five to ten potential Assembly Members who reflect their community's diversity, support the one person ultimately selected through a lottery process, and ensure they have everything needed to participate fully—from technology and physical space to language support and contextualized materials. This work matters not just for the individual participant, but for building a broader movement that demonstrates democracy can work differently, more inclusively, and at scales we've only begun to imagine.

For practitioners in the dialogue and deliberation field, this represents both a learning opportunity and a chance to contribute to infrastructure-building that could reshape how humanity makes collective decisions. The Global Citizens' Assembly isn't trying to solve every problem itself—it's creating better ways for us to generate solutions together, recognizing that the process matters as much as the outcome.
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If you're interested in serving as a Community Host or know someone in these regions who might be, reach out to [email protected] by 5 PM ET on Monday, December 8th. Find complete details in the Terms of Reference at https://www.mediatorsbeyondborders.org.