Date: September 20, 2025
Time: 14:00 – 17:30 PYT
Location: Asunción, Paraguay
Host Organization: Alma Civica
In a regional context marked by information manipulation, growing individualism, and the shrinking of civic space, this event invites participants to inhabit democracy as a collective, vital, and everyday practice. We understand care—for relationships, communities, and the commons—as a deeply political act. Faced with fear and fragmentation, this gathering proposes a space for critical reflection without cynicism, collective imagination without naivety, and civic resistance without despair, where people can think together, dialogue, and envision democratic alternatives. It also takes place in a regional context of recent or upcoming electoral processes that test democratic institutions and citizen commitment. “Inhabiting Democracy” is an invitation to sustain participation beyond the vote, recognizing the power of everyday and community actions to defend democratic values.
“Inhabiting Democracy” will be the regional event for Latin America, led by Alma Cívica from Paraguay. The gathering will bring the voices of youth, communities, and Latin American organizations into the international debate, reinforcing the spirit of networking and collaboration that drives the GDC worldwide.
Event Programme:
The event will be delivered in a hybrid format, with an in-person session held in Asunción, Paraguay, and live-streamed for virtual audiences. Key components will include:
- 14:00 – 14:20 | Welcome and context
- Olgui Caballero, Executive Director of Alma Cívica (in-person).
- Elisenda Ballesteros, Coordinator of the Global Democracy Coalition (virtual).
- 14:20 – 14:50 | Panel 1 – Democracy in a regional context
- Focus: participation, civic space, technology, and governments in Latin America.
- 14:50 – 15:20 | Panel 2 – Civil society and citizenship in action
- Focus: community and citizen experiences that sustain democracy from the ground up.
- 15:20 – 15:55 | Inspirational talks: Inhabiting Democracy
- Activists share 7-minute TED-style testimonies.
- 15:55 – 16:25 | Presentation of the initiative “Democrakit”
- Showcasing goals, impact, and opportunities for participation. A civic education initiative led by Alma Cívica.
- 16:25 – 17:00 | Democratic World Café
- A collective co-creation space for the political and symbolic document.
- Guiding questions:
- Everyday (personal and close): “How do we live democracy in our daily actions and relationships?”
- Challenges (critical and collective): “What threats or difficulties do we see today in sustaining democracy in our region?”
- Commitments (future and proactive): “What commitments and hopes do we want to declare together to strengthen democracy?”
- The result will be a collectively written Manifesto for the International Day of Democracy 2025.
- 17:00 – 17:30 | Civil society fair and closing celebration
- Civil society organizations with project and initiative stands.
- Artists with participatory activations.
- Closing toast and networking.