Conventional mechanisms of political participation in European democracies have gone through intense challenges in recent years. The laws governing voting rights are often not in line with the current realities of societies shaped by migration and multiculturalism. In Austria’s capital Vienna for example, 33% of residents are excluded from federal elections because they don’t have Austrian citizenship.

The Democratic Odyssey is an initiative that aims to respond to such challenges by permanently establishing a peoples’ assembly and participatory ecosystem (for all European residents, regardless of nationality and citizenship) within European institutions. Our reporter Joshua Mingers participated in the assembly to find out more about how the initiative Democratic Odyssey plans to revolutionize European democracy.