At the end of October, Citizen OS Indonesia organised an opinion festival for the third time at which nearly 4,000 people participated. The inspiration for organising the festival came from the dropping democracy index and the opinon festival (Arvamusfestival) held in Estonia.
The Indonesian Opinion Festival was held on 24-29 in October and it took place in Bali, Java, Aceh and online. Photo: Citizen OS Indonesia.
Citizen OS, a non-profit organisation that started in Estonia but has gained international reach, has had a legally registered branch in Indonesia since 2022. Citizen OS Indonesia organises various democracy-related projects across the country, including the nationwide opinion festival. The idea of organising the festival to promote a better and more democratic culture of discussion came to Agustina Iskandar Crombach while visiting Estonia, where she heard about the concept of democracy festivals and met several leaders involved in organising the Estonian Opinion Festival (Arvamusfestival).
“In 2020, Indonesia’s democracy index dropped, and several studies highlighted that people’s courage to express their opinions had decreased. I took part in the Arvamusfestival in Estonia thanks to their web transmission and it really resonated with me. I realised that as citizens, we have to be part of creating a space where people can express their opinions, where there is a good and safe discussion culture and where there is no need to fear sanctions or harassment because of expressing a different or more critical opinion,” said Crombach.
The main target group of the opinion festival in Indonesia are young people because Crombach and her team see that young people are excluded from political life and decision-making processes.
This year’s event covered topics such as youth and upcoming elections in 2024, women in politics, critical thinking and Artificial Intelligence, financial and social capital, empathy, freedom of speech, impact of lifestyle on climate change, etc.
In 2020, Indonesia's democracy index dropped, and several studies highlighted that people's courage to express their opinions had decreased. I realised that as citizens, we have to be part of creating a space where people can express their opinions, where there is a good and safe discussion culture and where there is no need to fear sanctions or harassment because of expressing a different or more critical opinion.
The Indonesian Opinion Festival was held on 24-29 in October and it took place in Bali, Java, Aceh and online. The event was attended by the governmental officials and leaders, institutions, civic society activists, young people and representatives of local communities. More than 200 volunteers were involved in organising the event.
Citizen OS is a non-profit organisation established in Estonia in 2019 but has gained international reach. The mission of Citizen OS is to increase people’s interest and ability to participate in decision-making processes with the support of new technologies. Citizen OS organises training and development programmes on democracy and provides a free, open-source e-participation and decision-making platform to improve public discussions and decision-making culture around the world.
Meelika Hirmo
Communications Lead
Shaping strategic communication and giving more momentum to the mission and initiatives of Citizen OS.
