---
title: G1000
type: research
status: active
country: BE
website: https://www.g1000.org
logo: /assets/org-logos/g1000.png
contact:
  checked: 2026-07-30
  email: info@g1000.org
  form: https://www.g1000.org/contact
  source: https://www.g1000.org/contact
summary: A Belgian civic innovation initiative that pioneered large-scale citizens'
  assemblies, bringing together randomly selected citizens to deliberate on complex
  public issues.
concepts:
- citizens-assembly
- deliberative-democracy
- sortition
- consensus-mapping
location:
  latitude: 50.8503
  longitude: 4.3517
  name: Brussels, Belgium
  precision: city
rss_feed: https://www.g1000.org/rss.xml
events:
- date: '2011-11-11'
  title: G1000 Citizens' Summit — 704 randomly selected citizens deliberate in Brussels
    during Belgium's 541-day government crisis
  url: https://www.g1000.org/en/cases/g1000-citizens-summit
  quote: In 2011, in the midst of a political crisis in a governmentless Belgium,
    G1000 was a citizens' initiative aimed at breathing new life into democracy by
    organizing a major citizens' consultation, bringing together 1,000 randomly selected
    citizens to make recommendations to the political world.
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: true
- date: '2019-02-01'
  title: Ostbelgien permanent citizen dialogue launched — the German-speaking Community's
    Parliament unanimously adopts a decree embedding a permanent Citizens' Council
  url: https://www.g1000.org/en/cases/permanent-citizen-dialogue-ostbelgien
  quote: This initiative, launched after a petition by Cap Démocratie, marked a first
    for Wallonia, where citizens and politicians worked together as equals.
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: true
activity:
  manual:
    checked: 2026-06-07
    date: 2026-05-11
    note: 'website loaded. They got a news section at https://www.g1000.org/en/news
      where latest is 11.05.2026 ''Your Voice Deserves a Seat: Launching Our Campaign
      for a permanent Citizens’ Assembly'''
    url: https://www.g1000.org/en/news
  rss:
    checked: 2026-08-17
    date: 2022-10-02
    note: 'Latest post: Future Forum Zoet Water'
    url: https://www.g1000.org/en/cases/future-forum-zoet-water
last_checked: '2026-05-30'
---

G1000 emerged from a 2011 experiment in Belgium: assembling 1,000 randomly selected citizens to deliberate on major policy questions at a time when Belgian politics was in prolonged deadlock (the country had gone without a federal government for over a year). The experiment demonstrated that ordinary citizens, given structured time and balanced information, could reach substantive and considered conclusions on hard political questions.

The original G1000 has since become a model and a reference point for citizens' assembly design internationally. The Belgian experience — particularly the contrast between what the citizens produced and what the professional political class couldn't agree on — became one of the most cited early examples in the deliberative democracy literature.

The organisation continues to work on participatory processes and to document and share what was learned from the original experiment.

## Key people

- **[David Van Reybrouck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Van_Reybrouck)** — Belgian cultural historian and author of *Against Elections: The Case for Democracy* (2013), the book that brought sortition arguments to a wide international audience. Co-initiated the original 2011 G1000 experiment and has been the most visible European public advocate for citizens' assemblies.

## Links

- Website: [g1000.org](https://www.g1000.org)

## See also

- [Citizens' Assembly](../concepts/citizens-assembly.md)
- [Sortition](../concepts/sortition.md)
- [Consensus Mapping](../concepts/consensus-mapping.md)
- [newDemocracy Foundation](newdemocracy.md)
- [Healthy Democracy](healthy-democracy.md)
- [MASS LBP](mass-lbp.md)