CityForum is a project about places where democracy, society and technology overlap. It’s trying to answer questions like: How can we bring more people into the civic and political life of the city? How can we find out what people in the city really think? How can we use open data in ways that support debate?

CityForum is a civic participation event where you can share and discuss the big issues you think the city’s politicians should be talking about. It’s based on the principles of openness, innovation and social purpose that were at the heart of CityCamp in March. It’s run by Demsoc, a local non-partisan organisation that works for better democracy.

During September we will be hosting discussions online – on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook – to find out what issues people in the city want to talk about. We’ll be picking up the most popular discussions, and adding to them with information and expert views to create a better debate.

On October 5^th, the discussion will move off the net and into the Sallis Benney Theatre on Grand Parade, where thanks to the generous support of the University of Brighton, we’ll be hosting an afternoon-into-evening discussion event, ending with a presentation of the outcome of discussion to a panel of senior city figures.

Everyone is welcome. We’ve reserved a quarter of tickets for community and voluntary groups to make sure the widest range of voices is heard, but other tickets will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, and will be available here from 6 September onwards.