Teach yourself citizens juries

A citizens jury (CJ) can be described as ôan opportunity for people to express an informed view on a subject, according to their principlesö. The CJ includes ordinary people on the jury, who get information from specialists with different perspectives, and make conclusions on community issues in order to influence decision makers. This handbook uses a series of cartoons as a guide, to take you through a step-by-step process on how to plan, implement, and follow-up citizens juries (CJs). The cartoons illustrate what a CJ is, why you might want to have one, what the main ingredients of a CJ are, and how to set up and realise a CJ. The manual explains the origins of citizensÆ juries, and provides examples of some of the situations in which you might feel it would be worthwhile to hold a citizensÆ jury yourself. An accompanying video, æTeach yourself citizensÆ juries: Making a differenceÆ, has been prepared to accompany the manual; portraying examples of successful CJs in the UK.