In a yearlong ethnographic study, we actively participated as members of the national planning committee for fourteen local climate conferences, we examined how citizen participation was imagined and enacted. We introduce a framework for studying the relationship between cognitive engagement, learning, and civic engagement in the public sphere. We describe the different levels of cognitive and civic engagement in the design of climate conference activities. The findings suggest that the planners' approach to democracy, the involvement of environmental NGOs, and individual attitudes toward environmental change, may collectively contribute to diminished levels of cognitive and civic engagement among residents. Furthermore, we observed that more collaborative interpretations of cognitive and civic engagement align closely with deliberative democracy approaches, emphasizing inclusive, dialogical processes. We discuss the implications of these findings for the future design of climate conferences and how they relate to the evolving roles of environmental NGOs.