The Canberra Alliance for Participatory Democracy will aim to ensure grassroots voices are heard on community and national issues.

As well as individual members, it is expected to comprise more than 40 groups, including churches, environmental activist bodies and unions.

The impetus for the new body, which will try to hold governments and policy makers more directly accountable, springs from the first round of "kitchen table conversations" last year involving more than 100 people discussing issues they believed were not being given enough priority by the territory and federal governments.

One of the organisers, Professor Bob Douglas, from the Australian National University, said Canberra people responded enthusiastically when given a blank canvas to sketch their hopes for a better future.

He believes the Canberra Alliance will resonate strongly with the citizens of Canberra.

"The new body aims to enliven debate and action for a better, more healthy society across the ACT," he said.

"Issues such as human-induced climate change, environmental degradation, inequality and the limits to growth in human numbers are being calmly ignored by our federal representatives.

"There is no lack of people and groups advocating for the public interest and the common good but they are fragmented and often incoherent in the face of the cashed-up and well-focused forces ranged in favour of private interests."

Professor Douglas said community organising was not rocket science.

"Around the world, the discipline of community organising is playing a central role in re-establishing the power of people and giving them a more coherent voice in the development of public policy," he said.

"The aim of the movement is to build alliances between civil society groups, including faith groups, unions, non-government organisations, environmental and activist groups, and give members of all these groups opportunities to voice their concerns and to take action to remedy them."

The Canberra Alliance's scoping group says the objectives of the new body are: to empower Canberra citizens to engage in owning and planning for the common future and the common good; to develop and support citizen, community and civil society engagement in public decision-making; to facilitate opportunities for citizen input to government deliberations; and to develop citizens' capacity to hold governments and policy makers more directly accountable.

Asked if the aims were achievable Professor Douglas said: "That really depends on which organisations and individuals sign on for the ride."

While the Sydney Alliance is a formal partnership between 46 organisations from across civil society, the Canberra Alliance will build on both organisational and individual membership.

The launch of the new group, at Radford College at 1.30pm, will feature a "hands on" opportunity to learn about community organising.