This innovative model project builds a bridge between deliberative and direct democracy in order to strengthen citizen participation at the local level. Citizens' councils have proven to be a useful addition to representative democracy in Germany. By involving a diverse range of perspectives from randomly selected citizens, not only can viable solutions to pressing problems be found, but trust in politics is also demonstrably strengthened. All too often, however, the recommendations of citizens' councils are not implemented or only very selectively by politicians, or are not seriously considered.
To increase the effectiveness of citizens' councils, the project therefore focuses on a democratic innovation: citizens' councils are combined with a council referendum. Citizens will then be able to vote on the proposals made by the citizens' councils in a binding referendum. The aim is to gain insights for potential scaling.
The participating municipalities are Osterburg (Saxony-Anhalt), Flensburg and Pinneberg (Schleswig-Holstein). Osterburg will be the first municipality to launch a citizens' council in autumn 2025 and discuss the city's cycling infrastructure planning. Flensburg will start in spring 2026 with a citizens' council on the topic of mobility. In Pinneberg, the topic is currently being narrowed down further.