Termin

Everyone to the table! Why municipalities should embrace more participation and how it can work in practice

How can municipalities better involve citizens in decision-making—and thereby strengthen trust in and the legitimacy of political processes? This question will be explored on April 16, 2026, during an online event as part of the Frauen.Vielfalt.Politik project.

Veröffentlicht am:

16.04.2026

About the event

How can municipalities better involve citizens in decision-making—and thereby strengthen trust in and the legitimacy of political processes? Many cities and towns want to facilitate participation but face a central challenge: often, it is always the same people who participate, while other groups are barely reached.

This online event examines this question from two perspectives: typical social patterns regarding democracy and participation, and municipal practice.

To kick things off, Lisa Höhn from More in Common Germany will provide an impulse on the role of participation in democracy and social cohesion. The focus will be on research by More in Common, which describes different social types. It shows how these groups view society and politics and what can be derived from this for potential participation formats. In particular, the event will look at the "invisible third"—people who feel less valued in society and desire more of a say.

In the second part of the event, we will turn our attention to practice: in three short spotlights, practitioners and initiatives will present concrete participation projects. They will demonstrate how citizen participation can be implemented locally and which approaches have proven successful for them.

The Speaker

Lisa Höhn works as an Associate for Partnerships at the international non-profit research organization More in Common. She supports and advises partners from civil society, business, and government on applying More in Common's social research in practice. She studied cultural and social anthropology and sociology in Munich and Freiburg.

Invitation to participate

We will look at practice together and present two examples of how to implement participation formats. We would also like to give you, as participants, the opportunity to contribute a proposal for a participation format that you consider particularly successful. If you would like to present this format or example yourself, please let us know in the corresponding field when registering.