Civil society engagement and democracy promotion

Being able to participate in the development of your own community, be it through participation formats for citizens, the joint implementation of projects in the district or the charitable voluntary work in associations, initiatives or foundations, strengthens the sense of community, breaks down barriers, brings people together, increases identification with the community and is one of the most effective measures against hatred, hate speech, intolerance and exclusion.

Particularly municipal policy bears a special responsibility here: It creates the framework conditions in which civil society engagement can flourish, opens up spaces for dialogue and encounter and ensures that citizens can be directly effective with their ideas, concerns and skills.

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What civil society engagement and democracy promotion mean to us

Civil society engagement promotes encounters and builds bridges

Those who work together grow together. This creates closeness, understanding for each other and promotes mutual acceptance. This in turn promotes diversity, inclusion and integration.

Participation of urban society strengthens democracy

Participation processes for urban society promote participation and creative power. This strengthens democratic structures, builds political disenchantment, strengthens citizens' influence and leads to more acceptance of political decisions.

Commitment promotes participation

Those who engage quickly find connections, form ties, form friendships and thus experience the effectiveness of their own commitment. This increases identification with the municipality, broadens horizons, makes democratic negotiation processes and one's own design possibilities tangible.

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What we want to do specifically in this area

Democracy thrives on participation. Only an active and critical civil society has the strength to defend democracy against right-wing forces that want to destroy it. We in Wiesbaden, the Refugee Council or the Foreigners' Advisory Board: Wiesbaden has a large number of associations, initiatives and institutions that are committed to an open and diverse society. We want to preserve these structures and defend them against legal interference. Even in difficult budget situations.

Although de facto the democratic basic order, including fundamental rights, significantly shape the daily life of Wiesbaden residents, the concrete awareness of this is declining. In order to make democracy tangible and tangible again, we want to transport concretely what democracy is and does every week in workshops, readings, football matches, gaming events and the like. The pilot project or model is the first Klarenthal Democracy Week from 22 to 26 September 2025.

Wiesbaden is Rainbow City, European city, in the alliance NExT and participates in the Federal Network DemocracyLife. We want to give more support to the partnership associations in order to further promote the exchange and strengthening of democratic values. This is also in view of the fact that there are partner cities in which democratic values and lived diversity are increasingly coming under pressure, such as in Istanbul or Görlitz.

Important Wiesbaden residents, especially young people and people with a migrant background, currently still have relatively little access to the already existing opportunities for citizen participation – such as local councils, the senior citizens' advisory board or the foreigners' advisory board. Further access should therefore be opened to complete this system: a Citizens' Council. This can be convened on city-wide relevant topics. Participation is possible for all Wiesbaden residents. We want to promote a pilot project to test this format at the city level.

We build existing formats such as Wiesbaden is working Consistently develop and develop new digital participation instruments. This makes co-creation easier, more transparent and more attractive. Citizens have more influence on projects in their city – from urban planning and culture to environmental and climate protection. With hybrid offerings (on-site and digital), we want to address young people in particular and groups that have not yet been reached. Wiesbaden thus becomes a city in which participation is a matter of course and decisions are made together.

Wiesbaden has built up a broad infrastructure with the Volunteer Centre, the Wiesbaden Foundation, the Service Centre for Associations or the Bürgerkolleg. This not only introduces people to charitable work and the multitude of active initiatives and associations, but also qualifies people in a wide variety of fields so that they can work on a voluntary basis. Especially in times of tense households, this existing network must not be attacked, but must be expanded in the future.

To ensure that people continue to be involved in our community, we want to support measures that inspire young people to become involved more strongly. Programmes such as Young and Committed or institutions such as the Youth Information Centre (JIZ) or the Youth Parliament must therefore be further promoted so that young people can enjoy participation and commitment. In addition, we want to support measures that increase appreciation for people who volunteer. So we want to make the volunteer card better known and introduce a thanksgiving party for volunteers once a year.

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What we have already achieved

The website has been relaunched. Significant opportunities for improvement have been implemented, especially in terms of digital participation opportunities. As a result, more citizens can participate actively, submit ideas and participate in discussions – a win-win for democracy and urban development.

By displaying all session templates on Wiesbaden Acts More transparency has been created and the participation platform has been upgraded.

The "Guidelines for Citizen Participation" and the participation process are constantly evaluated and adapted in the exchange between administration and politics.

Synergy effects are to be created through more public relations, the acquisition of new partner companies and the combination of services in a Wiesbaden Card. A process has been started here. The implementation of a unified map has not yet been completed.

New citizens in Wiesbaden get information about access to opportunities to volunteer. The idea is on its way. The administration checks the implementation.

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