Bringing people together
A special Citizens' Assembly has been working in Greifswald since 11 October 2025. Sixty residents of the city, selected at random, will contribute their perspectives, ideas and wishes for the Greifswald of tomorrow until 2028. While other mini-publics only meet for a short period of time, the Greifswald Future Council will meet for three years.
‘Breaking new ground’
‘We want to break new ground in order to broaden citizen participation, gain experience and strengthen trust in democratic processes,’ says Mayor Dr. Stefan Fassbinder. ‘The Future Council is an experiment for more co-determination, transparency and cooperation in our city.’
The President of the City Council, Prof. Dr. Madeleine Tolani, also emphasises its special significance: ‘The Future Council is addressing an important issue in a new way, moving beyond party political controversies to develop joint ideas based on a wide range of views.’
2,000 people selected at random
Around 2,000 residents over the age of 16 with their main residence in Greifswald were selected at random by the residents' registration office for the Future Council and contacted by letter. Around 170 responded.
A second stratified selection was made based on these responses. As a result, the selected group reflects the population in terms of age, gender, place of residence and nationality. The Future Council now consists of 28 men and 32 women of different ages from all districts of the city. A pool of substitutes has also been created.
Future Council members determine topics themselves
The participants themselves determine which topics they will work on. They discuss these topics in eleven meetings with the help of modern group methods and develop joint proposals. A working group is on hand to provide them with expert knowledge.
The results are presented to the city council, who then discuss them and give their opinions. Transparent public relations work ensures that all Greifswald residents can follow the process. The University of Greifswald provides scientific support. The Future Council is funded by the Robert Bosch Foundation, the federal programme ‘Demokratie leben!’ (Live Democracy!) and the Vorpommern Fund.
People hardly ever come into contact with each other
Not least due to the publication of the study ‘Behind the Facades: On the Unequal Distribution of Poverty, Wealth, Education and Ethnicity in German Cities’ by the Berlin Social Science Centre, it has become apparent what many Greifswald residents would emphasise, according to the administration: due to the spatial and social separation of the city's districts, people from different social and cultural backgrounds hardly ever come into contact with each other. Constructive discussions about different views, without any camp affiliations, are rarely seen in public spaces.
In addition, disputes in recent years have made it clear that many citizens feel misunderstood, unserious or neglected. ‘This has given parts of the urban population the impression that political decisions are less geared towards what actually matters to the people in the city,’ the administration notes.
Overcoming social divisions
‘I am convinced that randomly selected citizens' assemblies (...) can help to overcome social divisions,’ says mini-public coordinator Anja Rosswinkel in an interview with Chrismon magazine. "When people from all walks of life, age groups and neighbourhoods come together to think about the future of their city, I believe it fosters understanding and respect for one another. For me, citizens' assemblies are a way to regain trust in democracy – step by step, person by person," the city employee continues.
The citizens' assembly sends out a signal: all opinions can be heard and taken into account, and on this basis, we can continue to work together. This can involve people and reconnect them more closely with politics.
Equal participation of all stakeholders ensured
The city of Greifswald promises that the Future Council events will use methods that ensure the equal participation of all stakeholders. Hierarchies will be dissolved, leading to open communication with a balanced distribution of active participation. ‘The interactive elements of the methods create a more positive group dynamic,’ explains the city.
The participants in the Future Council meet in eleven sessions to gather information, hear from experts, hold debates and develop ideas together. According to the city, the cooperation of citizens in the Future Council enables ‘creative and pragmatic approaches to complex local problems and challenges, which are summarised as recommendations and results in interim reports and final recommendations’.
Procedural process ensured
The necessary procedural process for a policy decision by the city council and the involvement of all committees, specialist committees, advisory boards, working groups and networks is ensured by the city council's office. At the same time, this interface within the administration will ensure that the participants of the Future Council receive the procedural information necessary for the meetings, which they will need to take into account in their proposed solutions.