Citizens' jury with referendum in Osterburg
In the German city of Osterburg, a Citizens' Jury has listed problems in the area of mobility and drawn up a list of recommendations for the city council. The three most pressing problems from the mini-public's point of view will be put to a vote in a referendum in 2026.
The list of recommendations from the ‘Mobility and Cycling’ Citizens' Jury has 21 points. It was handed over to the city council on 16 December 2025. The analysis ranges from a lack of cycle paths in the towns to roads in need of repair and difficult traffic management in Osterburg city centre.
Important impetus
Many of the problems addressed were already known to the administration, said Matthias Köberle, head of the building authority. He acted as a liaison between the Citizens' Jury and the administration.
It was important ‘that we got this impetus from the Citizens' Jury again, that it is important to the citizens.’ Working with the committee was great fun. ‘We really enjoyed this instrument of citizen participation, of democracy,’ said Köberle. The administration hopes to be able to ‘implement this again’ in other areas.
Christine Neumann was also a member of the citizens' assembly. Before the first Citizens' Assembly meeting in the summer of 2025, the retired teacher told the broadcaster MDR: ‘It's time that people were actually listened to. Most politicians obviously no longer have their ear to the ground.’ After the last meeting of the mini-public, she sums up that she felt ‘taken seriously.’ The work in the small working groups was interesting; everyone contributed. Other participants expressed regret that the work of the Citizens' Jury was now coming to an end.
Three questions for the referendum
Two of the questions selected for the referendum concern the biggest problem child in Osterburg's city centre: Breite Straße. The shopping street is narrow, but nevertheless open to trucks and cars in one direction and cyclists in both directions. In recent years, there have been repeated dangerous situations because road users have come too close to each other. The Citizens' Jury is now proposing a vote on whether ‘loading and unloading zones and cycle lanes should be better marked with coloured markings in Breite Straße’ and whether ‘two existing parking spaces should be converted into disabled parking spaces’ there.
The third question formulated for the referendum concerns Krumker Straße, one of the main access roads into the town. Krumker Straße is in dire need of renovation. In the referendum, eligible voters could decide whether ‘Krumker Straße should be renovated (...) and, in the course of this, a combined cycle path and footpath should be created there’.
The suggestions made by the Citizens' Jury are also to be incorporated into the climate concept of the unified municipality. There had also been a mini-public on climate issues in Osterburg.
Procedure decided by the city council
The city council had decided on the procedure on 17 September 2024 by a large majority (12 votes in favour, 5 abstentions). The 30 members of the Citizens' Jury were randomly selected from the population. In mid-May 2025, 900 people were invited. By mid-June 2025, 168 of those invited had responded. From these applications, a mini-public was put together that reflected the Osterburg population in terms of age, gender, education and place of residence. The age range was from 16 to 83, and all eleven districts of Osterburg were represented. The Citizens' Jury members received an expense allowance of €240.
After hearing from experts and holding extensive discussions in six meetings between 21 August and 27 November 2025, the participants had drawn up their 21 recommendations for transport planning in the town of Osterburg.
Residents' meeting
A residents' meeting is planned for 22 January 2026. Interested parties will then have the opportunity to learn about the Citizens' Jury process and the recommendations made by participants.
The city council is expected to decide in its first or second session in 2026 whether and which recommendations will be put to a vote in a referendum.
Referendum in September 2026
Whether the three most important recommendations of the Citizens' Jury will be implemented will ultimately be decided by the entire city in a referendum. All citizens are called upon to vote on the recommendations of the mini-public at the ballot box on 6 September 2026.
A referendum is a citizens' decision that is not initiated by a citizens' petition from the population, but is decided by the respective municipal council or district council. The result is binding.
Climate meets municipality
The citizens' assembly in Osterburg is part of the ‘Klima trifft Kommune' (Climate meets Municipality) project supported by Mehr Demokratie and the Gesellschaft für Klima und Demokratie (Society for Climate and Democracy). The project focuses on linking formally non-binding climate citizens' assemblies with binding referendums. The city of Osterburg is participating in this project as a model municipality. The municipalities of Flensburg and Pinneberg as well as the Berlin district of Marzahn-Hellersdorf are also involved.
‘With this project, we are creating a nationwide model for how difficult political issues, such as climate protection, can be decided by society as a whole,’ said Steffen Krenzer, head of democracy and climate at the professional association Mehr Demokratie, explaining the process. "The aim is to enable climate protection that is actively shaped by the people. Many people want more climate protection in principle, but they are dissatisfied with the current political decision-making processes. This is where we come in: the result of the council referendum is binding.
The Citizens' Jury procedures are reviewed and evaluated by the Institut für Demokratie- und Partizipationsforschung (Institute for Democracy and Participation Research) at the University of Wuppertal to ensure compliance with quality standards for dialogical citizen participation.
Project awarded
On 4 June 2025, the ‘Klima trifft Kommune’ project was awarded the ‘Bewährt vor Ort’ seal by the Deutscher Städte- und Gemeindebund (German Association of Towns and Municipalities) and the ‘Re:Form’ initiative. Reason: The project makes local authorities more resilient to climate change by involving citizens early on in decision-making processes, developing solutions for climate targets and, at the same time, strengthening trust in democracy.
The ‘Bewährt vor Ort’ seal recognises successfully tested changes in administrative practice and rules, as well as projects that have been implemented jointly by an administrative unit and a non-profit organisation. In 2025, a non-partisan jury of administrative practitioners honoured groundbreaking municipal innovations for the second time. A total of 29 projects in four subject areas were awarded.