'Consumption-free places for children'
The second Citizens' Assembly of the German city of Lüneburg has been running since 20 September 2025. The topic to be addressed by the 30 participants is consumption-free places for children in the city centre.
Especially in the summer, some places in Lüneburg's city centre are lively - but, according to some critics, they impose a ‘consumption obligation’. They say there is only room there for people who buy an ice cream or a coffee. There is a lack of public, consumption-free places to stay, especially for children, young people and their families.
‘A tool for strengthening democracy’
Which place in the city centre is suitable as a public, consumption-free place? What conditions must be met? What could a place for young people look like? Is Schrangenplatz suitable for the young target group? These are questions that the mini-public will address.
‘I am delighted that we are continuing the Citizens' Assembly this year (...)’, says Lüneburg's mayor Claudia Kalisch. ‘The Citizens' Assembly helps to ensure that the perspectives of our urban society can be incorporated into the deliberations of the administration and politicians. It is an important instrument for strengthening democracy.’ The new task for 2025 ties in wonderfully with the content of the recent Lüneburg City Conference on the topic of the city centre.
Youth Forum survey
The Youth Forum, the results of the children's conferences and the primary schools are involved in the organisation and implementation of the meetings.
With the support of the city's youth welfare service and in close coordination with the Hanseatic city's green planning department, the Lüneburg Youth Forum launched a survey: What is important to young people in playgrounds and parks? The survey was aimed at young people aged 12 and above. Among other things, they were asked about their favourite places in the city and the times when they most frequently visit parks and playgrounds.
Citizens' Assembly receives survey results
Following the survey, the results were evaluated, presented to Lüneburg politicians and made available to the city administration for long-term planning. The Citizens' Assembly also receives insight into its work.
The Lüneburg Youth Forum has been in existence since 2020. It is a committee for young people aged 12 to 22 that meets regularly and is supported by youth welfare workers. The Youth Forum promotes the interests of young people in Lüneburg and advises politicians and administrators on youth issues. It has its own funding for youth projects and attends political meetings to report on them on its own Instagram channel.
Introduction of citizens' assemblies decided in 2024
In September 2024, the council of the Hanseatic city of Lüneburg decided to introduce citizens' assemblies as a new instrument of citizen participation. According to the decision, a citizens' assembly with 30 randomly selected citizens is to be held annually.
For the second mini-public, the citizens of Lüneburg were called upon to submit topic suggestions in February and March 2025. Participation was possible online, by post or in person. A total of 39 suggestions were received. After grouping them by topic, the administration had 27 different topics to consider.
These suggestions were subjected to a formal and technical evaluation by the administration. The results of this evaluation were made available to the inter-party working group on citizens' assemblies, which considered the proposals in May 2025.
Two topics to choose from
The working group unanimously agreed to present two topics to the council for selection for the 2025 citizens' assembly:
a) Consumption-free places for children in the city centre (with recommendations for Schrangenplatz)
b) Measures against loneliness
The city council decided on the first topic in June 2025.
600 randomly selected people invited
On 7 July, the city administration sent invitations to participate in the Citizens' Assembly to 600 randomly selected people aged 16 and over. A group of 30 people was assembled from the 53 positive responses. This group reflects the composition of the population of Lüneburg in terms of age, gender, education, place of residence, migration background and households with children. The youngest participant is 18, the oldest 86.
The mini-public will meet on five weekends until 22 November 2025. Participants will receive an expense allowance of 35 euros per session.