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Room for participation: Promoting participatory culture

Clients

Marzahn-Hellersdorf District Office, Steglitz-Zehlendorf District Office

Project period

2022 – 2024

Results

Strengthening participation structures in the district
Contribution to sustainable urban development

In 2019, Berlin adopted guidelines for the participation of citizens in spatial urban development. The twelve districts were then asked to develop their own guidelines. Together with the office die raumplaner, intep is supporting the district of Marzahn-Hellersdorf in the development and is implementing the existing guidelines of Steglitz-Zehlendorf in the form of a space for participation.

The starting point

Since 2019, official guidelines (German) have created binding “rules of the game” for the non-statutory (informal) participation of citizens in Berlin. The twelve Berlin districts are required to develop and implement their own guidelines. In order to make participation profitable for both sides, the districts of Marzahn-Hellersdorf and Steglitz-Zehlendorf sought support from intep and the urban planning office die raumplaner.

For Marzahn, the project team, experienced in participation processes, was allowed to develop the district’s own guidelines for participation. In Steglitz-Zehlendorf, the aim is to implement the existing guidelines. To this end, an office has been set up on site, the Raum für Beteiligung. It serves as a contact point for citizens and a central platform for information, advice and networking in relation to district projects and participation processes.

Our contribution

The guidelines for Marzahn are developed in a participatory process, both through internal workshops and public participation procedures. In the Room for Participation, the team informs and advises Steglitz citizens on all aspects of participation in district projects. In participation processes, it mediates between the administration or politics on the one hand and civil society and businesses on the other. In addition, intep provides expertise on methods and formats related to participation.

The projects promote the transparency of projects and opportunities for participation in the districts, enabling more people to engage in urban development. In this way, intep contributes significantly to contemporary, sustainable urban policy: according to the New Leipzig Charter, the core document of urban development policy in Europe, participation structures are essential for the sustainable transformation of cities and communities.

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