Fraunhofer-Informationszentrum
Completed project
Background
As part of the project to evaluate the Citizens' Council Climate in Stuttgart, the effectiveness and efficiency of this instrument for citizen participation is being investigated. The Citizens' Council Climate is an example of participatory decision-making processes in which citizens are actively involved in policy-making. The goal is to increase the acceptance of political decisions and to create a broader basis for the implementation of measures. But how successful is the Citizens' Council on Climate actually? What influence does it have on political decisions? The project will investigate these questions and the results will help to further improve citizen participation in the future.
Goal
In the project for the evaluation of the Citizens' Council Climate in Stuttgart, the effectiveness and efficiency of this instrument for citizen participation will be investigated. The aim is to investigate the legitimacy and quality of the Citizens' Climate Council participation process. For this purpose, standardized short questionnaires as well as an ethnographic, criteria-guided observation will be used. The results should help to improve citizen participation in Stuttgart and beyond and to increase the acceptance of political decisions. Ultimately, the project should help citizens become more involved in the political process and thus strengthen democracy.
Role of Fraunhofer IRB
In the project for the evaluation of the Citizens' Council Climate in Stuttgart, the effectiveness and efficiency of this instrument for citizen participation will be investigated by Fraunhofer IRB.
Results
Within the framework of the Citizens' Council on Climate, recommendations for action were developed to improve the process of upcoming citizens' councils. Among other things, the topic should be more narrowly defined and concretized in order to make the council's work more effective. In order to obtain a broader base of opinions, informational materials in written form should be provided to participants early on to facilitate high-value discussions in small groups. It is recommended that more time be scheduled for substantive follow-up questions and discussion following stakeholder input to promote discussion among stakeholders and comparability of their positions. To promote diversity, include people under 18 and people with physical or mental disabilities.