Democracy & Participation Network
The Democracy & Participation Network is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. Reason enough to ask, at the 2026 Network Meeting, what ideas and visions we can draw on to jointly advance the future of participation and civic engagement.
The title of the network meeting on 12 June 2026 is therefore:
Design with impact!
The future of participation and its contribution to a resilient democracy
There is much to discuss:
How can we ensure that participation and involvement in political and societal decision-making and change processes become a matter of course for everyone involved? At which points can and must participatory processes ‘dock’ strategically in the future? Which methodological approaches should we rethink or develop further in the future? What standards do we set for the quality of our work in this regard?
How can all this succeed under increasingly difficult conditions? How can we achieve participation in the face of significantly scarcer financial resources? And: How can we, through our work and our commitment, help to protect democracy against current threats?
Ideas and visions
In preparation for the discussions at the 2026 Network Meeting, the Mitarbeit Foundation invites you to share your ideas and visions for the future of our shared commitment and field of work.
Please send a short text*, a video*, a drawing, a poem or similar containing your ideas for the future. These will be published in the Stiftung Mitarbeit newsletter 2/2026 in May and discussed at the 2026 network meeting.
The deadline for submissions is 6 May 2026 | redaktion@demokratie-und-beteiligung.de.
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* Text: 3,000 to 6,000 characters including spaces, Video: max. 2 minutes
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• The network meeting is aimed at networkers and interested parties.
• The »Framework for self-understanding and cooperation within the Democracy and Participation Network« applies.
• Here you will find continuously updated information on the 2026 network meeting.