Testing citizens’ assemblies in Hamburg-Barmbek

Hamburg is undergoing change. It was the only federal state not to have held any randomly selected citizens’ assemblies to date. That is now changing with the first two citizens’ assemblies in Harburg and Blankenese.

The coalition agreement between the SPD and the Greens would allow for further mini-publics in other districts. And at state level, too, intensive work is under way to establish a citizens’ assembly on climate change.

Nevertheless, many residents of Hamburg still do not know what a Citizens’ Assembly is or how it works. To change this and to facilitate objective, informed discussions, the Trialling Citizens’ Assemblies initiative has been launched.

The first pilot Citizens’ Assembly took place in Schnelsen on 13 June 2026. Forty interested participants engaged in a lively four-hour discussion on the topic ‘How can we achieve good communication in the neighbourhood?’, addressing questions such as: where are the shortcomings, what do we need, how can we achieve what is necessary, and what are our first steps towards this?

The next pilot Citizens’ Assembly will take place on 28 November 2026 in Barmbek. Come and join us!