Citizens' Forum develops proposals for gender equality goals

© Thommy Weiss / pixelio.de

The Berlin Senate’s Office for Gender Equality would like to hear from Berliners: What needs to change in Berlin so that women and men can live on an equal footing? From July through October 2026, rrndomly selected residents aged 16 and older, will explore this question. They will come together in a Citizens’ Forum to discuss what gender equality in Berlin means to them.

Participants are encouraged to share their own everyday experiences and perspectives in the forum with the goal of developing five to eight proposals for guiding principles on gender equality in Berlin. They will be supported in this process by experts from academia, government, and civil society. The proposals for the guiding principles will then be incorporated into the State of Berlin’s gender equality strategy, which is currently being developed by the Senate Department for Gender Equality.

Thanks to forum members

“Good, citizen-centered policy is only truly good if it reflects people’s perspectives. That is why we founded the Citizens’ Forum,” explained Senator Cansel Kiziltepe at the start of the mini-public on July 3, 2026. She thanked the participating Berliners “for contributing their time and experiences and for helping us advance true equality in all areas of life in Berlin.”

For the Citizens’ Forum, 3,500 people selected at random from the municipal registry were invited by mail to participate. From among those interested, 60 people were selected to represent urban society as broadly and diversely as possible. This is intended to ensure that as many real-life experiences as possible are reflected in the outcome.

Proposals will be published in October

The mini-public is being implemented by the nexus Institute for Cooperation Management and Interdisciplinary Research, which has already organized and conducted numerous random selection meetings.

The forum’s proposals for the guiding principles of gender equality policy are expected to be published in late October 2026.

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