Successful neighborhood workshop in Brötzingen: Citizens shape the future!

Successful neighborhood workshop in Brötzingen: Citizens shape the future!

Brötzingen experienced an exciting exchange from June 23rd to July 4th, 2025: The Quartier Workshop brought citizens, administration and local actors together. The centerpiece was a mobile tiny house that functioned as an action and information center. Here, all generations were able to take part in open coffee meetings, experience hands-on activities for children and even have a direct conversation with Mayor Peter Boch. Boch expressed his enthusiasm about the keen interest of citizens and the large number of participants.

The Quartier Workshop aims to bring the city administration closer to the population and strengthen local identity. This is done through a variety of activities that not only promote creativity and ideas among citizens, but also focus on important issues such as climate protection, sustainability and digitalization. The impressive response from the actors involved shows that this format is on the right track to actively involve citizens in urban development.

Next stop in Dillweißenstein

The next Quartier Workshop will take place from September 24th to October 8th, 2025 on Ludwigsplatz in Dillweißenstein. The findings and experiences from Brötzingen will be continued and deepened here. The city has one concern: It wants to ensure that the needs and wishes of its citizens are incorporated into future urban development. Exchange with the population is essential in order to promote lively neighborhood life and strengthen social cohesion.

A central element of the Quartier Workshop is the invitation to actively participate. The city administration would like to use these events to capture the opinions and ideas of citizens and is ready to work with those involved to find solutions. Feedback from participants is not only desired, but will also be incorporated into the planning of future events.

Participation as a challenge

Despite the positive response to the Quartier Workshop, there are also critical voices about citizen participation that have been raised again and again since the 1960s. This is often referred to as “pseudo participation” when citizens are not really involved in the planning processes. District initiatives are similarly critical, showing that citizens' creative ideas are often not incorporated into planning. Whether in Hamburg or elsewhere, examples show how important demands are ignored, which undermines trust in such participation processes.

Nevertheless, the Quartier Workshop's request to actively involve citizens and pave the way for participatory democracy is a step in the right direction. Ultimately, it is precisely this type of participation that could create new dynamics for collective organizing processes and thus contribute to better coexistence in the districts. The city of Pforzheim therefore strives not only to enable formal participation, but also to practice real participation. It is important to address the challenges of citizen participation and to offer a platform where innovations and ideas have space.

Further details and information about the Quartier Workshop can be found on the city of Pforzheim website and at mitmachen-pforzheim.de. For anyone who would like to find out more about the initiative, it is worth visiting the website bpb.de.