The first cross-municipal citizens’ council in Germany completed its work last Saturday with 48 recommendations for the energy transition in the Freiburg region.
After the summer break, the results will first be presented to the municipal councils of the participating municipalities. 91 randomly drawn citizens took part in the climate citizens’ council in the Freiburg region (KBR). From May to July 2022, they came together in five sessions, were introduced to the topic by experts and jointly developed proposals on how the Freiburg region can achieve 100 percent renewable energies.
A pilot project that is unique in Germany was thus completed in the Freiburg region last Saturday in the Kageneckhalle in Stegen: the city of Freiburg and 15
Municipalities from the districts of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald and Emmendingen had co-financed the regional climate citizens’ council. Au, Bollschweil, Buchenbach, Elzach, Emmendingen, Freiburg, Gundelfingen, Horben, Kirchzarten, Merzhausen, Muellheim, Neuenburg, Oberried, Schallstadt, Stegen and Wittnau are involved.
The association AllWeDo eV was responsible for moderation and organization. Since it was founded in 2017, AllWeDo has been designing and moderating innovative participation events. For the KBR were
4000 citizens were written to and from the feedback 91 of them were as representative as possible for the population according to the characteristics of age, gender, educational and migration background
invited to participate. On a kick-off evening and four Saturdays from May to July 2022, the participants came together and developed recommendations on how the Freiburg region can achieve a supply from 100% renewable energies. In 25 lectures, experts prepared the topic of energy transition. The participants discussed this in professionally moderated small groups. An advisory board consisting of 22 representatives from science, business,
Civil society, youth, the city of Freiburg and the region suggested the experts. The topics of “Solar on and on buildings”, “Solar on open spaces”, “Wind power”, “Energy saving” and “Other renewable energies” such as hydropower, biomass and geothermal energy were discussed.
Overarching cross-cutting issues such as skilled workers, communication and organizational forms of the energy transition, such as citizen cooperatives, were also highlighted.
Climate protection does not stop at municipal borders
Prominent examples of citizens’ councils can now be found worldwide, for example in Ireland, France, Canada, Australia, Austria and Germany. So far, around 40 citizens’ councils have met locally in Germany. A new feature is a citizens’ council that connects several communities. dr Christian Ante, Mayor of Merzhausen emphasizes: “With the climate citizens’ council in the Freiburg region, we are sending two clear signals in Merzhausen together with the other 15 participating municipalities: 1.: We need inter-municipal solutions. Because climate protection does not end at district borders. 2. We trust our citizens and take their recommendations seriously.”
solutions instead of opinions
Marina Leibfried, conceptual manager and main moderator at KBR, is very satisfied with the course of events: “Even if the participants in the Citizens’ Council didn’t always agree: the atmosphere in KBR was great. The citizens’ councils want to make a difference and also discuss and solve difficult questions. A world of difference from polls and yes/no polls.” Representatives of the voluntary “Initiative Climate Citizens Council Region Freiburg” (Initiative KBR), who had paved the way for the Citizens Council since 2019, draw a positive conclusion: “What the participants and the project team achieved in a very short time is impressive,” says Kira Hoffmann from the KBR initiative, “the ball has started rolling in the direction of 100% renewables and will be returned to the municipal councils in the autumn. How will they react to this? What will be implemented when? You could say that things are really just getting started now. The recommendations must not just end up in a drawer”.
Participants are highly motivated
It is planned that participants of the citizens’ council will present the recommendations themselves in the municipal council meetings of the participating municipalities, with the support of AllWeDo. Some had already declared their willingness to do so on Saturday evening: “The participants are highly motivated. We are therefore now working at full speed on the handover dates. Also an exchange with all mayors and a press conference for September to publish the
Recommendations are in prospect,” says Daniel Hiekel, Managing Director of AllWeDo. In addition, the KBR and AllWeDo initiatives are planning so-called “Bürger:innencafés”, so that the citizens who don’t
were drawn for the KBR or whose municipality did not participate, be involved. There is a lot to do, so those involved in the project agree. They also agree with their conclusion: The first inter-communal climate citizens’ council was a celebration for everyone involved. People who might otherwise never meet put their heads together and not only exchanged opinions, but also worked out concrete solutions for more climate protection. Now it’s time for implementation.
(AllWeDo eV | 04.08.2022)
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