The Moving Cities Action Guide presents 20 concrete ways in which cities in solidarity can contribute to the reception and relocation of refugees from abroad.more

In the 2nd project phase of Re:Match, German municipalities once again welcomed Ukrainian protection seekers after our algorithm calculated the best available matches between cities and protection seekers.more

In an interview with Radio Fluchtpunkt on Antenne Münster, BGP speaker Lea Rau discusses EU migration policy.more

The BGP & Eurocities hosted an insightful online panel exploring the role cities and city networks can play in light of the evolving CEAS-reform.more

Berlin Governance Platform founder Gesine Schwan illustrates how municipal development councils strengthen democracy and the common good.more

The BGP & Eurocities invite you to an insightful online panel exploring the role cities and city networks can play in light of the evolving CEAS-reform.more

What do the German parties, which belong to different political groups in the EU Parliament, think about issues of intra-European solidarity and the distribution of people seeking protection? We asked them.more

Following the successful Re:Match pilot phase in 2024, we are now looking forward to starting the second phase together with Right to Protection!more

At the beginning of April, the European Parliament voted in favour of the reform of the Common European Asylum System, thereby sealing that this reform will become law. The European Commission and the member states will be...more

Gesine Schwan & Laura Gerards Iglesias in an interview on local development councils with DEMO, the social democratic magazine for local politics.more

Our municipal development councils have been awarded a seal of approval for administrative innovation by the German Association of Towns and Municipalities and the Re:Form initiative.more

Cities in all EU member states develop best practices for successful integration based on their unique expertise and hand in hand with their civil society.more

Building on the experience gained in the pilot project "Shaping the future together locally!" 2021 - 2023, the concept of municipal development councils is presented in detail for the first time.more

Read "G20 Acceleration Call 2023 - From Coal to Renewables" and "G20 Acceleration Call 2023 - Oil and Gas" to learn more about the G20 transition away from fossil fuelsmore

Rottenburg Municipal Development Council presents recommendations - Deutschlandfunk reports.more

The "Social Actors Project" of our Climate&Energy team, funded by the Allianz Foundation, is coming to an end. The final report is now available for download.more

With the help of an algorithm-supported process, we successfully matched and relocated a group of 26 Ukrainian asylum seekers from Poland with the German municipalities this week.more

Gesine Schwan has contributed an article on municipal development councils to the new edition of the Kursbuch Bürgerbeteiligung.more

How can we support citizens in their self-efficacy as political subjects and arm them against the simplistic populism of the AFD? In the podcast "Politisches Feuilleton" from Deutschlandfunk Kultur...more

On 6 June 2023, our expert jury selected four municipalities for the new project cycle 2023 - 2025. Until April 2025, the Berlin Governance Platform will accompany the cities of Cottbus, Duisburg, Frankfurt...more

For the podcast Transit Talk by the Institut Solidarische Moderne, our managing director Daphne Büllesbach discussed the topic of the "Transit of the Future" with political scientist Raul Zelik, Lisa Jaspers from the Municipalism Working Group and Gesine Schwan, President of the Berlin Governance Platform...more

Hoyerswerda is a partner municipality in the pilot project Municipal Development Councils. Since January 2023, around 30 volunteer councillors in Hoyerswerda have been working on an overall concept for the green seam.more

The Re:Match project was portrayed in a new WDR audio report, among other things about the project status in our partner municipality Düsseldorf and our goal of developing a demand-oriented and individualised distribution mechanism using an algorithm.more

The Kalletal Municipal Development Advisory Board (KEB) has now met for the first of four meetings in the Kalldorf village community centre. The discussions focussed on healthcare provision in the community.more

The Re:Match project was presented in a new ZEIT ONLINE article: How can refugees in Germany be better distributed? Algorithms will soon help: People say what they need and the...more

"I thought we were doing citizen participation for rural health care, but I only really realised here how important this is for the development of democracy in our country in general!" This is how...more

Cities are important places for understanding migrant integration and refugee protection around the world. Although nation states usually have the authority over the selection and reception of...more

Between May 2022 and October 2023, the pilot project will accompany and support the five selected partner municipalities in setting up and implementing a Municipal Development Advisory Board. In this participation format, representatives from...more

The project "Municipal citizen participation in Lusatia", funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), dealt with the question of what role citizen participation at municipal level can play in...more

The Climate Transparency Report 2021 was published on 14 October 2021. The report is the world's most comprehensive annual report on G20 countries' climate action and their transition to a zero-emission economy....more

In contrast to the 2017 federal elections, migration and asylum policy issues only played a subordinate role in this year's election campaign. Nevertheless, there is hope that a new government after the elections will be able to meet the challenges...more

A core topic of the HVGP is the promotion of transdisciplinarity. In contrast to interdisciplinarity or multidisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity incorporates knowledge and experiences that originate outside the scientific system. Transdisciplinary research does not question...more

Cities and municipalities across Europe have shown their voluntary willingness to take in people seeking protection in recent years. These welcoming municipalities are growing in number and, together with the many...more

70 years after the adoption of the Geneva Convention on Refugees, European asylum and migration policy is at an impasse. Yet the cities and municipalities in Europe are very willing to take in refugees. At the end of June,...more

On 25 and 26 June, mayors from across Europe will come together with civil society actors in Palermo for a Conference of Cities for a Europe of Solidarity to discuss solutions for the reception of...more

Cities and municipalities are not only key players when it comes to providing protection, integration and social cohesion, they are also centres for business and development. At the same time...more

In 2017, guidelines for good participation in housing construction were developed in a project between the state-owned housing associations and the non-profit HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA Governance Platform. Since then, the state-owned housing associations have been applying the...more

Municipalities play a key role in the European energy transition: this is where much of the European legislation is implemented, where renewable energy plants are built and where direct contact with citizens takes place.more

The tight housing market is a real problem in many cities, especially in cities with a high proportion of tenants such as Berlin. 13 representatives from politics & administration, business and organised civil society...more