Whether the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and their derivations at national and regional level, the UN Convention on Climate Change or the German government's National Climate Protection Act - ambitious plans for implementing sustainability and regulating the climate can be found everywhere and are aimed at decision-makers. The municipal level has a special role to play here, as this is where many of the levers for implementation lie. At the same time, the municipality is often the scene of particularly bitter disputes because the effects of planning and policy are particularly tangible. A prerequisite for the successful implementation of sustainability goals is therefore negotiation between and participation by many.
The participation format of the Municipal development councils (KEB). These are made up of around 30 stakeholders from the municipality, representing different interests and perspectives from civil society, business, politics and administration. The result comprises forward-looking strategies for the future, which are then passed on to politicians for implementation in concrete resolutions. The process itself is a moderated dialogue in which the focus is on finding a basic consensus for the common good in a transparent manner and at eye level. A total of ten municipalities have gone through the process so far under the guidance of the Berlin Governance Platform. These include Herne and White watertwo municipalities of different sizes in which the topic of sustainability and environmental protection played a major role in the participation process.
The in eNewsletter of the Citizen Participation Network This article reports on the experiences of the two municipalities and shows the potential of municipal development councils for sustainability issues.
