National Citizens‘ Assembly Nutrition in Transition on behalf of the German Bundestag

National Citizens’ Assembly are a young democratic form of participation in Germany. Following the Irish model, nexus is conducting the first National Citizens’ Assembly on democracy in 2019 on behalf of Mehr Demokratie e.V. and together with ifok GmbH. Two recommendations of this National Citizens‘ Assembly on democracy were the legal anchoring of nationwide Citizens‘ Assemblies as well as the initiation of a Citizens‘ Assemblies by parliament and/or government. (see here: buergergutachten.pdf)

Only three years later, these recommendations have become reality and the Bundestag has invited tenders for the implementation of up to three National Citizens‘ Assemblies in the current 20th legislative term (until 2025) and awarded the contract to the consortium of which nexus is a member.

The Citizens‘ Assemblies of the German Bundestag are intended to help identify where society as a whole stands on issues of high social relevance. The Citizens‘ Assemblies are successful when the results of their deliberations are taken up by parliament, developed further in the parliamentary process and perceived and discussed by the wider public. With the establishment resolution of May 10, 2023, the German Bundestag approved the first national citizens‘ council on the topic of „Nutrition in Transition: Between Private Concerns and State Responsibilities.“ For each Citizens‘ Assembly, 160 citizens are randomly selected to represent the social diversity of the Federal Republic of Germany. The participating citizens are invited to work out concrete recommendations for action to politicians in several sessions. nexus is involved in the conception, the implementation of the random procedure, the preparation, implementation and follow-up of the first Citizens‘ Assembly of the German Bundestag. The Citizens‘ Assembly deliberates in a hybrid format with face-to-face sessions on weekends and digital sessions. The first session will take place at the end of September 2023.

Duration: 03/2023 – 09/2025
Client: Deutscher Bundestag
Team: Dr. Christine von Blanckenburg (Project manager), Ina Metzner (Deputy project management), Prof. Dr. Christiane Dienel (Consultant), Prof. Dr. Hans-Liudger Dienel (Consultant), Eike Biermann, Isabel Förster, Moritz Otto, Timon Rüdisser
Project partner: Mehr Demokratie e.V., ifok GmbH, Institut für Partizipatives Gestalten (IPG) in Zusammenarbeit mit der Sortition Foundation und Event&Regie und monteundvogdt

Picture: Robert Boden