The participation of people in political, social, and cultural processes is a key element of democratic societies. Participation encompasses the active involvement of people in decision-making and in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of measures that relate to their own lives or their communities. Since a functioning democracy is based on consideration of different opinions, perspectives, and interests, individuals should be given the opportunity to play an active part in shaping measures.

In an interdisciplinary and possibly also cross-national research project, approaches for technology-based participation methods and instruments are to be investigated: How can participatory decision-making processes be enabled, intensified, improved, or expedited for different issues and stakeholder constellations? The Foundation will be providing a sum of up to 500,000 euros annually (max. duration three years) for this purpose. Under the management of a scientific coordinator, who acts as spokesperson for the consortium, the research topic is worked on by several working groups at various scientific institutions in Germany and abroad. The members of a Research Network are accorded a high degree of freedom, determine their research program independently, and regularly convene.

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