EBBS Network Meeting on September 15, 2026

On September 15, 2026, the annual meeting of the Citizen Participation Experience and Advisory Network took place at TU Dresden. The Saxon State Ministry of Social Affairs, which oversees the network, collaborated this year with the Chair of Political Systems and Comparative Politics held by Professor Marianne Kneuer. The network brings together various stakeholders in the field of participation from politics, public administration, civil society, and academia. The goal is to facilitate a shared exchange of experiences and mutual learning in the spirit of best practices. The Chair has also long had a focus on the topic of participation, with various aspects of it being intensively researched.

As the host of the meeting, Prof. Kneuer welcomed the Minister of State for Social Affairs, Health, and Social Cohesion, Ms. Petra Köpping. Together, they attended a demonstration of a robotic arm at the Center for Tactile Internet (CeTI) . In her opening keynote address, Prof. Kneuer emphasized the importance of citizen participation as a democratic practice and highlighted Saxony’s leading role in digital participation.

This was followed by a panel discussion featuring Prof. Kneuer, Minister of State Köpping, Angela Jain (Bertelsmann Foundation), and Nico Dittmann (Mayor of Thalheim/Erzgeb. and Vice President of the Saxon Association of Cities and Municipalities) discussed the benefits and blind spots of digital participation.

In twelve different workshops, the more than 100 participants at the meeting were able to learn about and discuss a wide variety of aspects of participation and civic engagement. Two of these workshops were organized by the Chair of Political Systems: Bastian Stock presented the findings of the project“Success Factors of Local E-Participation,” and Janek Treiber discussed with participants the conditions necessary for successful citizen participation.

The jointly organized network meeting represents another milestone in the close collaboration between the Saxon State Ministry for Social Affairs and Social Cohesion and the Chair of Political Systems and Comparative Politics. Between January 2024 and March 2026, the Chair evaluated the Free State of Saxony’s funding guidelines for citizen participation.