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In Oldenburg (Germany), the opening of a new leisure area turned a simple park into an opportunity for citizen participation. During the “Name Vote” initiative, citizens were invited to help name the area as part of its official opening on August 15th 2025. Around 140 suggestions were collected that...

In Oldenburg (Germany), creative ideas are being used to spark conversations and promote civic engagement. With the “Oldenburg Beermats”, residents were invited to take part in a unique initiative that connected everyday dialogue with broader themes of democracy and inclusion. In this article, the c...

On Wednesday July 9th 2025, Bellidée organized the Banquet Citoyen in Saint-Martin-Boulogne (France) —an open-air civic celebration that has become a yearly summer tradition for the region’s social centers. This year, the event brought together up to 650 attendees! This included residents, users of...

The EU Youth Strategy for 2019-2027 highlights a concerning decline in participation among young people in the EU. Given this context, it is crucial to understand barriers to participation and how to foster youth engagement. As part of Interreg North Sea’s LISTEN project, partners from Sweden, Franc...

Anne Tortzen is an expert in co-production and citizen engagement and founder of Center for Citizen Dialogue (Denmark). Anne has trained as a political scientist and process- and communication consultant. She has published a number of books and articles on citizen engagement, co-creation and de...

In the municipality of Groningen, a citizen assembly decides over the new waste policy. 120 carefully selected participants engage in dialogue regarding waste reduction, and formulate their recommendations towards the city council. A citizen assembly is one of the highest forms of citizen engagement...

We spoke with Berber Snippe, who recently completed an internship with the Speak Up project at the municipality of Groningen. Her work focused on researching how food councils function, and how Groningen could found one. In this interview, we discuss her main findings and the transnationality of suc...

On May 20th, Speak Up hosted a webinar on Hoogkerk’s (Netherlands) innovative participatory budgeting method. Through community dialogues and voting, this initiative enables citizens to have a say on some of the village’s budgeting expenses, directly responding to their needs. This event featured Ma...

On June 4th 2025, over 60 participants gathered in Skive for the conference Driving Climate Action Through Citizen Engagement, organised by Skive Kommune and VIA University College. It was the second external conference hosted by the Speak Up partnership. The event brought together local practitione...