Citizens’ Participation

“We’re Also Doing the Talking!” That’s how we see our image as the “District Committee, Reuterkiez” in Berlin Neukölln. It’s not just an ideal – we’re also doing the talking, and changing things in our neighbourhood! How that works, who joins in and how it all evolved – that’s what we will explain here. We are residents and committed citizens in Reuterkiez, in Northern Neukölln. We are involved in ensuring our residential area is maintained in a socially sustainable way to make this district worth living in – today, tomorrow and for the years ahead.

Our work is independent and voluntary. We want to motivate residents and active citizens to join together in dialogue. We represent our ideas and suggestions to politicians and the local administration.

We promote a social climate across the generations and for different religious, social and ethnic backgrounds. We network neighbourhood initiatives and migrant associations.

Our work is results-focused and currently oriented towards four key areas: education, integration, the residential environment and culture in Reuterkiez.

Since 2003, we’ve been actively involved in planning for the district and we welcome everyone who wants to join us. Our goal is to initiate everything that makes it easier to live together and ensure that our district, the Kiez, is a more attractive place.

What is the “District Committee”?

Residents and active parties in Reuterkiez officially established the District Committee on 11 November 2003. Currently, it has 60 to 70 regular members who are committed to working for Reuterkiez. The Committee’s expanded membership (occasional members) includes 100 to 120 people.

What does that mean? In practice, we exchange experiences about life in Reuterkiez at our meetings. We agree on important points that, in our view, should play a role for politics, administration and the District management.

The Committee usually meets eight times a year in a plenary session to make basic decisions about its areas of work.

Our statute and by-laws define the structure of the District Committee. This states the various levels of our work: plenary meetings, the spokespersons council and working groups for “the residential environment”, “education” and “culture”. A four-man coordination team for citizens’ participation (previously a branch office) supports us in our work. This team is comprised of representatives of all working groups.

Brief History of the District Committee

The District Committee in Reuterkiez dates back to the panel of the jury for “Kiez becomes a Millionaire”. The jury met from September 2002 for about one year, to make the final decisions on project applications submitted for funding from this source. The jury was comprised of residents of Reuterkiez and representatives of various institutions.

This form of citizens’ participation was intended to end when all the funds from the district’s million-euro pot were awarded. Members of the jury could not accept this – throughout their time as members, they had developed a joint sense of what is needed in Reuterkiez, or which projects should still be promoted.

They therefore devised a statute for a District Committee that was independent of the Berlin Senate and supported by the district’s residents. After the event “Keep Moving!”, the Reuterkiez District Committee was officially founded on 11 November 2003, and the statute and by-laws were already agreed one month later. More and more new members joined – residents and representatives of institutions – to get involved for the district.

We are pioneers in Berlin: after the end of the “Kiez becomes a Millionaire” project, things kept going here!

If you want to join us, simply send an e-mail to the District Committee team at (info-reuter[at]quartiersmanagement[.]de). Ask about the next meeting and simply come along!