Vienna becomes the European Capital of Democracy: an important step for citizen participation

Vienna becomes the European Capital of Democracy: an important step for citizen participation

Vienna can look forward to a special award: the city was appointed European Capital of Democracy in 2024/25. This is an important step, since Vienna is only the second city in Europe that receives this title. The decision came as part of the "European Capital of Democracy" (ECOD) initiative, which is partly supported by the European Union. In a competition, Vienna prevailed against seven other cities and now has the honor of bearing this award. Barcelona was the first city last year to get this title.

Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) emphasized that the awarding of the title not only is recognition of the city's efforts to date in the field of democracy and citizen participation, but also a request to continue this committed path. In this sense, Vienna plans an extensive program to promote democracy and the opportunities for the citizens.

versatile programs to strengthen democracy

To meet the title, Vienna has launched a variety of events and projects that aim to actively involve citizens in democratic processes. Various seminars and festivals are already planned this year - some of them have already started. The city provides an amount of 300,000 euros to support ideas and projects from citizens. These are to be submitted in the coming year, and the exact information on this will be published in early 2025.

The city of Vienna will not work alone; Clubs, organizations, companies and individuals are also invited to organize events and to enter them in a public program calendar. This increases the variety and reach of the planned activities, so that numerous perspectives and topics can be accommodated.

Some of the activities that have already started include the idea workshop of the magistrate department 20, which has recently taken place in Meidling, as well as the Klimateam Ideen exhibition in the 9th district. These participation processes are crucial in order to incorporate the opinions and ideas of the residents into the planning of the events. More information about the extensive program is available on wien.gv.at.

international cooperation and new formats

In cooperation with the organizers of the Prize, Vienna plans to develop various formats in order to participate in the events in the events. These include the "Innovation in Politics Awards", which will be awarded in nine categories in September 2025. Another highlight will be the “Act Now Mayors Conference” in May 2025, which promotes the networking of actors from villages, small cities and metropolises.

In addition, the Safe Democracy Convention 2025 will take place in the town hall, which deals with the topics of political participation and social isolation. The European Cities Conference will also deal with future challenges and opportunities for cities.

The origins of the award as a European Democratic capital go back to 2019. The idea of launching such a title was created during a taxi ride in Berlin when Josef Lentsch came up with the large number of capitals for various topics, but has found that democracy had not yet had its own capital. This finally led to the establishment of the initiative.

With the appointment of Vienna as a democratic capital, the tradition continues to choose a city in Europe every year, which invites you to an intensive exchange about democratic practices through events and activities. While 21 cities from 13 countries have already been part of the network in 2023, cooperation with the Ukrainian capital Kiev is particularly emphasized.

For more information on this initiative and the planned events, visit the organization website: Capital of Democracy .

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