Social mobilisation and participation Dialogue process supporting the German Sustainable Development Strategy (GSDS)

In addition to the in-person events, interested parties were able to participate online in the further development of the GSDS. A dedicated website with a forum function – created collaboratively by the Federal Chancellery, the Press and Information Office of the German Government and the Federal Ministry of Defence – allowed users to post comments on the draft version of the GSDS, view contributions from other users and “like” them. From May until the end of July 2024, citizens, associations and organisations thus had the opportunity to contribute their ideas and suggestions for a sustainable Germany. Overall, some 2000 people made use of the online platform and posted about 900 contributions. All contributions and statements were evaluated by the federal ministries responsible for the further development of the GSDS.

To complement the online dialogue, Minister of State Ryglewski hosted three workshop meetings – on “Youth participation”, “Labour and social affairs” and “Gender equality” – at the Federal Chancellery. These three themes were chosen in order to place a stronger focus on the social dimension of the GSDS. The meetings complemented the other participation formats by discussing specific key points with associations and stakeholder groups to generate inputs to the GSDS. The participants had already submitted written opinions prior to the events.

Discussions at the workshop meeting on youth participation shed light on the various areas of transformation from a youth perspective and explored opportunities for young people to become involved. At the workshop meeting on labour and social affairs, representatives of associations and stakeholder groups discussed the pivotal significance of labour and social affairs in achieving sustainable development in Germany. The youth associations highlighted their role as extracurricular learning spaces for democracy. The human need for decent work and the significance of social cohesion at a time of upheaval were further key points. At the workshop meeting on gender equality, participants discussed how gender equality, treated as an overarching issue and lever for transformation, can have a sustainable impact and which equality policy issues are important in this context. They highlighted, among other points, the need for further reducing pay disparities (e.g. the gender pay gap), achieving a fairer distribution of care work (e.g. the gender care gap), consistent action on gender equality in appointments to leadership and decision-making positions, and consistently incorporating a gender perspective into regulatory impact assessments and the design of public budgets (i.e. gender budgeting).