An important political pillar of the citizens' dialog is the Citizens' Forum - a committee of the Aachen City Council - which offers a pioneering form of direct consultation between politics, administration and citizens on current citizens' applications, plans, projects and resolutions.
Christian van't Hoen
Meeting of the citizens' forum
The next meeting of the Citizens' Forum will take place on May 27, 2025 at 6 p.m. in the Kurpark Terrassen (Dammstraße 40 in Aachen-Burtscheid).
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A youth forum for Aachen
On April 30, 2025, the Youth Forum took place as a special meeting of the Citizens' Forum of the City of Aachen.
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Tasks and procedures of the citizens' forum
The Citizens' Forum deals with citizens' applications (suggestions and complaints) submitted to the Aachen City Council or one of its specialist committees or to the Citizens' Forum itself in accordance with Section 24 of the NRW Municipal Code. The Citizens' Forum also provides information on new significant municipal projects and plans.
The constitutionally guaranteed right to petition is implemented at municipal level by the North Rhine-Westphalian municipal code. This enables everyone to write to the council or district council with suggestions or complaints on matters relating to the respective municipalities. The City Council of Aachen has set up a committee, the Citizens' Forum, to deal with such citizens' petitions. It is made up of councillors delegated by the City Council of Aachen as well as citizens appointed by the Council. These members of the Citizens' Forum are entitled to vote on resolutions.
So if you would like the City of Aachen to take action in a certain direction, please submit a petition to the Citizens' Forum in accordance with Section 24 of the NRW Municipal Code.
After the relevant specialist administration has been involved, your citizens' application will be discussed publicly in the citizens' forum. You yourself will be invited to the meeting of the Citizens' Forum and will be given the opportunity to explain your application in more detail. You can present your request in the form of your choice, for example by means of a digital presentation or an oral presentation.
Following your explanations of the application, a lively discussion between citizens, politicians and the administration is desirable so that a genuine exchange of opinions can form the basis for the decision of the Citizens' Forum in addition to all technical opinions.
The Citizens' Forum has the opportunity to make a recommendation to the relevant specialist committees, district councils or the administration as part of a resolution. You will be informed of the Citizens' Forum's decision in writing after the meeting.
Another task of the Citizens' Forum is to provide information on new projects and plans for the city of Aachen in the areas of infrastructure, urban development, transport, the economy, social affairs, schools, children and young people. This also makes it possible to participate in the development of the city in dialog with elected representatives and representatives of the administration.
Question time for residents is also an integral part of the Citizens' Forum meetings. The Council and the district councils also hold question and answer sessions for residents.
The Citizens' Forum aims to encourage people in our city to participate in local self-government and not only enables a communicative exchange through its content-related structure, but also, where possible, meets in close proximity to those affected by the main point of discussion at the respective meeting.
If you have any questions about the Citizens' Forum and the participation opportunities offered by the City of Aachen, you are welcome to contact the Citizens' Forum office.
Dates
The regular meetings of the Citizens' Forum begin at 6 pm. The location of the meeting is always announced separately, as the Citizens' Forum usually meets in close proximity to those affected by the main point of discussion at the respective meeting.
Regular meeting dates:
Citizens' petition and referendum
With a citizens' petition, you can ask the council to deal with the issue you have raised and make a decision. It is also possible to override a council decision.
A citizens' petition that is not approved by the council leads to a referendum. This must take place within three months. The municipality is obliged to assist in the preparation of the petition.Further information on the citizens' petition is available from the Citizens' Forum office ( see also: Statutes governing the procedure).
The committee
Seventeen voting members - consisting of ten councillors and seven expert citizens - as well as two additional advisory members of the Seniors' and Integration Council make up the Citizens' Forum.
Chairman of the Citizens' Forum: Councillor Mathias Dopatka, SPD
Deputy Chairman of the Citizens' Forum: Councilwoman Hilde Scheidt, GRÜNE
Legal basis for the right of petition
Article 17 of the Basic Law guarantees the possibility of addressing petitions (requests and complaints) to the competent authorities as a fundamental right under constitutional law.
The state of North Rhine-Westphalia is one of three federal states to have included the right of suggestion and complaint modeled on this in its municipal code ( § 24 GO NRW ).
The City of Aachen has assigned the handling of suggestions and complaints to a committee in Section 11 of the main statutes and formed the Citizens' Forum for this purpose.
In addition to the rules of procedure for the Council, the district councils and the Council committees, separate rules of procedure were adopted for the Citizens' Forum to regulate internal affairs: Rules of Procedure for the Citizens' Forum
Further topics
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