Mitmacht 2026 · before and during the festival
Three sessions, and what guests have said since.
This issue reads three published programme entries and their linked profile information, and, since the opening, the public contributions of guests. It describes announcements and quotes contributions; it does not speak for the festival.
23–26 September 2026 · SRH University Berlin
Voices from the festival
What the contributions say so far.
A source-bound reading of the 34 public contributions guests have written on enso.chat since the opening, as of 25 September 2026. Only unchanged wording is quoted; an erased or withdrawn contribution leaves this page.
Trust, in five voices
Asked what connectedness needs, which values a society must uphold, and what they came to Mitmacht to find out, several people answer with the same word. One answer to the conflict question is simply “with love”. And one question stays open on the table: how to build participation processes everyone trusts.
Asked: What do you need to feel connected with others?
“Trust”
Editorial translation
Asked: Which values do we need to uphold for society to work well?
“Trust and connectedness”
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Asked: Which values do we need to uphold for society to work well?
“Community, trust, honesty,”
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Asked: How do you work through conflict?
“With love”
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Asked: Which question or questions are you looking to answer at Mitmacht?
“How do we create participation processes that everyone trusts?”
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What should stay, what is not for sale
Two questions, one list: free elections and free speech are worth staying as they are. Never for sale: rainforests, access to lakes, freedom, Tempelhofer Feld, loyalty to one's own values, and our souls. Basic rights, places and inner things stand side by side, unranked.
Asked: What is worth staying as it is?
“Free elections”
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Asked: What is worth staying as it is?
“Free speech”
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Asked: What should never be for sale?
“Rainforests. Access to lakes. Freedom.”
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Asked: What should never be for sale?
“Tempelhofer Feld”
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Asked: What should never be for sale?
“Loyalty to one's own values”
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Asked: What should never be for sale?
“Our soul(s)”
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Money at the base
A question someone keeps coming back to: how does money reach the base in a system that rewards only winners? Under the question of what stands in the way of a strong civil society sits a single term: an unconditional basic income. Question and term stand side by side; neither contribution says whether one answers the other.
Asked: Which question do you keep coming back to?
“The one about how money is distributed within capitalism. Cash is needed at the base; how can that succeed in a system that rewards only winners, i.e. is antisocial?”
Editorial translation
Asked: What stands in the way of a strong civil society?
“An unconditional basic income”
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What blocks connection, and what eases it
One contribution lists what makes it hard for social groups to connect: ego, disinterest, missing mediating bodies, classism, fear. A reply beneath it turns the question around: more exciting would be what makes connecting easier. Two offers provide material for that, broad climate networks that can be linked project by project, and the ability to see the big picture quickly. A question heard at the festival fits alongside: don't wait for politics.
Asked: What makes it hard for different social groups to connect?
“Ego, disinterest, a lack of mediating bodies, classism, not being affected, fear of being excluded from one's own class, a lack of empathy, convenience, bias.”
Editorial translation
Asked: What makes it hard for different social groups to connect?
“The more exciting and solution-oriented question would be what makes connecting easier.”
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Asked: Which networks can you open so others can come in?
“Broad climate networks; they can be linked directly, project by project”
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Asked: What comes easily to you that others find hard?
“Seeing the big picture very quickly.”
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Asked: Which question have you heard at Mitmacht that stays with you?
“Don't wait for politics when civil society can't pull it off alone”
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Where participation is felt
Asked where they experience democratic participation, one person says everyday life, another the ballot box, where you “get to pretend once every few years that you have influence”. Beside them stand small wishes and admirations: a campfire, tireless drive, standing on a stage without nerves, integrated population councils. And one line for coming generations: Mitmacht for everyone, everywhere.
Asked: Where do you experience democratic participation?
“In everyday life”
Editorial translation
Asked: Where do you experience democratic participation?
“At the ballot box. There, at least once every few years, I get to pretend I have influence.”
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Asked: What do you need to feel connected with others?
“A campfire”
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Asked: What makes you admire someone?
“Tireless drive”
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Asked: What makes you admire someone?
“Stepping onto a stage without nerves”
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Asked: What would you need to feel you can help shape democracy?
“Integrated population councils”
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Asked: What can we do today so that coming generations are well?
“Mitmacht for everyone, everywhere ✌️”
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Three programme entries before the festival
Support goes beyond a first contact. This programme question focuses on relationships with supporters, in a workshop with Florian Engel from More Onion.
24 Sept 2026 · 10:00–11:15 · Workshop · Shed A0.03 & 04
People named in the official directory
- Florian Engel · Managing director · More Onion
Digital platforms raise questions about how democracy is shaped. The advertised workshop brings together risk analysis and possibilities for shaping platforms, with Michael Beuthner and Björn Krass Koenitz.
24 Sept 2026 · 10:00–11:15 · Workshop · Cube 1.05
People named in the official directory
- Michael Beuthner · Professor of journalism and public relations · SRH University of Applied Sciences Heidelberg, Campus Berlin
- Björn Krass Koenitz · Head of the innovation lab · SRH University Berlin
Setting rules for AI also raises questions of power and democracy. This panel puts that connection on the agenda. The people below are linked from the official programme.
25 Sept 2026 · 09:30–10:30 · Panel · Cube Plenum
People named in the official directory
- Markus Beckedahl · Managing director · Zentrum für Digitalrechte und Demokratie | re:publica
- Dr. Laura Dornheim · IT officer and Chief Digital Officer · Stadt München
- Max Senges · Director · UdK/IEB & Rulemapping
- Paula Peters · Head of Europe · Change.org