Wahlheymat is
A community-based, grassroots political initiative to make our chosen home city, the wonderful Berlin, more inclusive, open, and democratic.
We officially launched Wahlheymat on the International Day of Democracy on September 15, 2023.
Our goal is to make Berlin’s next chapter as diverse and inclusive as its community – for both native and newcomer.
One-third of Berlin’s citizens were born abroad. Twenty-five percent (close to one million) of the citizens do not have voting rights at the city level. In ten years, approximately half of the population will be international. In the meantime, anti-migrant sentiments are on the rise. Berlin’s political structure is a highly complex system.
Wahlheymat is about renewing democratic structures in Berlin that are independent of citizenship, and adapted to digital opportunities and needs.
The key to this future is to activate the newcomers living in Berlin (one third of the population ) into political, public, social life. To co-create new structures, co-own them, that everyone can feel belonging.
