Together, we - Mara Brinkmann, Christiane Mooren, Julia Nass and Jonathan Seim - are the staff unit talbeteiligung - Engagement, Dialogue & Participation. We develop, coordinate and support political citizen participation processes. We are also the municipal coordination office for all Wuppertal residents who volunteer outside of political activities and want to make the city lovable and liveable with their good ideas. Together, we work to ensure that all Wuppertal residents are well informed and have a say in the design and decision-making of urban projects. To this end, we support the administration in the planning and implementation of participation and engagement processes and carry out our own projects. If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Mara has been part of the staff unit since February 2025. As a freelance process facilitator and mediator BM®, she previously designed citizen dialogues and participation processes for various municipalities and accompanied processes in political bodies and civil society organizations.
In her work, she is driven by the goal of strengthening cooperation in our society. It is therefore particularly important to Mara to create exchange formats in which different interests are heard, different opinions are given space and understanding and trust are created. As a consultant for civic participation, she wants to encourage as many people in Wuppertal as possible to enter into dialog with each other and thus broaden their own view and change their perspective.
Christiane Mooren has been working in the staff unit since October 2021. Prior to this, she worked for over 20 years in various roles within Wuppertal City Council, primarily in the Children, Youth and Families department. With the move to the management of the Wuppertal volunteer agency, the Center for Good Deeds, she has familiarized herself with a new field of activity. She is particularly impressed by the diversity and wealth of ideas of civic engagement in Wuppertal. She enjoys interacting with people who want to get involved and bring new ideas to their city.
Christiane Mooren is not only a consultant in the staff unit, but also Managing Director of the Center for Good Deeds, Wuppertal's independent volunteer agency. The combination of both areas of activity proves to be particularly valuable in providing competent and practical answers to questions, concerns and requests relating to volunteering.
She is happy to work with citizens to make Wuppertal's urban society even more liveable and lovable.
Julia has been part of the staff unit since July 2019. Her aim is to provide people with the best possible support in their volunteering activities and to improve structures that facilitate volunteering in Wuppertal.
With her background in social sciences, she deals with the framework conditions for volunteering in the city and is committed to developing these further. She particularly enjoys the exchange with committed people who put their heart and soul into shaping Wuppertal. She works to ensure that the administration is not perceived as an obstacle, but as a reliable partner.
Involvement can take many forms - whether in initiatives, associations or in a very individual way. Julia is committed to ensuring that everyone who wants to get involved has good framework conditions and is given the best possible support.
Jonathan has been part of the staff unit since January 2024. In the past, he has conducted research at the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) on how citizen participation can contribute to the success of democracy. On the other hand, he has gained some experience with the implementation of online participation processes at the Düsseldorf Institute for Internet and Democracy (DIID).
Jonathan is now responsible for our research project "KoodiKo" ("Cooperative digital municipality through innovative communication and interaction strategies"). This is dedicated to the development of new technologies and formats for our participation offerings. In the context of KoodiKo and his other projects in the team, he is concerned with participation that finds ways to include all people and effectively contribute to strengthening democracy.