Since November 2025, 19 citizen dialogues have taken place in the Saarland districts and the Regional Association, involving a total of nearly 1,000 Saarlanders.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger once again spoke with citizens about the challenges and opportunities of structural change, this time in Lebach. After the tentative final discussion round prior to the concluding participation conference at the end of September, the results are now being evaluated.
Premier Minister Anke Rehlinger draws a positive interim conclusion: "The transformation is a challenge for our country, for the people of Saarland, but it also holds opportunities. If we work together and develop solutions from a variety of perspectives, we can shape the future. Many good ideas and impulses emerged during the citizen dialogues. The people of Saarland have once again shown that they are eager to actively get involved when it comes to the future of their homeland."
The citizen dialogue series was conducted on behalf of the State Chancellery by the nexus Institute for Cooperation Management and Interdisciplinary Research (Berlin). Approximately 50 randomly selected citizens participated in each event. The selection process aimed to achieve the most representative cross-section of the population possible. In addition to the Minister-President, the respective district administrators and the regional association director also took part as initiators and points of contact at the events.
The results are now being combined and evaluated. From this, ten action recommendations are formulated. At a "participation conference" on Saturday, September 26, 2026, at the Dillingen Locomotive Shed, citizens will hand over their recommendations to the Prime Minister. In addition, a final report will be created that consolidates the results on the various topic complexes.
