Thünen researcher as an expert witness in the Bundestag committee

Whether in clubs, initiatives or local networks: civic engagement shapes social life in rural areas in many different ways. The role it plays and the conditions under which it can be effective were the subject of a discussion in the German Bundestag’s Committee on Sport and Voluntary Work on 15 April 2026. In her statement, PD Dr Tuuli-Marja Kleiner from the Thünen Institute of Rural Studies highlighted the importance of civic engagement for rural areas. “Civic engagement helps to secure infrastructure, revitalises cultural life and promotes social and political participation,” says the researcher. However, her research also shows: “Civic engagement is socially selective, unevenly distributed geographically and closely tied to institutional and infrastructural conditions.” The positive effects on public services, social cohesion, and democratic stability do not arise automatically but require targeted support.

In her view, for volunteering to work effectively, what is needed above all are reliable structures and full-time local contact persons to support volunteers. At the same time, barriers to participation should be removed and informal forms of volunteering should be given greater recognition. In order to provide targeted support, it is also important to pay closer attention to who is participating—and who has so far been left out.