Article
Jannis expresses how, in Germany, but also beyond, the rise of right-wing parties is deeply threatening. Both for individuals and for trust in our liberal democracy and democratic institutions. He discusses how, at the same time, the malfunctioning of public authorities itself is one reason for the rise of right-wing parties. Transparency can reinstate trust in public authorities. A simple and hands-on tool for supporting transparency is access to information requests that can be posed by anyone to authorities at the federal, state, and local levels, granting access to documents held by those authorities. Moreover, access to information requests is a powerful tool for activists of all kinds in supporting their work.
The project was inspired by the work of the German spearheading NGO for access to information, FragDenStaat (“Ask the state”). Jannis had previously been promoting access to information requests as a tool for activists and wanted to make this tool more widely known. His idea was to give workshops to activists and other interested parties.
Project Development
Based on past workshops Jannis had held, he developed the concept for a workshop aimed at environmental activists. The idea was that the workshop should provide activists with a basic understanding of the legal foundations of access to information in Germany, but put a focus on practical examples, in parts drawn from Jannis’ own experience. Together with FragDenStaat, Jannis held this workshop at the biggest youth conference for environmental activists, the Local Conference of Youth (LCOY), in October in Berlin. Later, he held an adapted version of this workshop in front of law students in Bonn.
Next Steps
Jannis plans to continue holding workshops on access to information and promoting transparency. He expresses how “given the new center-right German government, this might be more important than ever!”
