As an innovation project within the Federal Programme “Living Democracy!”, InnoLab Diversity offers municipalities an exclusive space for learning and experimentation to jointly design discrimination-sensitive structures and sustainably promote diversity.

Municipalities are key arenas where democracy, participation, and co-determination become tangible for citizens. Public administrations and political representatives are expected to act as role models for inclusive and discrimination-free behavior. Despite numerous guidelines, best practices, and initiatives to foster diversity and combat discrimination, the challenge remains how to integrate these good approaches more effectively into everyday municipal practice.

Our Goal

InnoLab Diversity aims to strengthen structures that support diversity-oriented public administration. The agile learning and experimentation space connects stakeholders from different municipalities and departments, fostering cross-sector exchange to identify perceptual blind spots and generate innovative impulses for shaping diversity at the local level.

Focus Areas

• Raising awareness of discrimination at both individual and structural levels

• Developing and testing innovative approaches to prevent group-focused enmity (GMF)

• Promoting inter-municipal exchange, continuous reflection, and evaluation

Funding

The project is funded within the Federal Programme “Living Democracy!” by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ). 

Project duration: January 1, 2025 – December 31, 2025 (planned until 2027).

Since 2015, the Federal Ministry has supported civil society engagement for diversity and democracy, working against radicalization and polarization in society. InnoLab Diversity operates within the programme area of “Innovation Projects” under the thematic field “Diversity Management” and is hosted by the Competence Center Technology-Diversity-Equal Opportunities e. V. (kompetenzz).