City Conference: Volunteering in Transition.
2026-05-11 Volunteering in Transition: Representatives from civil society, community organizations, and academia gathered at the Lüneburg City Conference to discuss new approaches to volunteerism.
This year’s 5th Lüneburg City Conference was held under the theme “Volunteering in Transition – Future, Exchange, Togetherness” and brought together numerous volunteers from the local community, clubs, initiatives, and institutions at the Leuphana Central Building. In her opening remarks, Mayor Claudia Kalisch emphasized the great importance of volunteer work for Lüneburg and highlighted that volunteer engagement is a cornerstone of social cohesion.
In the panel discussion that followed, six exciting guests discussed the future of volunteer work, including Benjamin Adrion from Viva con Agua, Regional Bishop Marianne Gorka, representatives from the sports sector, the Youth Forum, and the Integration Advisory Board, as well as academia and civil society. The discussion focused on new forms of engagement, the role of digitalization, and the challenge of inspiring people to volunteer in the long term.
Four workshops explored key issues facing the future of volunteer work. Robert Hoyer from the Leuphana Social Innovation Community participated in the workshop titled “Networking and Structures.” The session featured an in-depth discussion of the barriers and challenges facing the volunteer sector. It became clear that Lüneburg already has a strong and diverse civil society with numerous initiatives and associations. At the same time, many organizations face the challenge of recruiting enough volunteers for their causes. The role of Leuphana University was also discussed, along with how it can integrate even more closely into urban society and collaborate with civil society actors in the future—a topic that is also of interest to the Leuphana Social Innovation Community.
In summary, it can be said that Lüneburg is a very engaged city with a vibrant civil society and many people who are willing to take on responsibility. At the same time, existing challenges and opportunities have come to light—including with regard to collaboration between the local community, volunteers, and Leuphana. This is something the Leuphana Social Innovation Community also intends to continue working on together.