City planning officer Michael Tacke said in his welcoming address: "The topic of the further development of our Salzgittersee has moved many citizens. I would like to thank everyone who took part in the surveys, the workshops or the lake walk and thus actively contributed their opinions. Now we need to reflect on the results politically."

Prof. Walter Ackers from Ackers Partner Städtebau presented the results of the 10-month process at the meeting and emphasized: "I have never experienced such an extensive participation process in any other city. Salzgittersee is without doubt one of Salzgitter's strengths. In recent months, the focus has been on the question of what you consider to be particularly useful for the development of Salzgittersee."

Participation began on November 19 last year with a kick-off event. Shortly afterwards, a project website on the topic went online. In order to involve as many interested parties as possible in the process, a total of three surveys were carried out. Participants were able to take part outside the town hall and the ice rink, on the Internet and at schools.

Over 4,000 completed questionnaires were evaluated. Around half of them stated that they visit Salzgittersee several times a month or more. A digital map ("Wikimap"), which is available on the project website, was also used to enter and evaluate suggestions for improvement. 100 suggestions submitted were rated 1,708 times.

Two workshops were held as further participation activities. These dealt with the various interests and identification of critical issues as well as the classification of the results of the online surveys. A lake walk was also carried out as an opportunity for participation in order to examine demands for sports and leisure activities as well as possible conflicts of use at the lake.

Prof. Ackers explained the following key results of the public participation:

• The guiding themes and topic areas were confirmed with the exception of "City & River". A clarifying concept is expected for the "City & River" topic area, which, among other things, defines areas to be protected, identifies areas suitable for development and provides information on suitable uses, building types and transitions to the lake.
• The great importance of nature and recreation and thus also the protection of the natural character of the lake and its surroundings are important.
• Maintaining and expanding public paths and improving cleanliness.
• The safeguarding and expansion of sports and leisure facilities and the addition of restaurants and meeting places.