City Council decides: Citizens' platforms will continue to be supported
Model project in Chemnitz Centre-West and Chemnitz South successfully completed Third citizens' platform in Chemnitz Centre was founded at the beginning of April
The three citizens' platforms working in Chemnitz districts, which are committed to active citizen participation, further networking of the various stakeholders active in the districts and cooperation, will continue to be supported by the City of Chemnitz after the end of the pilot phase - this was decided by the City Council at its meeting today with the approval of the administrative proposal (B-094/2014). This also establishes the financial support, as the resolution means that the citizens' platforms will now receive an annual administrative budget and a citizens' budget totalling a maximum of 16,000 euros for organisational costs and, above all, projects that benefit the development of the city area. The resolution also stipulates that the city council must decide whether to recognise and support a maximum of five further citizens' platforms on the basis of criteria that were also adopted today.
Background: With resolution BA-11/2007, the city council had instructed the administration to submit a proposal for the formation of territorially structured advisory boards in accordance with the Saxon municipal code (§ 70 and 71). In order to consider the topic of citizen participation processes in Chemnitz in an overall context, a working group was formed under the leadership of the mayor's office with representatives from the council's political groups. As a result of the deliberations, it was decided to create appropriate participation structures in the city districts without a local constitution. The administration and city council agreed on eight urban areas, which are defined by the urban development concept (SEKo) and also form the basis for the residents' meetings.
The next concrete step on the ground was the pilot project Citizens' Platforms (information document I-031/2012), which was carried out in two urban areas of Chemnitz with scientific support from a sociologist with the aim of establishing platforms as an independent, independent organisation for residents and citizens.The aim was to initiate platforms as an independent programme open to residents and local stakeholders, with the urban areas of the citizens' platforms being based on the zoning of the urban development concept and the meeting areas of the residents' assemblies. Two model areas with existing structures and facilities and a neighbourhood management team based in both areas were selected for the pilot project, which was launched in 2012 and developed over a period of two years: Chemnitz Mitte-West (Altendorf, Kaßberg and Schloss-Chemnitz) and Chemnitz Süd (Kappel, Helbersdorf, Morgenleite, Markersdorf and Hutholz).
Current status: Structures have now been developed in both areas of the model project with the core elements of a steering group, working groups (some of which are temporary) and regular citizens' forums. Meetings are held under the umbrella of the neighbourhood management or in other community centres. Both citizens' platforms now operate under their own logo and can be found online at www.buergerplattform-mittewest.de and www.bn-chemnitzsued.blogspot.de. The southern citizens' platform has given itself its own name, "Bürgernetzwerk Chemnitz Süd". Both bodies have developed clear allocation guidelines for the citizens' budget, which is administered by the local neighbourhood management body, so that citizens, citizens' initiatives and associations can apply for financial support for projects in their respective city areas.
The Citizens' Platform model project was already discussed by the city's Citizens' Office with stakeholders from other neighbourhoods in 2013: Mayor Barbara Ludwig, for example, invited people to an event in the city council chamber of the town hall, the aim of which was to achieve stronger networking between committed citizens, administration and local politics. In the meantime, the model project has already found successors: The founding event of the Chemnitz Mitte citizens' platform (Zentrum, Bernsdorf, Lutherviertel, Altchemnitz, Kapellenberg) took place on 9 April in the "Silbersaal" in the Bernsdorf district (PM 153 from 21.03.2014 - www.chemnitz.de ). The Citizens' Office is happy to support citizens interested in getting even more involved in local urban development via the citizens' platform for other districts.
Contact: Citizens' Office of the City of Chemnitz, Heike Jentsch and Pia Hamann, phone 0371/488-1508 and 488-1516, e-mail: buergerbuero(at)stadt-chemnitz.de