Participatory budgeting: participation in independent culture ends with great response
The participation phase of this year's participatory budget for independent culture ended yesterday. Around 1,200 residents of Chemnitz took part in the online discussion and by post. This represents a further increase in interest compared to the participation in the public playgrounds, in which around 600 citizens took part.
The city presented 80 measures that were supported last year by the City of Chemnitz's cultural funding in the areas of museums/collections/gardens, theatre/performing arts, music, visual arts, film/media, libraries/literature, socioculture, local history and youth culture. In addition, comprehensive information was provided on the subject of the cultural budget.
Over the course of four weeks, Chemnitz residents had the opportunity to comment on the projects as well as the budget and funding practices. At the suggestion of initiatives and citizens, the city extended the participation period by one to four weeks.
The many different opinions that were received via the internet platform buergerhaushalt.chemnitz.de, by post or by dialling 115 are now being compiled and prepared as an information document for the budget discussion in the city council on 25 February 2015. The brochure in particular, which was published for the first time and had a print run of 2,000 copies, received a very positive response. According to the feedback, the scope of the offers in Chemnitz was not yet known. The majority of participants rated Chemnitz's cultural programme as very interesting. Many thanks to all those who took part in the survey!
The online discussion can still be viewed at buergerhaushalt.chemnitz.de. The city council's decision-making process on the cultural budget is also reported there.