Participatory budgeting: Participation platform asks about independent culture in Chemnitz
Today marks the start of public participation in the participatory budgeting project on the topic of free culture in Chemnitz. Various surveys have already taken place in this context since 2012: the residents of Chemnitz were asked about the construction of school buildings in 2012, in 2013 there was public participation in Chemnitz playgrounds (which later resulted in the playground concept) and for 2014/2015 the steering group for the participatory budget has decided to implement the topic of "Free culture in Chemnitz".
Chemnitz has a whole range of different cultural offerings. The budget for cultural expenditure totalling 53.5 million euros makes up a significant proportion of the city's budget, which has a total volume of 637 million euros. Around 1.9 million euros is spent specifically on promoting culture. Some offers such as the art collections or the Chemnitz Theatre are operated directly by the City of Chemnitz. In addition, however, there are countless offerings from private initiatives that enrich the cultural landscape and to which the participation that is now beginning is dedicated.
Each year, the City of Chemnitz provides around 1.9 million euros in funding for independent cultural projects and institutions in the fields of museums, collections and gardens, theatre/performing arts, music, visual arts, film/media, libraries/literature, socioculture, local history and youth culture. 80 projects were supported in 2014.
With the current participation on independent culture, information on the cultural budget, funding practice and the wide range of funded projects will be presented until 27 January and citizens will be asked how they perceive independent culture in Chemnitz. Once the consultation has been completed, the suggestions will be summarised and commented on and made available to the city councillors as additional information. At the same time, this information will also be available on the platform buergerhaushalt.chemnitz.de.
The survey is not about voting on which projects should be funded in future and which should not. The selection process is described in detail on the participation platform and in the brochure. When funding independent culture, the decisive factor is not which project has the greatest public resonance, but in particular which new ideas and creative approaches can be developed with funding. Every year, all decision-makers face this difficult balancing act between the ongoing support of established projects and the development of new ideas in the run-up to the decision on specific funding allocations.
The participation platform buergerhaushalt.chemnitz.de can be used to take part in the public participation process. After registering, it is possible to answer specific questions and make free comments. Alternatively, you can send us the answer sheet from the brochure or from the official gazette that will be published tomorrow. The closing date for entries is 27 January.
The following prizes will be raffled off among all participants: 1 x 2 admission tickets with a personal guided tour to an exhibition in the Chemnitz Art Collection, 3 x 2 admission tickets for the Chemnitz Museum Night and 3 x 2 admission tickets for a guided tour of the Red Tower.