What are the benefits of civic engagement?
A new research project on volunteering in and for rural areas is starting at the HSZG.
Who is civically active in our community? Why get involved in local volunteer work? How can I make a meaningful contribution to civil society?
May 1, 2021, marks the launch of the collaborative project “Constellations of Civic Engagement in Rural Areas—An East-West Comparison”(ENKOR), commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), to investigate the development and opportunities of civic engagement. From a comparative perspective, the project will examine volunteer engagement in nine rural communities in eastern and western Germany over time, focusing on its forms, actors, and contextual conditions. The use of the “Landinventur” citizen science method, in combination with the parallel municipal studies, aims to generate an in-depth picture of current rural civic engagement and its typical (evolving) patterns. In local engagement workshops, opportunities and challenges for civil society activities are discussed participatively with citizens, and policy recommendations for supporting and promoting rural civic engagement are developed.
In addition to the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (TRAWOS Institute, directed by Prof. Dr. Raj Kollmorgen), the project involves the Georg-August University of Göttingen (led by Prof. Dr. Claudia Neu, lead partner), and the Thünen Institute for Regional Development in Bollewick (led by Andreas Willisch), in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences Neubrandenburg (Prof. Dr. Kai Brauer). The collaborative project, which runs from 2021 to 2024, is funded by the BMEL with a total of nearly 1 million euros.
2nd upper floor
2nd upper floor
2nd upper floor