Citizen participation: “Agenda 21” becomes “Future Space Community”
What do we need to ensure that our citizens enjoy living in our municipality? How can we ensure a comprehensive local supply? How can we ensure that younger generations stay or return to the area? And what do we need to ensure that people can grow old well in our community?
Municipalities are faced with these and many other questions these days. However, these challenges also bring opportunities under the motto “think globally – act locally”. Against this backdrop, more and more municipalities are inviting their citizens to think ahead and become active together. Sustainable communities need people who take responsibility for their living environment and seize opportunities to help shape it.
The “Zukunftsraum Gemeinde” program of the Salzburg Institute for Spatial Planning and Housing (SIR), funded by the state of Salzburg, helps to find these people. Formerly known as “Agenda 21”, “Zukunftsraum Gemeinde” now offers even more opportunities for the targeted participation of citizens.
Communities as spaces for the future
The municipalities of Weißbach bei Lofer, Elixhausen and Krispl were the first municipalities to start a participation process as part of the enhanced Zukunftsraum Gemeinde program. In Weißbach, the process began at the end of November with a citizens’ council. The mayor of Weißbach, Josef Michael Hohenwarter, sees the process as a great opportunity: “It’s not just about overcoming current challenges, but also about developing long-term visions for a Weißbach worth living in. Together, we will develop ideas that strengthen our ecological, economic and social sustainability.”
In the municipality of Thalgau, the participation of the population, at that time still under the name Agenda 21, has borne fruit in many ways. One of the project groups founded in 2019 is called “TeTaRe”, which stands for “share, swap, repair”. The volunteer project group regularly organizes repair cafés, an association has now been founded and a permanent treasure trove for second-hand items has opened in the old fire station building.
Another challenge – namely the lack of an event hall – led to the formation of a project group in Thalgau called “A roof for Thalgau”. Their work led to a follow-up process: since summer 2024, the people of Thalgau have been working together to develop the KUBIQ cultural quarter on the site of the old district court.
In St. Martin bei Lofer, local building culture emerged as an important topic in the participation process between 2019 and 2021 – and so the municipality worked together with the population to develop building culture guidelines that have now been in use for four years.
The latest developments in the Zukunftsraum Gemeinde program are a further broad-based participation process in Großarl, and thematic participations in the municipalities of Thalgau, Hallein and Strobl.