Amended Jena cultural concept is the "cultural compass"

Jena has published the third cultural concept for the city of light, which covers the period up to 2025.
has now been updated. The updated paper is to be published by 2028 as
"cultural compass" until 2028, according to Dr. Jörg Vogel, Chairman of the Culture Committee. Thus a
development corridor for Jena's cultural development and cultural actors and a
tool that only needs to be used.

The revision had become necessary because the previous paper was heavily influenced by the
the effects of the corona pandemic on cultural activities.
At the time of writing, the hope of being awarded the contract for the
Center for European Transformation also had a determining influence in some places.
had a determining effect. On the other hand, in the coming years - also due to the multiple
social crises - other challenges for cultural work lie ahead.

Last but not least, the municipal enterprise JenaKultur - the most important cultural player in the
city - has a new management team, which now consists of a dual leadership. The new
newly created position of Plant Manager for Cultural Development and Cultural Education has been
Friedrun Vollmer since October.
She took over in the current process, which has taken just under six months,
and moderated the process. Over 300 discussions were held with numerous cultural players.
and citizens who are committed to culture in order to identify needs, development goals
and medium-term challenges.

The previously presented table of 66 measures was checked for its degree of fulfillment.
and weighted according to their relevance for the coming era,
restructured and streamlined. The result is now 44 measures that are relevant to the
culture in Jena, and not just JenaKultur, are based on the following premises:

1. Culturaleducation is assigned central importance, as it promotes the ability to
critical perception and thus participation
The main aim here is also to better integrate the multitude of existing offers.
with each other and making them visible to citizens.

2. Cultural development is seen as an aspect of urban development. Therefore
the creation of cultural open spaces is also about reconciling diverging interests.
interests and reconciling them. To this end, the position of a so-called
Night Culture Representative is being created for this purpose.

3. Cultural work should also be viewed more strongly from a qualitative perspective in future.
aspects. Important keywords in this context are accessibility, but also
sustainability. These aspects, among others, are to be included in the cultural funding guideline
be incorporated.

4. Voluntary work should be strengthened and upgraded, as it is not least important for the
cultural work in the districts.

5. Finally, cooperation with Jena's twin towns should be given greater priority again.
focus again.

Jena's Lord Mayor Dr. Thomas Nitzsche, who as Head of Cultural Affairs is also involved in the
the working process, emphasizes how precisely all areas and institutions still need to be
were looked at once again, and that the new cultural concept is therefore a
the "mother of all decisions" for culture in Jena from 2025 to 2028. At the same time
he emphasized that it was also always about politics being a clever
expectation management for all those involved. It must be clearly stated that
that an art museum can and must be planned conceptually, but that its realization must be
would not be possible until the 2030s at the earliest.

Friedrun Vollmer, who has been a director at the Westfälische Schule für
music in Münster in 2023, emphasized how good culture is in Jena.
Jena is well positioned, how many interesting facets it has and that Jena's cultural funding quota
is really impressive. At the same time, however, it is also clear that culture is much more than a
"Especially when it comes to the all-important acquisition of skilled workers, it has to play a major role.
arguments for people to come to Jena with their whole family. Not only the
attractive school landscape, but also a wide range of cultural and cultural education offers
are of great importance to Jena and must be maintained and further expanded."
Numerous concept processes, which have been incorporated into the new funding period and will continue to be
prove that Jena's cultural landscape is constantly evolving. For 2027
a major cultural summit is planned.