Jury for the Future Center has visited Jena

Jury for the Future Center has visited Jena - construction site meeting with a panoramic view

The jury for the location competition for the "Future Center for German Unity and European Transformation" visited the city of Jena on Tuesday, January 17, 2023. The decision on which city in eastern Germany will be home to the future center is expected to be made in February. Following the jury's visit, the Jena application team is optimistic that the decision will be in Jena's favor.

Lord Mayor Dr. Thomas Nitzsche says: "We have delivered a strong and substantive presentation of Jena, which was prepared intensively over a period of months with many partners and stakeholders in the city. We were able to emphasize Jena's special features once again, such as the close interaction between urban society, science and business, which has repeatedly shaped and positively influenced Jena's transformation history. The conditions for successful transformation, i.e. the research and mediation mandate formulated in the coalition agreement for the Future Center, can be observed particularly well in Jena. This is because transformation does not just happen to people here, but has been and continues to be actively shaped by them."

Prof. Walter Rosenthal emphasizes: "We were able to show that Jena is not only applying as a city that also has a university, but that the university has accompanied Jena's application as an equal partner from the very beginning. Our renowned academics are available for cooperation on site and a future center in Jena can seamlessly build on the unique network to Eastern Europe with the Imre Kertész Kolleg."

Construction site review from above

The jury and their delegation were welcomed in the conference room of the JenTower on the 29th floor. From there, there was a very good view around Jena, but also directly onto the construction site at Eichplatz, where the Future Center is to be built. All of the federal government's specifications can be realized on this construction site B of Eichplatz, which is itself a place with a history of transformation. Mayor and Head of Urban Development Christian Gerlitz, together with Fritjof Mothes as representative of the Eichplatz workshop committee, presented the developments to date in the framework plan for the development of Eichplatz and the participation of citizens in the workshop.

Christian Gerlitz said: "We have already proven ourselves with numerous other major construction projects, such as the university's Inselplatz campus or the ZEISS high-tech site: Such outstanding projects succeed in Jena. We are therefore confident that we offer the best conditions for the ZET to be built on Jena's Eichplatz by 2028."

Jena's transformation landscape at the heart of the day's program

For the application presentation, numerous partners and experts from science, business, art, politics and civil society were able to show in two panels why Jena is the right location for the future center:

Thuringian Minister President Bodo Ramelow emphasized the support of the Thuringian state government for Jena's application, which, together with the university, had presented the most promising concept that will offer enormous opportunities for the whole of Thuringia.

Prof. Michael Kaschke, Chairman of Carl Zeiss AG until 2020 and President of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, outlined how a successful economic transformation took place in Jena after the mass redundancies of the 1990s, and that people's personal responsibility is a central element of successful transformation.

Prof. Joachim von Puttkamer, Professor of Eastern European History at the University of Jena and Director of the Imre Kertész Kolleg, said that transformation research has been taking place in Jena since 1989, not only with regard to the GDR, but also to the countries of Eastern and Central Europe.

Prof. Hartmut Rosa, recently awarded the Leibniz Prize and Professor of General and Theoretical Sociology at the University of Jena, underlined the international appeal of Jena's social sciences, which also focus on future transformations such as digitalization and climate change. The already very broad range of courses can be further developed in cooperation with the Future Center.

Art historian Prof. Verena Krieger underlined the diversity of Jena's art and culture scene, which is always able to connect with current issues, as was the case, for example, during the "Kein Schlussstrich!" ("No End!") commemorative year to come to terms with the NSU violence.

Finally, Luise Zimmermann from the non-profit association Weltraum e.V. explained how a future center as an open community center could expand the dialogue with associations and initiatives in Jena.

The fact that Jena offers a diverse landscape of actors that the Future Center can profitably build on was explored in a transformation tour in eleven themed rooms. Representatives from the church, business, science, civic participation, trade unions, the Jena tourism and convention team and city projects that highlight future transformations - such as digitalization or climate change - were on hand to talk to the jury. The tour took place in offices on one floor of the JenTower, which could also be made available to the Future Center's development team in the future.

Countering the jury's critical questions with good arguments

The jury had the opportunity to ask questions in a comprehensive colloquium. Thomas Nitzsche says: "We are very grateful for the many questions we received, as they reflect the jury's interest in our city. It also gave us the opportunity to sharpen our arguments in response to some of the critical questions and hopefully dispel any concerns." The applicant team was able to make it clear, for example, that the establishment of the future center would not only boost urban development, but also the surrounding area of Jena and the whole of Thuringia and Central Germany. The need to create living space for the new employees could also be answered with a view to the cooperation between the city and the surrounding area and the further planned investments in residential construction projects in the urban area. The fact that the future German Optical Museum together with the ZEISS Planetarium as further visitor magnets in the city can mutually benefit from the Future Center was highlighted as a further advantage of Jena's application.

In his conclusion, Thomas Nitzsche said: "People want to be in Jena, the living and working conditions are excellent. The offers that we can make for the successful operation of the future center for citizens, research and science are extremely attractive. For us, one thing is clear: we want the Future Center in Jena. And we believe that the Future Center itself also wants to be in Jena."

Mitglieder der Universität und der Stadtgesellschaft präsentieren Jena

Bürgermeister Christian Gerlitz im Gespräch mit der Jury

Die Jury im JenTower

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Zukunftszentrum