Strategy for Jena's sport
What are the challenges facing Jena's sports landscape and what measures can be taken to address them? The revised sports development plan for Jena, which was approved by the city council at its last meeting, provides answers to these questions. The catalog of 40 measures is intended to serve as a guideline for sports development over the next ten years.
"Sport is an essential factor for our social cohesion - it gets people moving and in contact with each other. The new sports development plan provides a good basis for further developing the sports landscape in Jena in a targeted manner, while keeping the needs of clubs, recreational sports and urban society in mind," says Johannes Schleußner, Head of Education, Youth, Culture and Sport for the City of Jena.
40 measures - from infrastructure to communication
One important topic is infrastructure: What is the condition of the sports facilities? For example, are the halls and pitches suitable for new sports that have developed?
"Our aim is to maintain the existing facilities and make improvements where necessary," says sports officer Matthias Weißbrodt. The majority of the municipal sports halls have been renovated, now it's the turn of the sports fields. Another top priority is to optimize the occupancy of the sports halls and introduce a suitable software solution. "There has been a lack of transparency here so far," says Weißbrodt.
There is also an increased search for ways to use smaller rooms in facilities for courses such as senior gymnastics in order to conserve the resources of large halls.
Trend towards individual sport close to home
One clear result of the survey of the population is the desire for exercise opportunities close to home.
"We are seeing a clear trend towards individual sports in residential areas," says Weißbrodt. Solutions could include redesigning school sports grounds, creating a variety of exercise options and offering opening hours for residents.
Better signposting of running and hiking trails is also a goal.
For outdoor sports facilities, artificial turf pitches should be used more in future. These require significantly less water for maintenance than traditional grass pitches. Other climate adaptation measures include creating shaded areas at sports facilities.
The aim is to provide a variety of offers for very different groups
Another issue is to create offers for different target groups. "It is important for us to find out from the sports clubs where support is needed," says Weißbrodt.
The city finances staff positions at the city sports association, which are specifically dedicated to providing exercise programs for older people as well as for children and young people. The sports development plan also includes measures to promote competitive sport and volunteering. It also aims to improve the publicity of offers.
Some points of the sports development plan have already been implemented. For example, the new Schools and Sport Committee has already begun its work.
Measures are the result of an extensive cooperation process
The sports development plan was drawn up jointly by employees from various departments of the city administration, the city sports association and the municipal real estate company (KIJ) in a steering group. From August 2022, when the concept was drawn up, to August 2024, when the specific list of measures was drawn up, numerous stakeholders in Jena's sport were also involved. Ten Jena sports clubs, representatives from the school administration, urban development, the Alliance for Families, the sports high school, the Jena Sports Youth, the Seniors' Advisory Council and expert representatives from the parliamentary groups of the Jena City Council were involved in a total of eight workshops. The entire process was scientifically supported by the Institute for Cooperative Planning and Sports Development from Stuttgart.
Planning for sport obligatory for Thuringian municipalities
Section 9 of the Thuringian Sports Promotion Act (ThürSportFG) describes the task of local authorities to draw up a sports development plan. This plan should show the overall requirements, the existing facilities and the resulting demand for sports and play facilities. Such planning has been mandatory for Thuringian municipalities since 2019 in order to receive funding. The city of Jena drew up its first sports development plan back in 2008, which was updated in 2015. The plan is to be updated every ten years.