The Bar Camp by Christoph Thoma, Chief Advisor of the Capital of Culture Office and curator of the conference, dealt with the topic of citizen participation, but from a special perspective.

The city administration with all its employees and offices was the focus of the discussions here. The aim was to clarify how the city can deal with the wishes of its citizens and thus manage their expectations in the right way.

  • How does the city administration identify with the population of the city and vice versa?
  • How does it manage to create space for new ideas and to create a new culture of participation?

It was important for the participants to clarify how both groups – citizens and city administration – can become ardent advocates of the project. As a municipal service provider, the city administration must be there for the citizens and their concerns.

In addition, critical voices from the population urgently need to be heard and proactively involved in the process. In order to successfully implement these concerns, the participants suggested establishing interdisciplinary work in the city administration, so that in future it will be easier to overcome bureaucratic hurdles and also to network employees, regardless of hierarchical levels, within the framework of projects.

In principle, it still needs to be clarified here which citizens are addressed in this way and which methods can be used to reach them. In this way, the city can reach the silent masses, but also the “locals” – Chemnitz residents who have moved to the city – without fail.