Who is civically active with us? Why volunteer locally? How can I take meaningful civic action?

On May 1, 2021, the joint project "Engagement constellations in rural areas - an East-West comparison" (ENKOR), which is researching the development and opportunities of civic engagement on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), will be launched. In a comparative perspective, voluntary engagement in nine rural communities in East and West Germany is being examined with regard to its manifestations, actors and contextual conditions over time. The use of the citizen science method "Landinventur" (rural inventory) in combination with the parallel community studies is intended to generate an in-depth picture of current rural volunteering and its typical (changing) constellations. In local engagement workshops, opportunities and challenges for civil society activities will be discussed with citizens in a participatory manner and political recommendations for action to support and promote rural engagement will be developed.

In addition to the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences(TRAWOS Institute, headed by Prof. Dr. Raj Kollmorgen), the Georg August University Göttingen (headed by Prof. Dr. Claudia Neu, lead partner) and the Thünen Institute for Regional Development Bollewick (headed by Andreas Willisch) are involved in the project in cooperation with the Neubrandeburg University of Applied Sciences (Prof. Dr. Kai Brauer). The joint project, which will run from 2021-2024, is funded by the BMEL with a total of almost 1 million euros.