structural development

"The structural change in Lusatia is basically on the right track."

Last week, the independent Leibniz Institute for Economic Research in Halle announced to the federal cabinet and the entire federal press that structural change is on the right track.

The Federal Cabinet dealt with the structural change in Lusatia on Wednesday. It was about the interim report that was prepared Leibniz Institutes for Economic Research in Halle make the status of structural development in Lusatia tangible and measurable phase out lignite The confirmation that we are on the right track makes us really happy!

Although we see every day how things are progressing in our beautiful district annual reports with a little pride , it is great when our view is confirmed and our work is recognized by the highest authorities. And when the nationwide evening news suddenly says: "Lausitz - running".

After all, in the period from June 2022 to May 2023 alone, we as a task force processed 95 projects that were brought to our attention - from researching funding to developing ideas. The projects come from a wide variety of areas - living environment (read the report from the last citizen participation format Lausitz Café ), tourism and culture, energy, mobility and transport, European model region, green technologies and resources & valuable materials, so that since the task force started work Advised well over 200 projects by mid-2021.

Eight categories of progress - the ENO "pie"

The study confirms a fundamentally positive economic development.

The structural funds made available by the federal government have so far been "generally directed towards growth-promoting uses". However - a challenge that we have already accepted with our skilled labor campaign Unpayableland - there is still a lack of skilled workers for Lusatia. In the future, school and vocational training as well as the influx of skilled workers must be given even greater focus - but in this field too we are quite far ahead with our service center for education and its numerous offers for schoolchildren and companies, of course the INSIDERTREFF and the INSIDER . It's good to hear from this area: a wave of emigration from Lusatia, which was previously feared in the course of the coal phase-out, did not materialize!

The researchers categorized structural development into eight different categories in order to measure it: accessibility, education, culture, health, business locations, research and development, climate and sustainability, and social capital. Almost exactly the fields that we wrote on the pieces in our ENO cake.

It is not surprising that a large part of the funding has not yet been called up, since the corresponding planning takes time, but many projects have already been started.

According to the scientists, the funding conditions should be adjusted again so that projects that are actually not eligible for funding are not funded simply because of time pressure. We will keep you up to date on this, as well as on all further developments!

Such an interim report is now to be drawn up every two years, since the effects of the various measures can only be measured gradually.

The report "Accompanying evaluation of the investment law for coal regions (InvKG) and the STARK federal program. Interim report from June 30th, 2023 - report on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection" can be read here We enjoyed reading it - hopefully you too!

Best regards

Your Jasna