Formal public participation

If you live in Jena and are at least 14 years old, you can submit a residents' petition. A residents' petition is a way of putting an issue on the agenda of Jena City Council.

To submit a residents' petition, you must submit a written application with your request and a statement to the city council. You must also nominate a representative and a deputy. This can be you and another person to whom the issue is important. In Jena, you must collect 300 signatures from residents for the application to be valid. There are certain rules on how the signature lists must be completed. For example, all information must be handwritten and contain the full text of the petition and the names of the representative and deputy on each page. In addition, the signatories must be 14 years old on the day of signing.

The signature lists must be submitted to the Lord Mayor together with the application. The city administration then checks the register of residents to see whether there are enough signatures and whether the application relates to municipal matters. It makes a recommendation to the city council, but the final decision on the admissibility of the resident application is made by the city council. If all conditions are met, the city council must discuss and decide on the issue within two months. The submitters are given the right to speak at this meeting.

If you disagree with the city council's decision, you have one month to file a complaint with the competent administrative court.

Note

A residents' petition can also be submitted to a district council, but only if you live in that district and it concerns matters relating to that district. The number of signatures required depends on the size of the district and all signatories must also live there.

A petition for a referendum and a referendum are two steps in the same process. In the first step, the citizens' petition, citizens submit an application. If this is successful, the second step follows: the referendum. This procedure allows citizens to make a binding decision on an issue.

Procedure for petitions and referendums

Here is the procedure for citizens' petitions and referendums according to the Thuringian Act on Resident and Citizen Participation (ThürEBBG):

1. You submit the application for approval of the citizens' petition to the municipal administration. A representative and their deputy must be named in the application. This can be you and another person who is committed to this issue. Representatives are the binding contact persons for the administration and are given the right to speak on your matter in the city council.
2. The city administration will decide on the admissibility within four weeks and inform the representative of its decision.
3. The representative and the city administration agree on the deadline for collecting signatures.
4. The citizens' petition must be published with the full wording in accordance with local custom; the collection period begins no later than eight weeks after the announcement.
5. The signatures must be collected within four months and then handed over to the city administration.
6. The city administration checks the signature lists and determines admissibility on the basis of the population register (7% of citizens entitled to vote required, maximum 7,000 votes).
7. No later than two months after receipt of the signature lists, the Lord Mayor presents the results of the check to the City Council so that it can vote on whether the petition for a referendum has been successful (no substantive discussion). If the petition is successful, there is a blocking period for the same issues until the referendum.
8. The City Council deals with the content of the citizens' petition within three months of determining its admissibility (point 6). However, the city council can also adopt the content of the petition, in which case the referendum can be dispensed with in agreement with the representative.
9. The legal supervisory authority (Thuringia State Administration Office) sets the voting date for the referendum in agreement with the municipal administration and the representative (within three months of the establishment of the citizens' petition).
10. The contents of the referendum and further information on its implementation must be published in the usual local manner.
11. The referendum is held as a secret ballot (acceptance quorum: 10% of eligible voters).

Requirements

To be able to hold a referendum in Jena, you must

• have been registered in Jena for at least three months,
• have reached the age of 16 and
• be a German citizen or a citizen of another member state of the European Union.

The formal requirements for the design of the signature lists correspond to those of a resident application.

The most common formal procedures in which you can participate are the planning of new buildings, squares, paths and roads. There are two main types of planning: preparatory urban land-use planning, which is about the use of land (land-use plan), and binding urban land-use planning, which relates to specific building projects (development plans).

These plans are intended to ensure that the city develops in a good way. In doing so, the plans should ensure that the needs of the people, the environment and the economy are taken into account. The future should not be lost sight of either, so that future generations can also benefit from it.

It is important that the use of land is socially just and that people's housing needs are taken seriously. We must therefore weigh up what is good for society as a whole and how we can deal with it fairly.

Land use plan

The land use plan is a plan that determines which types of use are generally permitted in the individual areas of the urban area. It is drawn up on the basis of regional planning and various concepts. The most important of these include

• the integrated urban development concept Jena 2030+
• the Jena 2035 residential development concept
• the concept for the development of jobs and commercial space for the city of Jena 2035
• the development concept for the retail trade in Jena 2025
• the garden development concept.

The land use plan in its entirety is only updated at longer intervals. However, partial amendments or corrections can also be made if this is necessary in connection with the creation of a development plan. This requires a resolution by the city council.

The steps for this procedure are set out in the Building Code and are the same as those for the creation of a development plan.

Development plan / project-related development plan

Most construction projects in the city can be implemented on the basis of the land use plan by means of a building application. However, under certain conditions, such as the floor area to be developed, the height of the building or the location in an outdoor area, it may be necessary to draw up a development plan.

If the city initiates the building project, a proposal development plan is drawn up. If another initiator (project sponsor), such as a company or an association, starts the construction project, a project-related development plan is drawn up on application. The city council decides whether to initiate these procedures.

During the planning process, you have two opportunities to participate by submitting comments or suggestions.

First, the preliminary draft is drawn up, which roughly outlines the buildings, paths, squares and so on. The first phase of participation is the early notification of the public in accordance with Section 3 (1) BauGB, during which the preliminary draft documents are made available to the public. You can
comment on the planning, regardless of your age or place of residence. The city administration or a planning office will then weigh up the feedback received and, depending on the outcome, take it into account when drawing up the draft plan.
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The second participation option takes place when the more detailed draft plan is put on public display. In contrast to the preliminary draft, this requires a resolution by the city council. The comments received are examined and weighed up fairly against each other before the final development plan (the statutes) is drawn up. The approval of the city council is required for the weighing up and approval.

The notices of the interpretations are published in the official gazette on the relevant city website.

You can find an overview of all ongoing planning procedures and the current processing status on the city's project list.

In the case of special infrastructure measures in the road space, participation takes the form of a planning approval procedure. This can involve both the planning redesign of roads (e.g. Osttangente) and the fundamental reorganization of the road space (e.g. extension of the Zwätzen-Nord tramway).

It is not the city of Jena that is responsible for carrying out the planning approval procedure, but the relevant federal or state authority (e.g. the State Administration Office in Weimar or the Federal Railway Authority in Erfurt).

In a first step, the approval planning submitted by the city is made public. You can submit objections or comments regardless of your age and place of residence. The submissions received are examined by the responsible authority and assessed by the authority in the procedure with regard to the impact on the submitters. The objectors are invited to a hearing at which the objections and comments received are discussed orally. Or they receive a written
written explanation. The hearing only ends when all submissions have been conclusively dealt with.

The result of the procedure is communicated to the city in the form of the official decision. If the planning project is the responsibility of the city, the implementation planning is then carried out.

In this area, a plan is made for services for young people and their families. If this plan is approved by the committees or the city council, money is available for the tasks defined in it.

Leisure and support services for young people, which are financed with public funds, are defined and planned in the City of Jena's Youth Support Plan (JFP). For example, the city administration can organize school social work at schools in Jena and provide youth centers. In total, around 35 facilities and projects are planned annually with around 5 million euros in funding and content. The youth development plan normally covers a period of two years, similar to the city's financial budget planning for all public tasks.

The planning process takes place regularly and includes the following steps: planning the process, analyzing the current situation, identifying needs and planning measures. To ensure that the services meet the interests of young people and are well utilized, youth welfare planning requires information about the potential users. To this end, the young people themselves are surveyed. The results
from various forms of formal and informal participation are incorporated into the preparation of youth development plans.

You can participate by:

• Taking part in the youth study survey, which is conducted regularly via schools,
• taking part in the work of committees such as the youth parliament or the youth welfare committee, and
• taking part in selective social area conferences on planning topics for local youth facilities and projects.

In accordance with Section 9 of the Thuringian Sports Promotion Act (ThürSportFG), the public is involved in the planning of sports facilities. The planning of sports facilities is an important and extensive process that serves to steer the sports sector. Objectives and measures are defined in order to continuously develop the sports landscape.

The planning of sports facility development takes place in four phases.

1. Firstly, preparatory work is carried out, such as applying for funding and commissioning external support.
2. This is followed by data collection, in which all existing sports facilities and spaces are recorded. In addition, various surveys are carried out in which the public can also participate (e.g. surveys of the population, clubs and schools).
3. The third phase is cooperative planning. Here, the collected data is evaluated and the current situation is analyzed. Opportunities and challenges are identified and discussed in workshops. The public also has the opportunity to get involved here.
4. In the final phase, the results are summarized and recorded in a planning document.

The noise action plan lists measures to further reduce traffic noise in our city. The public is involved in this process.

In the first phase of public participation, you can submit your assessments of noise pollution in your area via a questionnaire and make suggestions for noise reduction. In the second phase, you can submit your comments and suggestions as part of the public consultation.

Based on the results of the survey, concrete measures and proposals will be developed to further reduce traffic noise in Jena. After reviewing all the feedback received, a draft of the noise action plan will be prepared, including a plan of measures. You will then have another opportunity to participate. The final noise action plan must then be adopted by the city council.

Did you know that there is a residents' question time at the beginning of every public council meeting? Strictly speaking, it lasts half an hour. You can ask questions, make suggestions and make proposals if you

• have lived in Jena for at least three months and
• are at least 14 years old.

Questions, suggestions and proposals are referred to as concerns. Each person may submit one concern in one session. The concern may contain up to three sub-questions or bullet points. You must submit your request in writing to the City Council office by 14:00, 14 days before the meeting. You can also use the online form.

The Lord Mayor and the Main Committee jointly decide on the selection, order and type of response. If your request is placed on the agenda, you will receive an invitation to the meeting. There you can present your request orally. After the responsible department head has responded, you can ask another question. However, you can also ask for a written reply.

If your request is not included in the agenda, you will receive a written or verbal response within 14 days, stating the reasons.

The exact procedure and deadlines can be found in Section 10 of the Rules of Procedure for the City Council and the committees of the City of Jena.

The City Council is the parliament of the City of Jena. It makes decisions about the city's tasks when the Lord Mayor is not responsible. The City Council is elected every five years by the citizens entitled to vote and consists of 46 members and the Lord Mayor. Anyone over the age of 18 who is eligible to vote can be elected to the City Council. However, eligible voters can vote from the age of 16.

The various parties and electoral associations often put forward lists of candidates. Depending on how many votes these lists receive, one or more candidates can enter the city council after the election. City council members can form parliamentary groups to improve cooperation. As a parliamentary group is a voluntary association of members with similar political views, these members usually belong to the same party.

You can get involved by standing for election as a candidate through a party or electoral association to serve on the City Council. Or you can contact the various members and their parliamentary groups at any time with suggestions, questions or concerns.

All information about the City Council, the political groups and the City Council office can be found here.

The city of Jena has 30 districts. Each district has a district council and a district mayor. You can stand for election to the district council yourself or as a candidate for election as district mayor.

To do so, you must

• be at least 18 years old,
• have been registered in the district for at least three months, and
• be a German citizen or a citizen of another EU member state.

You can vote in elections from the age of 16 if you meet the other conditions.

In addition to these opportunities for participation, you can contact both the district mayor and the district council at any time with ideas, questions or concerns.

You can find an overview of the district councils and district mayors here.

The Youth Parliament (JuPa) speaks for the children and young people in Jena. Young people's issues and concerns are discussed and dealt with at the monthly meetings. The city council also deals with issues that affect children and young people.

The JuPa works in public and follows democratic principles. Its aims are to make the city better for young people, to be a strong voice for young people in Jena and to assert the interests of young people in politics.

You can become a member of JuPa if you go to a Jena school and are at least in the 8th grade. All pupils from the 5th grade onwards can vote in the elections, which take place every two years.

You can find more information about the youth parliament on the website.

In addition to the youth parliament, there are many other opportunities for children, teenagers and young adults to participate and help shape the city. Their right to participate and help shape includes, among other things

• participation in the development of the children and youth development plan,
• the planning of playgrounds,
• co-determination in schools through student councils and
• participation in social area conferences and participation workshops.

If you are interested in these participation opportunities or have questions and requests regarding your own participation topics, you can contact the Youth and Education Service. There are many other opportunities for participation that are offered by youth centers or in schools, for example.
centers or in schools. The youth work / youth social work team can also provide you with information on this.

The city council can decide to set up an advisory board for specific target groups or on specific topics. A total of 20 advisory boards have been established since the 1990s. An advisory board is a group of people who advise the city council and the city administration. Normally, an advisory board only has the task of giving advice and making recommendations. The members of an advisory board are appointed by the city council. How the members are selected is different for each advisory board in Jena.

You can approach the various advisory boards with your concerns. Even if they have no decision-making powers, advisory boards can accept and discuss your concerns. For example, an advisory board can make a recommendation on your issue to the city council or its committees. Information on the meetings of the individual advisory boards can be found here.

Advisory boards by target group

• Advisory board for people with disabilities
• Municipal advisory board for senior citizens
• Migration and integration advisory board
• Student Advisory Board
• Youth parliament

Advisory boards by subject area

• Advisory board jenarbeit
• Climate Protection Advisory Board (until 2019 Local Agenda 21 Advisory Board)
• Advisory board for citizen participation
• Advisory board for allotment gardening and garden development
• Architectural advisory board
• Mobility Advisory Board (merger of the Advisory Board for Bicycle Traffic and the Advisory Board for Motor Vehicle Traffic)
• Socio-cultural advisory board
• Volunteer advisory board
• Cemetery advisory board
• Nature conservation advisory board

Section 7 of the main statutes of the City of Jena provides for annual residents' meetings to inform and involve citizens. Such meetings can also be held in parts of the city area or in individual districts.

Residents' assemblies in residential areas or districts are held at the request of citizens. At least 50 citizens from this area must be in favor of this. A list of signatures can be used as proof.

The date, location and agenda must be announced in the district at least 14 days in advance.

As a citizen of the city of Jena, you have the right to address suggestions or complaints (petitions) to the Lord Mayor, the city administration or any member of the city council. There is a deadline of four weeks for a response.

If the recipients of the submissions are not responsible for the subject matter, you must be informed and the recipients must forward your submission to the responsible body within one week.

Submissions can be rejected for various reasons. For example, if the sender asks about the same matter even though a reply has already been given, or if a complaint is directed against a decision against which legal action can also be taken.