Opportunities for Residents to Get Involved and Make a Difference
City Office - Your Contact Point
In the City Office we provide support for administrative concerns and complaints, provide residents with the opportunity to take part in municipal activities, and promote and recognize resident involvement. You will also find official city publications in the city office, along with a wealth of material about the city.
Address
Burgplatz 1/ Stadthaus (entrance via Markgrafenstraße 3), 04109 Leipzig
Thinking Leipzig Ahead
The initiative "Thinking Leipzig Ahead" brings together residents, leaders, experts, politicians and scientists to discuss current issues related to the sustainable development of the city. The goal is to employ innovative methods in a collaborative approach to problem-solving, as well as to work through conflicting aims and contradictions among the various groups.
As a coordination point for resident participation, "Thinking Leipzig Ahead" paves the way for a new culture of citizen involvement - not only through events, surveys and online dialogue, but also through the advisory role provided by the city administration.
Contact:
Silvia Haas
Telephone: +49 (0) 341 123-4812
E-Mail: weiterdenken@leipzig.de
Participating and Getting Involved
In Leipzig, there are numerous ways to play an active part in development of the city and to participate in the life of the community - whether in initiatives for sustainable urban development, such as Leipzig's Agenda 21, through senior citizen visitation services, or perhaps as a substitute grandparent for children. For actively committed individuals and organizations, there are also many possibilities to obtain recognition and support.
Would you like to get involved? The projects and activities of the Leipzig Volunteer Agency (Freiwilligen-Agentur Leipzig e. V.) provide interested volunteers with suitable opportunities.
Community Surveys
Since 1991, Leipzig's municipal Office for Statistics and Elections has conducted resident surveys.
The primary aim of these surveys is to provide the City Council and City Administration, along with other interested parties, with up-to-date information about the current living situation for Leipzig's residents, as well as to solicit opinions and ideas from city residents about various current planning issues. A secondary aim is to assess the public's evaluation of the administration's performance. Along with other forms of participation, the community surveys constitute an important means for dialogue between residents, as well as with the City Council and Administration.
Resident Inquiries at City Council Meetings
Do you have questions about current developments in Leipzig? Or, perhaps you have ideas and/or suggestions you would like to share with the City Council? Do you think that the City Council may be unaware of certain problems, or perhaps not fully informed about them?
As a resident of Leipzig, you have the opportunity at every City Council meeting to pose a so-called "resident inquiry" (Einwohneranfrage). Inquiries may also be posed by representatives from local citizen initiatives and other organizations.
Guidelines for the Submission of Resident Inquiries
In order to be accepted, your resident inquiry must directly relate to matters of the city. Questions must be submitted in writing to the Office of Municipal Affairs (Büro für Ratsangelegenheiten) no later than the fifteenth day before the City Council meeting. If this date falls on a Sunday or bank holiday, the inquiry must be received no later than the preceding workday.
Please be aware that each person may submit only one resident inquiry, with a maximum of three sub-questions. That's why each resident inquiry is limited to one topic only. Further, questions regarding topics which are not appropriate for public discussion, as well as questions regarding agenda points of the current meeting, will not be accepted.
In order to identify your question as a resident inquiry and allow it to be posed during the appropriate segment of the City Council meeting, be sure to clearly mark the subject line or title of your correspondence as a "Resident Inquiry" (Einwohneranfrage).
The Lord Mayor, in consultation with the City Elders, will decide whether the response to an inquiry will be given verbally during the City Council meeting or in written form.
Contact
Email: einwohneranfrage@leipzig.de