27. February '24
A woman stands in front of a whiteboard at Hochschule Coburg, gesturing as she’s filmed by someone operating a video camera. The board is filled with handwritten notes and a diagram with text in German.
A woman stands in front of a whiteboard at Hochschule Coburg, gesturing as she's filmed by someone operating a video camera. The board is filled with handwritten notes and a diagram with text in German.
Two people are placing sticky notes with handwritten words on a large board at Hochschule Coburg. The bright green notes contrast the minimalist, well-lit room as both individuals appear focused on organizing their ideas.
Two people are placing sticky notes with handwritten words on a large board at Hochschule Coburg. The bright green notes contrast the minimalist, well-lit room as both individuals appear focused on organizing their ideas.
Four people sit around a white table in a meeting room at Hochschule Coburg. A whiteboard with notes in German stands behind them. They appear to be engaged in a discussion, with papers and pens in front of them.
Four people sit around a white table in a meeting room at Hochschule Coburg. A whiteboard with notes in German stands behind them. They appear to be engaged in a discussion, with papers and pens in front of them.
A woman with a red handbag walks past the entrance of Lucas-Cranach-Campus at Hochschule Coburg. The building features large glass doors, a sign showcasing the campus name and logo, and a few bollards strategically placed near the entrance.
A woman with a red handbag walks past the entrance of Lucas-Cranach-Campus at Hochschule Coburg. The building features large glass doors, a sign showcasing the campus name and logo, and a few bollards strategically placed near the entrance.
Feelgood management is used in business to make companies attractive to employees.
In Marktrodach (Kronach district), this concept has been transferred to the municipality: here, Feelgood Manager Paula Smettane focuses on the needs of the citizens.
The special connection between people and administration arose from a project of the Master’s degree course in Future Design at Coburg University of Applied Sciences.
It is now also the subject of a report by TV Oberfranken.
How can new citizens be well integrated into local life?
Do they even want to?
Is it their own fault if it doesn’t work, is it the fault of the long-established residents or perhaps both?
In recent years, it has become more difficult to fill honorary positions in Marktrodach and to find newcomers for club work.
Like everywhere else.
But why is that – and above all, what can be done about it?
Andreas Buckreus and Katja Wich from the Marktrodach administration turned to the Master’s degree course in Future Design at the Lucas Cranach Campus (LCC) in Kronach to find out how civic engagement and cohesion can be improved.
The central question was the relationship between long-time residents and newcomers.
In the project “From resident to active citizen”, half a dozen students accompanied Marktrodach on its way to becoming a lively, participatory community.
Creative solutions for regional development
“FutureDesign – Innovation.Entrepreneurship.Design” is a part-time Master’s degree program in which students with different Bachelor’s degrees learn together in practical projects.
In small groups, they look at the topic with their different perspectives and backgrounds, define the direction and develop creative solutions – each semester anew in a project team.
“The diversity is what makes it so appealing,” explains course director Prof. Dr. Christian Zagel.
“We’ve had 120 projects so far. Students can immerse themselves in worlds that they wouldn’t normally have access to.”
This opens the mind – and in practice, students learn, among other things, innovation methods that they can also transfer to their professional environment.
The course also serves regional development: collaborations such as the one with Marktrodach keep the region fit for the future.
Goal: Activate citizens
In the summer semester of 2023, the students tackled the topic using scientific methods.
With the help of surveys, they found out that the situation in Marktrodach is a little different than initially assumed.
The municipality in the Franconian Forest Nature Park has around 3,700 inhabitants, beautiful natural surroundings and can look back on a long and exciting history of rafting and the timber industry, which is also reflected in the magnificent raft lords’ houses.
The district town of Kronach is only a few kilometers away.
“Our village is really super beautiful and I love living here,” explained Tim Schmierer, the fire department’s youth officer, to the students.
People like living here – both the long-established residents and the newcomers.
The feared divide was not identified.
This shifted the focus of the project.
The new objective was to find out how citizens could be more actively integrated into the community.
The key question here was where important points of contact between citizens and their municipality exist in their lives – and how these can be improved.
“For the market town, this external view of our community life and community interaction is a great treasure,” says Katja Wich, head of the Marktrodach market town office.
Participatory community of the future
ZD student Jasmin Block reports on how the project developed and how topics were then prioritized: What felt like thousands of sticky notes, intensive exchanges with the project partner and lots of laughter.
ZukunftsDesign is simply fun.
“I’m studying this because I want to develop myself further: professionally, but also personally.”
The top priorities resulted in the new position of Marktroda Feelgood Manager, which was filled by Paula Smettane.
She had previously supported the project as a trainee in the administration department.
The group from the Future Design course also presented the municipality with a “colorful potpourri of other ideas and approaches to keep its citizens active”.
And that’s when things really got going.
The first three campaigns will start in 2024 under the leadership of the new Feelgood Manager Paula Smettane.
There are plans for cinema events for young people, an informal get-together at a breakfast for entrepreneurs and a scavenger hunt involving clubs and other organizations.
All citizens are invited.
Marktrodach is entering the future as a participatory community.
Television report
There is now also a film about this special project on TV Oberfranken: To be seen on Wednesday, February 28, in the magazine “4you” | Kabel: 6.30 pm | FrankenPlus: 7.30 pm | or in the media library.
Register for your studies
If you would like to register for Future Design or another future-oriented degree program, click here.
