Post-pandemic Urbanis

interventions differently. Those of Klixbüll in Schleswig-Holstein
and Kirchanschöring in Bavaria, for example, examine the resolutions
of their local councils with a view to whether they are fulfilling
the criteria of a common good economy. This type of value-orientation
has an impact on the budget and thus on particular areas
of focus. Willebadessen in North Rhine-Westphalia, on the other
hand, reviews all expenditures in light of their impact on youth and
children.
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In a third step, the municipality considers which benchmarks it
would like to measure its activities against in the future and the
actions that could be taken to achieve its goals. Thus begins a
learning process that helps further motivate those who work for the
municipal government, whether as full-time employees or volunteers,
to pursue the common good, while also creating a compass
for the future strategy. At the end, the process yields a report
representing the individual values the municipality wants to realize
through its actions, how it implements these values in practice, how
it uses these values to assess its progress, and what potential for
improvement it sees and would like to realize. Ideally, I continue to
advise the municipality after the accounting as well.
Existing patterns of thinking also certainly come under scrutiny
during the workshops. What do you observe there?
AB: We talk, for example, about the competition between the
municipalities and the regions and about silo mentality, which is
to say the purely technical kind of territorial thinking that confines
itself to one area, or we talk about fears that might be prompted
by community members and their demands for participation. We
are seeing that many good decisions are being made but that their
implementation often falls short. Ultimately, what matters is the
extent to which the municipalities understand themselves to be
important actors in a social-ecological transformation.
What desires and problems do you encounter in the municipalities
in which you work?
AB: In the last few years, ever more official duties have devolved
to the municipalities. At the same time, there has not been a
corresponding increase in the number of positions created in the