Published on 16.05.2023 under General, Equality of Opportunity, Health, Inclusion
Participation report Erlangen
"First the others, then we..."
The social department of City of Erlangen publishes for the first time a report on participation opportunities in Erlangen and thus a milestone in its own social reporting. Together with the "Advice for social justice ErlangenThe social department, together with the social welfare office and the job center, drew up the report.
This was based on statistical data from the city's statistical office. These are discussed in the report from different socio-political perspectives and requirements for selected fields of action of the social department are derived from them. The main topics are (long-term) unemployment, poverty and the risk of poverty, housing and homelessness, care, social differences in the city and social participation.
How can participation in life in society succeed? Focus group interviews with those affected on the topics of housing and care also offered answers to precisely these questions. 6-10 people each - the so-called living environment experts - took part in the conversation in a pleasant and confidential atmosphere. This aims to experience the challenges and needs of people in their everyday lives. This is essential in order to align the actions of the local actors with the specific problems of those affected.
One result of these interviews: many of those surveyed feel left alone in the jungle of applications and with the challenge. You want more support. Especially when it comes to the issue of accessibility in your own home, it becomes clear that the accuracy of the equipment depends on the income level. "Depending on how privileged you are, you may or may not buy relief." – this is how one of those affected described it.
Recommendations for action were then formulated from the results of the report and the interviews. The social department now wants to implement this as a further step. The advice for social justice will accompany the implementation within the scope of its possibilities and with professional support from the health & inclusion team of the matrix in order to strengthen participation in the sense of social justice. Further results and resulting recommendations for action from the participation report from Erlangen can be found in the following PDFs.
