AGENDA Advisory Board
A series in the official gazette in July 2025 introduced all of Chemnitz's advisory boards.
<p<p>In issue 30/2025 from 24 July, Thomas Scherzberg - Chairman of the Agenda Advisory Board of the City of Chemnitz from the very beginning - explains which topics the advisory board stands up for.
All of Chemnitz's advisory boards are presented in a series in the July 2025 issue of the official gazette.
In issue 29/2025 from 17 July, Chairman Tobias Möller and Deputy Chairwoman Heda Bayer present the work of the Cultural Advisory Board and talk about the problems they are currently facing in an interview.
What matters does the Agenda Advisory Board deal with?
Thomas Scherzberg: The Advisory Board has two main tasks: Firstly, it has been an advisory board to the city council since 1999. Since then, one of the main tasks of the Agenda Advisory Board has been to advise the City Council on issues relating to sustainable urban development.
Secondly, Lord Mayor Dr Peter Seifert has made the Agenda Advisory Board a public body. The second and, for me, even more important task is that the Agenda Advisory Board acts as an interface between the working groups, the citizens and the local authorities. The ideas that come from the working groups are filtered by the advisory board and then brought out in the corresponding city council resolutions. Since 1999, an estimated 40 to 50 draft resolutions or proposals have emerged from this process, which have also been implemented.
What does "agenda" mean?
In 1987, the Brundtland Commission was convened by the UN and chaired by the then Norwegian Prime Minister Brundtland. The question was: How can the world be made sustainable?
In 1992, the environmental conference was held in Rio de Janeiro, which was attended by almost all of the world's heads of state. All but three countries signed the "Agenda 21" - a programme with 40 chapters on sustainable development. This agenda is the basis for many citizenship processes in countries around the world.
In Chemnitz, as part of the citizenship process in 1997, we considered with a few committed people how we could initiate such a process from below - in contrast to other cities, where it often came from above. At the time, around 400 to 500 citizens of Chemnitz came together in various working groups. In 1998, a large founding event took place in the city hall. The working groups were founded there and the Agenda Advisory Board was also elected.
What role do the 17 goals for sustainable development play?
Many years passed after "Agenda 21" in 1992 and then the UN launched an initiative to publish these 17 sustainability goals with 69 sub-goals. Many local authorities adopted this and Chemnitz was one of the first three cities in Germany to pass an official city council resolution on this.
These goals are our basis for the Agenda Advisory Board. We were even able to ensure that climate and environmental aspects were taken into account in some city council proposals. Unfortunately, however, it is becoming more difficult from year to year - which also has to do with personnel changes in the city administration.
What are the tasks of the Agenda Advisory Board?
Sustainable urban development is broadly based, which means that we choose the topics ourselves. At each meeting, we have a specific topic on which I bring in an expert, and the public part of the meeting usually lasts around 60 minutes and deals with just this one topic.
One example: around eight years ago, the Green Party launched an initiative to establish an animal welfare advisory board in Chemnitz similar to those in other cities. At that time, the mayor at the time, Miko Runkel, approached me and asked whether the Agenda Advisory Board could cover this task. We were very happy to do so. Since then, the animal park has been on our Agenda Advisory Board and animal welfare issues in animal shelters are also a regular topic. These are issues that are close to our hearts.
What projects is the Agenda Advisory Board currently working on?
The most recent issue was the ban on night-time driving for robotic lawnmowers - this was implemented very quickly and came from the Change in Values working group. We put it on the agenda and it was implemented.
At the last advisory board meeting, municipal heat planning was on the agenda. We criticise this because the way the city of Chemnitz's municipal heating planning is currently set up has nothing to do with sustainability.
And the biggest issue at the moment is the preservation of the environmental centre or its preservation as far as possible.
How can you get involved or help?
Not directly in the Agenda Advisory Board itself, but in the Agenda working groups that meet in the Environmental Centre.
Cultural Advisory Board
What matters does the Cultural Advisory Board deal with?
Tobias Möller: First and foremost, of course, we are there to advise the administration and politicians on cultural issues. These topics are very often discussed in advance in our advisory board. We reflect on the administration's proposals for resolutions and amend them in order to give the city councillors in the culture committee or city council a wide range of decision-making options. At the same time, however, we also present what would result from the decisions made. That is our main formal task.
Heda Bayer: As we have a lot of people from the field, we on the Cultural Advisory Board have the insight to explain what decisions or possible decisions mean in practice.
What are the tasks of the advisory board?
Tobias Möller: Many, many. We see ourselves as a bridge between politics, administration, civil society and, of course, all cultural organisations. Every organisation has different needs. You can't say "culture needs this" as long as it only affects a single organisation. There are things where you can say "the landscape needs this" and that is also part of our expertise - balancing individual needs and actual social needs, but still ensuring that ideally everyone is heard.
Heda Bayer: And I would also say to sound the alarm where we see that something could go really wrong or get lost.
What topics are you currently working on?
Tobias Möller: It's a colourful potpourri. On the one hand, we have the Capital of Culture at the moment, which of course involves discussing one or two things during ongoing operations. But this is an issue that has kept us very busy over the last five years. The Cultural Advisory Board has made a significant contribution to us being awarded the title; it has been able to contribute many things that have supported the integration into the community.
Right now, of course, we're dealing with the massive cuts that have hit our area disproportionately hard. It is a completely different challenge to look together with the associations and - as my colleague has just said - to sound the alarm that we are currently facing a massive reduction in substance. We need to find the best possible ideas and solutions for the future.
Heda Bayer: And also look for creative solutions to maintain diversity. Otherwise we really will lose the youth. They have already been through a lot during the coronavirus pandemic and we can't allow any more cutbacks to happen.
Tobias Möller: We also see our role on the Cultural Advisory Board as a cross-sectional task. That we don't just look after the young, not just the old or just the middle-aged, but that we have all generations in mind.
Of course, we both live the broad concept of culture, which does not delimit itself with: "This is a stage and everything else that does not take place on the stage is not culture". That would be rubbish. And to see how we can bring the different types of performance together and, above all, how we can bring society together again, enable it to communicate and offer incentives.
Culture shows that things can be different, that you can see things differently, that many things on this earth are not as fixed as they sometimes seem to us, for better or for worse, but that there is a lot of potential for visions. And a vision is not there to be achieved, but to remain in motion. That's culture for us: keeping moving.
Heda Bayer: We currently have a unique opportunity to start taking stock of the Capital of Culture projects - from the smallest things that went well to the major projects, because we can already see what all this effort has achieved.
How can people get involved and support the work of the Cultural Advisory Board?
Tobias Möller: We are very often out and about in public life and you can simply talk to us or send us an email.
We are currently preparing a consultation hour for the Cultural Advisory Board. We had a different format for a long time, the Jour fixe Kultur, which we also want to revive. But there's not enough time at the moment, partly because of the Capital of Culture.
Heda Bayer: It also helps us a lot when people from the city turn up to the public meetings, ask questions or simply attend. That's a great support.
Tobias Möller: I would emphasise that once again. People are welcome to attend the Cultural Advisory Board meetings. Very often - especially when there is only a public part - we are happy to answer questions afterwards and engage in dialogue. That's one of the easiest ways to get involved.
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The Agenda Advisory Board
The Agenda Advisory Board of the City of Chemnitz consists of 13 members and their deputies. It is made up of members of the various city council groups as well as knowledgeable residents.
The Agenda Advisory Board can be contacted by e-mail at agendabeirat(at)stadt-chemnitz.de