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'Adopt a Street' in Offenbach: Turning complainers into co-producers

Change management

The project was started in May 2007 with a pilot in a disadvantanged neighbourhood. Staff of the local council, utility company and local people engaged in clean-ups, painting and weeding for three months. In the meantime the initiative has been extended to four neighbourhoods.

Many improvements have been made.For example, many street switch boxes of the electricity utility which had been covered in posters and graffiti have been cleaned up, while others boxes have been redesigned for advertising or arts projects. Furthermore, lighting poles have been cleaned up and painted and green areas along streets have been planted. The walls of subways and public buildings have been cleaned of graffiti. Indeed, whole public places have been been given a complete going-over. Local companies acted as sponsors in these efforts and schools undertook arts projects in the areas concerned.

The clean-ups were accompagnied by public campaigns – for example on the issue of dogs and dog fouling. Special bins for dog droppings were installed on streets and, in addition, fines of €50 were introduced for those who would not make use of the new facilities. Schools joined initiatives such as "Clean Hessen" and launched arts festivals for children. Another new initiative was the launch of  neighbourhood offices with a neighbourhood cafe where local people could talk to the community organiser responsible for their neighbourhood‘.

 

After a three-month "action phase" a community organiser was recruited in each neighbourhood from the ranks of local people. This person acts as bridge between the neighbourhood and the professional project manager working for the utility company. Furthermore, 42 citizen mentors have been recruited, who take resonsibility for specific green areas and play grounds. The mentors take care of the planting, fertilising   and maintenance of specific green areas and tell the utility company when things go wrong, e.g. through vandalism. Karlheinz und Bärbel Gebhard, two mentors, recalled: "Recruitment took place at street parties but also when people complained, as they were then asked whether they could not help to make things better". Another mentor, Ursula Schäfer, has taken responsibility for an orchard behind her house in Rumpenheim, where she has been picking up litter for years. „Being born in Offenbach, I care about this city", she explains. Since she has been removing the litter on a regular basis, the size of the problem has been reduced. „Seeing me removing the litter makes many people think", she says. On average, she spends about 5 hours a week cleaning up the orchard – for her efforts, she got a volunteering "bonus card", giving reductions for visits to public leisure facilities all over Germany. Other citizens also help but by doing rather less onerous things – like taking responsibility for a tree or ensuring the locking of public football pitches. 

Further mentors are also recruited through other social projects run by the local council and nonprofit organisations. "We are happy to participate in this successful project" says Kalle Hildebrand, a social worker in StartHaus Offenbach, which works on social inclusion issues. What still needs to be improved is the engagement of ethnic minorities in the peer programme.

About this case study
Main Contact

Sabine Süßmann
Project Manager of the utility company Offenbach

Email:
Sabine.Suessmann@gbo-of.de

Sabine Süßmann

 

Florian Birk, former Associate of Governance International wrote this case study on 24 September 2010. The case study was updated on 27 February 2013.

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