Bürgerschaftliches Engagement, Koproduktion und das Leitbild gleichwertiger Lebensbedingungen

Abstract

Support of civic engagement and co-production aiming at the delivery of public services implies a spatial dilemma. The majority of people engaged are located in prosperous regions that further benefit from public support of civic engagement, while this is less frequent the case for structurally weak regions. The paper empirically confirms the spatial dilemma by analyzing civic initiatives engaged in delivering public services according to their location. The interdependency of engagement and public support can have negative effects for the German model of equal living conditions. However, commitment and co-production can also be stimulated in structurally weak regions. Based on in-depth case study research we discuss activation and success factors of civic initiatives. We conclude that valuation of civic engagement as part of regional development is important, since both prosperous and weak regions benefit from it. Therefore, civic engagement should be supported in weaker regions in particular.

Keywords

• Civic Engagement
• Co-production
• Rural areas
• Spatial dilemma
• Equal living conditions