Just do it - Commissioner for Eastern Europe honors initiatives

Sometimes a family festival, sometimes an excursion, sometimes a joint waste collection campaign - the Initiative Buntes Waltershausen organizes all of these in the "Spatz" cultural pub. The project from the small town in Thuringia has now won first prize in the "Machen 2025" competition for a hands-on festival. In total, more than 200 projects for civic engagement from rural regions in eastern Germany were honored, as Elisabeth Kaiser, Commissioner for Eastern Germany, announced.

Among the top ten was the "Wassergrundstück für alle" initiative from Eichwalde in Brandenburg, which turned a lakeside area on Lake Zeuthen south of Berlin into a civic meeting place. In Reichenbach in Saxony, an association invites young refugees to farm a piece of land together as part of the "Ab aufs Feld" ("Off to the Field") campaign.

In Dechow in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a boules court aims to get the village community talking again. Just three examples of dozens that received prize money of between 5,000 and 10,000 euros. In total, 830,000 euros were awarded, as Kaiser announced.

"The rural regions live from their active local people," said the SPD politician. "This is democracy in action and strengthens social cohesion." The "Machen" competition for civic engagement in eastern Germany was held for the sixth time.