Rural areas in Saxony are to be supported with funding programs again this year. Saxony's Regional Development Minister Thomas Schmidt (CDU) announced on Thursday during a visit to the municipality of Mülsen in the district of Zwickau that €15 million and €3.5 million respectively would be available for the "Vital village centers and local centers in rural areas" and "Regional budgets in rural areas" programs for 2024.
"It is good that we have managed to reach an agreement within the state government on the minimum funding for the two programs despite funding cuts at federal level," said Schmidt. This means that the Free State has planning security and people in rural areas can continue to receive support for their projects.
Since 2016, 536 projects have been supported with 157 million euros through the "Vital village centers and local centers in rural areas" program. The program is intended to contribute to the development of equal living conditions in villages and small towns. This includes redesigned leisure facilities as well as renovated event and community spaces.
In addition, since 2019 it has been possible to call up so-called regional budgets. This is intended to support small projects in a simple way. So far, more than 2,000 projects have been financially supported with a total of more than 16 million euros. For example, the EC youth circle in Mülsen was able to purchase scouting equipment in 2022, for which it received a grant of almost 3,600 euros. According to the ministry, the two appeals are financed by state and federal funds.
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