The eleven participating partner municipalities around the Ilz river in the south-eastern Bavarian Forest have been awarded the contract for their application as part of the “Smart Cities Model Projects: Urban Development and Digitalization” competition. Together with aconium GmbH, the digital transformation of the municipalities into a strategic, integrated, sustainable and community-oriented space.
The “Smart Cities Model Projects: Urban Development and Digitalization” funding programme of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building is a central component of the aim to sustainably develop cities and municipalities in the age of digitalization. With a total of 73 model projects, rural areas have also been supported since 2019.
As a very rural region in the Bavarian Forest, the Ilzer Land is confronted with major challenges: These range from dying village centers, demographic change and the exodus of young people to securing local supplies and economic strength. For this reason, the funding award has laid an important foundation stone for the future-oriented development of the municipalities in the Ilzer Land region.
The goal is clear – the future is hybrid. Digital solutions should not be an end in themselves or a substitute for analog social interaction, but rather complement it and thus serve to strengthen and maintain the local community. Together with its partners DKSR and Polidia, aconium GmbH is supporting the eleven municipalities – Eppenschlag, Fürsteneck, Grafenau, Hutthurm, Innernzell, Perlesreut, Ringelai, Rörnbach, Saldenburg, Schöfweg and Thurmansbang – in the creation of a regional development strategy for a “SmartLand”.
Since the start of the project in May, it has been possible, with the close involvement of the participating municipalities, to work out the municipal characteristics, needs and development potential of the individual municipalities and bring them to a higher level.
In a broad-based creative workshop that accompanied the process, a wide range of regional stakeholders such as representatives from business, senior citizens, young people and the administration were able to have their say and contribute their needs, concerns and ideas in workshops, makerspaces and specialized think tanks.
In addition, various citizen participation formats ensured the ongoing involvement of the local population and raised awareness of the topics of “digitalization” and “smart land” among the residents of Ilzer Land.
More than 400 project ideas were collected over the course of the year and grouped into individual topics. The measures now planned, such as “hybrid village centers” for the use of vacancies and the provision of digital devices and a wide variety of training courses, or “hybrid cultural offerings”, which are intended to strengthen identity and bring regional building culture closer, aim to supplement various areas of everyday analog life with digital components and increase the quality of life of the population. However, strengthening inter-municipal cooperation in the region and establishing a long-term culture of participation are also important topics that have been developed as part of specific measures.
aconium is currently working closely with the Smart City Team of Ilzer Land e.V. on writing the “Smart Country Strategy”, taking into account all contributions from the population and interest groups. This is to be presented to the public in the spring of next year.