A pioneer with a new look

The district of Central Saxony has something that other districts would love to have: under the title ‘Exploring social reality in order to shape it’, the platform mittelsachsen-sozial.de offers comprehensive and clearly presented information on social policy issues in the district. The entire ‘Mittelsachsen Sozial’ project, run by Mittweida University of Applied Sciences and the district, plays a pioneering role in the field of local social reporting in Saxony. As the title suggests, the information is based on research findings. The university’s Faculty of Social Sciences has been collecting these findings continuously for ten years now. This continuity, and the resulting insight into the development of living conditions in the district, are also something special.

The media presentation of such a platform, however, must not rely on continuity. Even as the content grows and the features become more extensive, it must remain attractive and user-friendly. The academics from the Faculty of Social Sciences have found experts for this task under the shared roof of their university building, the Centre for Media and Social Work on Bahnhofstraße in Mittweida.

Students from the Faculty Media Sciences have revamped the website for the “Mittelsachsen Sozial” project. The website is now more informative, interactive and clearly structured. The ‘News’ section, for example, offers a wide range of articles on topics relating to social planning and social reporting in the Mittelsachsen district, as well as details of events in the region. It also provides insights into the project, which has been running since 2014, and the publications resulting from it. The target audience includes decision-makers within the district administration, local and regional politicians, social sector stakeholders, as well as interested members of the public. They are invited to find out more about current social issues in the region. In addition, a newsletter keeps interested parties up to date once they have subscribed.

As well as relaunching the website, media students also presented the project in more detail in radio features on 99drei Radio Mittweida. There, listeners can find out more about Mittelsachsen Sozial. Project leader Professor Isolde Heintze answers questions in an interview, and residents of Mittweida and Freiberg share their ideas on how to help shape the social sector. An informative leaflet, stickers and social media posts are further channels used to raise awareness of Mittelsachsen Sozial.

The media students presented this to academics and representatives of the Public Order, Social Affairs and Health Working Group of the district administration on 22 January. The latter were also given a preview of the drafting process for the 3rd Social Report for the district of Central Saxony, which is due to be published in autumn 2024.

The comprehensive social reports form the cornerstone of the collaboration between the Faculty of Social Sciences and the district authority. They provide an ongoing insight into how living conditions and opportunities for social participation are developing in the district of Mittelsachsen. The findings form the basis for the development of strategies, programmes and measures aimed at taking active steps in the field of social policy at a local level and creating opportunities for social cohesion.

Isolde Heintze, Professor of Social Policy and Social Work, is the project lead for ‘Mittelsachsen Sozial’ and Dean of her faculty. Given the successful collaboration with the Faculty of Media Sciences on the research project, she has several reasons to be pleased: “The Mittelsachsen Sozial project is gaining significantly in visibility thanks to the revamp of the website and the subsequent publicity work across various channels. At the same time, media students are gaining an understanding of the perspectives and reasoning of social policy stakeholders, as well as how to engage with specific target groups.” For the students, developing the campaign was part of their practical media training during their degree, and presenting it to an audience provided valuable practical experience. Heintze hopes that further projects will emerge across faculty boundaries in the future.