Nationwide day of action
of the "Lebendige Stadt" Foundation

Associations make for vibrant cities

The “Day of the Unified City” – this was the motto of the nationwide activity days, which were staged by the non-profit “Lebendige Stadt” Foundation in over 40 towns and cities on June 28, and 29, 2003. All clubs and associations from the worlds of sport, the arts, and culture as well as other fields were invited to take part. The events planned for the “Day of the Unified City” included exhibitions, performances, displays and cultural festivals in public spaces, pedestrian zones and museums as well as on stage

It is estimated that around 60 percent of people living in Germany belong to one or more of the over 200,000 clubs and associations in the country. This colourful and varied array of voluntary and leisure-time institutions play a key role in underpinning the vibrancy and vitality of our cities, and the event days organised by the "Lebendige Stadt" Foundation was designed to support their activities. The Foundation events all over Germany provided big and small clubs and associations with a platform for the presentation of their work and activities: such as the ARV voluntary welfare and emergency health service association in Augsburg or the Hoyerswerda Beekeepers‘ Association, the Karlsruhe Literature Club, the "Ring-Club Germania" in Potsdam, the Community of Germans and Foreigners in Chemnitz, or the Hamburger Sport-Verein sports club. In some cities, the "Day of the Unified City" even had its own motto – as it was the case in Düsseldorf, which celebrated the "Day of Choirs".

Last year, many thousands of people throughout Germany took part in the nationwide public painting activities on the topic of the "City of the Future". And in 2001, tens of thousands of people signed up to sponsor public green areas.