WE CREATE THE FUTURE. Our political Agenda for Mersch

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1.          Clean, sustainable and affordable energy supply is our future.

2.          Our future is based on a strong Protecting against the effects of the climate crisis 

3.          Our future is green urbanism, affordable housing and sustainable mobility 

4.          The future is made by local economy cycles and a diverse and attractive commerce 

5.          In the future our natural basis of life is preserved.

6.          The future is based on good living and strong health care.

7.          The future is made by a children and family friendly municipality.

8.          The future is based on a strong social cohesion.

9.          The future is based by a safe life and good neighborhood.

10.      Our future is based on citizen-centered management and participatory democracy.

We create the future.

1.   Clean, sustainable and affordable energy supply is our future.

The climate crisis threatens our planet as we know it today. Now is the time to act with full force and seize the opportunity to make our energy supply permanently sustainable, clean, secure and affordable, and to increase energy sufficiency and efficiency. The transition to self-production and self-consumption strengthens our freedom and resilience because it makes us independent. It also protects our prosperity and the future opportunities of our economy if we succeed in making sustainability the basis of our new economic model. 

Through the Climate Pact 2.0, which the municipality of Mersch has also signed, the municipality will receive significantly more government funding and advice to help it fulfill this important task. However, we now need the continued political will in our municipality to make consistent use of these opportunities and to make our municipality climate neutral as quickly as possible.

As Green community representatives, we are therefore resolutely committed to a climate-neutral community over the next six years, reducing local energy consumption and using 100% renewable energy:

• We create incentives to save energy and resources. Our community should lead by example, such as using intelligently controlled LED street lighting, which also counteracts light pollution. We support the monthly energy accounting of the municipal departments on the consumption of heating energy and electricity in order to systematically identify and exploit conspicuous features as well as potential savings. Intelligent energy management through consistent digitization detects consumption peaks and dips at an early stage and compensates for them.
• We use the full potential within our municipality for the production, use and storage of renewable energy. Every suitable municipal surface (roofs, facades, parking lots, …) should be used for solar energy. The municipality should proactively approach private businesses and fellow citizens to raise their awareness as well. A good example is the planning of ZAMID on the ‚Mierscherbierg‘, where many synergies are created among the businesses. We promote energy cooperatives of companies and adapt the building regulations. In addition, we demand transparency about energy production and its consumption.
• We involve citizens in the climate change by providing communal land for community installations (e.g. cooperatives), promoting energy communities in the community and beyond the community borders. We support households, in addition to national premiums, with financial support for roof, balcony and facade installations. We also ensure that solutions are found in the spirit of the energy transition, even for listed buildings.
• We expand wind power at all suitable locations, guaranteeing the protection of wind energy-sensitive species. déi gréng Miersch support, for example, the planned construction of wind turbines in Rollingen and Lintgen.
• We make outdated municipal building regulations and other municipal regulations fit for the energy transition by adapting them to the technological possibilities of renewables today and removing hurdles to their installation, e.g. for photovoltaic systems on private roofs.
• We ensure a climate-friendly and energy-efficient heating and cooling supply. We are modernizing our municipal infrastructures (e.g. schools and swimming pools). We do not use fossil fuels at all in new buildings.
• We plan new housing projects so that they are energy-sufficient and energy-efficient, energy-autonomous and climate-neutral. We promote good public transport connections.
• We establish a priority plan for the renovation of all municipal buildings and increase the renovation rate of old buildings in order to achieve our climate goals.
• We offer financial support to citizens for the ecological renovation of their own homes and for the purchase and repair of economical household appliances, especially for low-income households.
• We deliberately promote education and information work in the field of sustainable development among children, young people and adults from our community.

2.   Our future is based on a strong Protecting against the effects of the climate crisis

The first disastrous consequences of the climate crisis have reached us and are endangering livelihoods. We must prepare our localities for these inevitable consequences of the climate crisis.

In order to protect the people, however, the community must now also implement the necessary measures on the ground.

As Green municipal representatives, we are therefore determined to work for a resilient municipality over the next six years:

• We are systematically greening our localities, creating cool relief spaces, and planting more tall trees, hedges, shrubs, and more quality green strips along streets and sidewalks. We support building greening on facades and roofs. We encourage citizens to green or unseal their front yards.
• We provide water dispensers in public places, at and in public buildings to ensure that everyone has convenient access to drinking water in everyday life. We also offer tap water at community events and invest in water carafes to provide to clubs at festivals, for example.
• We give our rivers and streams more space by renaturalizing them. For example, we support the renaturation of the Alzette, a project that not only provides new habitats for many species but also reduces the risk of flooding. We design near-natural water retention basins and implement the stormwater overflow basins (RÜB) required by the wastewater syndicates.
• We invest in special equipment for flood protection and for transporting people in case of flood situations in residential areas. Thus, we elaborate an operational plan with procedures for the different hazard situations.
• We update municipal planning tools, such as the heat action plan or our risk management strategy for heavy rain and flooding. We draw up a list of protective measures with a clear sequence for their implementation.

3.   Our future is green urbanism, affordable housing and sustainable mobility

Quality of life means that we don’t waste our time in traffic jams, but reach our destination safely and comfortably. More quality of life requires that we allow nature to find its way back into our cities and villages, that we allow people more space in urban areas, and that we create inviting public spaces where adults and children enjoy spending time and meeting each other. In order to protect our quality of life, it is necessary above all to bring housing, leisure, work and important services closer together.

As Green municipal representatives, we are therefore resolutely committed to a green, inclusive and livable community for the next six years:

1. We create green cities and towns with character and quality of life for all.

• We ensure vibrant villages and livable cities. To do this, we adapt land-use planning through the General Development Plan (PAG – Plan d’aménagement général) and the Partial Development Plans (PAP – Plans d’aménagement particuliers) so that essential facilities and services for daily needs, shopping, schools, offices and public transport are accessible on foot or by bicycle.
• We take seriously our community’s responsibility in protecting historic structures, village centers and neighborhoods. We ensure that the municipality specifically buys protected houses in order to convert them into social/affordable housing or other public use (meeting places, small stores, offices, …) after energetic renovation.
• We ensure a more efficient use of land. Urban sprawl and fragmentation of the landscape must be countered by intelligent densification. We revise the development plans and building regulations in such a way that the excavation of earth is avoided or at least the reuse on the building site is investigated or prescribed. We generally favor the preservation, rehabilitation, remodeling and expansion of existing buildings over demolitions.
• We are adapting parking management and the parking key to meet today’s mobility needs. Although a lot has already happened in terms of parking management in Mersch (horodateurs, hiring of agents municipaux), we are in favor of introducing a parking résidentiel. For new and alternative projects, we group parking facilities in carports and prioritize surface parking garages.
• We think public transport from the beginning, ensure short distances and densify especially where public transport already works well. But we also make sure that not all green space disappears in these metropolitan areas.
• We create affordable and social housing by mobilizing all land and housing potential owned by the municipality within the construction perimeter (vacant land, buildings and vacant housing). We work with public actors (Fonds du Logement, Société Nationale des Habitations à Bon Marché) and conventional private actors (e.g., in the field of social rental management) to accommodate different housing situations:
  • Shared housing (WG) projects for young people 18-27 based on the „Youth Wunnen“ model;
  • Social and affordable apartments/houses in different sizes to have something available for every constellation, e.g. also WG projects for single people;
  • Housing first, logements d’urgence and permanent housing for vulnerable people.
• We support modular buildings and Tiny Houses, especially in vacant lots and temporary vacant building sites, by adapting municipal building codes, simplifying administrative procedures and ensuring that a residence can be registered.
• We support housing groups and cooperatives by guiding them in their search for suitable building sites and, if necessary, assisting them with administrative steps.
• We promote shared housing and multigenerational houses and enable these alternative forms of housing in municipal development plans and building regulations.
• We support the establishment of an additional apartment in single-family houses (lodger flat) and adapt the municipal regulations in this regard.

2. We ensure that everyone can move comfortably, safely and cleanly in everyday life.

• We ensure traffic calming in the localities with shared space, bicycle lanes and the avoidance of unnecessary through traffic. We support the project to deconstruct the N7 in Rollingen, which would greatly improve the quality of life for local residents. In addition, we are investigating an area-wide 30 km/h speed limit with individual, selected 50 km/h streets, and are relying on temporary, mobile means (e.g. planters) as well as long-term structural measures (e.g. center islands, raised crosswalks, narrowing and rearrangement of parking spaces) to ensure compliance with the speed limit.
• We give significantly more space and safety to pedestrian and bicycle traffic by building an interconnected municipal and regional network of safe pedestrian and bicycle paths and ensuring connections to the national bicycle path network. We anchor a municipal bike lane concept in the community’s PAG.
• We provide secure, lockable and dry bicycle parking at all public buildings, sports fields, social services and train stations, and in residential neighborhoods. We also provide in municipal regulations, parking spaces for bicycles at new commercial and residential buildings.
• We systematically consider bicyclists and pedestrians at construction sites and ensure that safe detours are properly designated and signposted.
• We guarantee efficient public transportation that connects us well across the region. We ensure clean, safe and well-lit bus stops, especially school bus stops. We also support innovative and user-oriented local transport services and advocate for a reform of the flexibus system.
• We promote electric mobility and ensure an emission-free municipal vehicle fleet. When purchasing new vehicles for municipal services, we focus on an electric vehicle fleet. We are also retrofitting all municipal public transport services, e.g. flexibus and school bus services.
• We provide sufficient electric charging stations for electric bicycles and electric cars in public spaces also in parking lots for people with disabilities.
• We promote car sharing and car pooling (covoiturage) concepts in our community by, for example, providing car sharing vehicles at central locations in the community and residential neighborhoods, identifying pooling parking spaces, and thus creating attractive alternatives to owning a car.
• We provide more parking spaces for people with limited mobility, for care services as well as other social services that rely on motorized transport.

4.   The future is made by local economy cycles and a diverse and attractive commerce

For the future, we rely on a sustainable economy that reuses valuable materials again and again instead of throwing them away as waste or burning them.

As Green municipal representatives, we will spend the next six years working resolutely for a municipality that strengthens local economic cycles, promotes a diverse and attractive local trade and business community, and consistently relies on the circular economy as a model for the future:

• We strengthen local economic cycles by promoting exchange between the various economic actors and supporting them, for example, in managing their waste in a value-preserving manner.
• We create and promote local multifunctional centers that serve as hubs of a comprehensive network of local services of general interest. All locations for short- and medium-term needs should be easily accessible and, if possible, located in one spot.
• We reduce cost pressures for retail, start-ups, artists and other creative businesses and address vacancies. We support access to commercial space in town centers and downtowns with financial bonuses and promote the model of municipally operated pop-up stores. By imposing municipal taxes on vacant downtown commercial space, we create incentives to mobilize vacant space in downtowns. Especially in the rue GD Charlotte it would be important to develop an innovative concept to revitalize the city center of Mersch.
• We create, especially in larger municipalities, a central coordination office for local commerce, which serves as a contact for the businessmen of the municipality and whose task is to accompany the implementation of our strategy to promote local commerce.
• We support young innovative businesses and initiatives, especially in the area of sustainability and the circular economy, by providing them with space, supporting them and exploiting synergies with the cultural and creative scene. The community can act as the first customer in such sustainable products and solutions.
• We support restaurants, cafés and cultural institutions by making more public space available for use for gastronomy and events – where possible and compatible with noise protection.
• We encourage farms by providing financial and organizational support for direct and self-marketing of their local and sustainably produced quality products, e.g. at markets organized by the municipality or small self-service stands in the villages.
• We support initiatives to implement sustainable and alternative forms of economic activity in fruit and vegetable growing, such as community gardens, cooperatives, solidarity farming projects and farms managed by employment initiatives.
• We strive for a balanced range of economic structures in our municipalities and consistently rely on the possibility of inter-municipal planning in municipal commercial zones and in regional services. We also consistently implement the requirements for promoting a circular economy in commercial zones, and make use of waste heat and rainwater, for example.
• We give priority to the cradle-to-cradle principle in public contracts awarded by the municipality, which is based on closed product cycles and eliminates waste as completely as possible. We pay attention to ecological, organic, pollutant-free and reusable building materials when building or renovating, as well as to the reparability of equipment and reusability of volumes. We give organic, seasonal and regional foods as well as sustainable and fair trade consumer goods in the procurement by the municipality a preference (e.g. with fair trade label). When equipping municipal employees with work clothes, priority is given to textiles that meet ethical and sustainable criteria. We also list appropriate criteria in the invitations to tender issued to service providers of community-owned facilities.
• We are expanding opportunities in our community for repairing, borrowing, exchanging and giving away goods. We are transforming recycling centers into resource centers, with second-hand and repair café structures. We also promote local tool lending (e.g., drills) and the establishment of a community studio where citizens can do craft work (e.g., furniture restoration). We are building a local interactive platform where citizens can offer their skills and knowledge in repairing small appliances.
• We support schools and care structures in the organization of projects designed to give children an insight into the community’s businesses, stores and service sector and to awaken their interest in the related professions.

5.   In the future our natural basis of life is preserved

Conservation is also about protecting people: clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, fresh fruits and vegetables for healthy eating, and much more. If we want to preserve all of this, we must take better care of our wildlife, as well as our native plants and our waters.

Now more than ever, we need politicians across the country to listen to scientific facts, take the biodiversity crisis seriously, and get conservation right.

As Green community representatives, we are resolutely committed to a nature-oriented community. We fight the destruction of natural habitats, conserve our natural resources and preserve our biodiversity:

1. We preserve the abundance of plants and animals within our community by consistently greening public spaces.

• We plan public spaces such as playgrounds, schoolyards, and parking lots in our community to be naturalistic and plant native and site-appropriate shade-providing standard trees, hedges, and shrubs. We protect valuable trees in urban areas by means of a tree register and offer citizens tree and plant sponsorships.
• We integrate biotopes such as hedges and dry stone walls into public spaces and establish flower and wildflower beds or meadows in larger and smaller public areas, along sidewalks and bicycle paths and streets, in traffic islands, on playgrounds and in cemeteries. We prefer native plants and near-natural cultivation. We install nesting aids for birds and bats, create nesting opportunities for wild bees, hedgehogs and salamanders, and install insect hotels and beehives.
• We distribute native perennial plants free of charge to interested citizens* and participate, for example, in the „Aktioun Päiperlek“ of the nature conservation syndicate Sicona, in orchard projects of SIAS and the B&B Action Weeks of the Ministry of the Environment.
• We promote the creation of biotopes in the settlement area and the natural grazing of meadows inside and outside the settlement area by wandering sheep.
• We offer free wasp advice to citizens and appropriate training to municipal and school staff.
• We participate in projects such as „Urban Gardening“ and the „Edible City“, create community gardens, school gardens and herb raised beds, plant fruit and nut trees in public areas and let our citizens* benefit from them as part of the „Gielt Band“ campaign.
• We support projects of solidarity agriculture and provide areas for lateral entrants and young farmers to cultivate them organically. We support the project ‚Natur genéissen‘ of Sicona by leasing agricultural land to a farm for the production of local organic fruits and vegetables. At the same time, it acts as a buyer for the Maisons Relais of Mersch

2. We protect large areas of natural habitats and reverse unnecessary sealing of the soil.

• We do not undertake a blanket expansion of our building perimeter, as today there is still living space for over 300,000 additional inhabitants* in the development plans. We
• prevent unnecessary additional soil sealing by revising the building regulations and prevent, for example, the creation of new gravel gardens and artificial turf by establishing guidelines for the largest possible area of natural greenery. We support citizens* in deconstructing their gravel garden to a more environmentally friendly alternative by introducing premiums for such deconstruction and, if necessary, supporting elderly citizens* or citizens* with special needs in maintaining them.
• We participate in the protection of nationally designated conservation areas and designate valuable local areas as community conservation areas. We proactively promote the protection of flora and fauna, for example by actively participating in the implementation of Natura 2000 management plans and action plans for endangered species and habitats. We also create a land pool in the municipality for compensation measures and for possible land swaps with landowners of areas and biotopes valuable for nature conservation.
• In cooperation with the nature and forest administration, we create a monitoring regarding the effects of the climate crisis and the drought waves on the tree population in the managed forest parts and promote targeted regeneration measures of the forest.  
• We offer advice to private households, farmers and businesses in industrial and commercial zones on the creation of near-natural green spaces and the financial assistance available.
• We raise children’s awareness of nature conservation by organizing activities such as the ‚Dag am Bësch‘ with information stands, workshops, guided walks, workshops for children and herb collections. We stand for the development of a ‚Bëschcrèche‘ or even a ‚Bëschkindergarten‘.
• We strengthen our intercommunal cooperation in the nature conservation or nature park syndicates.

3. We care for near-natural waters and improve the water quality.

• We strengthen the security of supply of drinking water by developing community-owned drinking water sources, reactivating them and consistently protecting them by, among other things, reducing the use of pesticides and chlorine.
• We renaturalize rivers and streams with adjacent riparian strips and thus create qualitative retreats for people and nature. Above all, we demand the renaturation of the Alzette.
• We provide modern and resilient wastewater treatment plants and advocate in our wastewater syndicate that wastewater treatment plants in the future should also be able to filter microparticles (e.g. microplastic fibers from clothing that get into the wastewater during washing in the washing machine) out of the wastewater. In addition, the potential for using waste heat and generating biogas at wastewater treatment plants is to be exploited.
• In the area of graywater and rainwater, we are investing in smaller local wastewater and water treatment plants that relieve the burden on the central wastewater system. We also support measures in the area of rainwater catchment basins.

We stop the pollution of our natural resources.

We limit the use of pesticides in our community. For example, we completely eliminate the use of synthetic chemical pesticides, herbicides and fungicides in public spaces and also rely on natural fertilizers. We also prohibit the use of pesticides on leased fields owned by the community. We ensure that seeds and plants used by the municipality have been produced without pesticides and also pass on these requirements to service providers (e.g. nurseries and farms) in a binding manner.

• We establish a strategy to reduce the use of road salt in order to avoid road salt wherever possible and give preference to sustainable alternatives.
• We are taking action against light pollution. By using energy- and light-efficient lights and warm white light colors with as little blue as possible and using motion detectors, we reduce power consumption and improve nature compatibility. We are also converting large floodlights, for example in sports infrastructures, to LED and installing flaps on the sides so that the light reaches where it is needed: on the playing field. We are also reducing decorative lighting on buildings and monuments.
• We are taking action against littering in public spaces. We increase the number of trash cans with separation systems in public areas. We raise awareness with public information campaigns and involve volunteers and committed citizens in our efforts with trash collection campaigns („Grouss Botz“).

We conserve important resources through modern waste and water management and by raising awareness among citizens.

• We are establishing a local strategy for waste prevention: Our long-term goal is a circular economy in which resources that end up in waste today will be recycled in the future. We reward businesses and citizens who reduce their waste. To this end, we are reforming our waste charges so that they will be calculated by weight in the future. We motivate our citizens additionally by transparently communicating to them on their bills where they stand in comparison to the household average of the municipality.
• We introduce a bio-waste collection system and support our citizens* in private composting through advice and subsidies.
• We implement exemplary waste prevention and sorting in all municipal facilities and at community festivals or sporting events. For events organized by local associations, we support them with public infrastructure (e.g. dishwashing carts) and tie financial support to compliance with the criteria of a community charter based on the recommendations of the „Green Events“ guide.
• We continue to advocate for responsible water use. We reduce water use in community-owned buildings and facilities (e.g., through water-efficient plumbing fixtures) and equip community-owned buildings with rainwater harvesting systems, promote rainwater tanks, and encourage homeowners to install such systems. We rehabilitate and digitize the municipal water supply network and maintain it to prevent water loss. Regular camera tours are carried out to detect any damage and check the general condition of the network. By installing electronic monitoring of the pipeline network, water leaks are immediately detected and quickly repaired.

6.   The future is based on good living and strong health care

The pandemic has challenged us in recent years and impressively shown how valuable good health and a good health care system are.

Here, too, the same applies: protecting nature is protecting people! In order to increase the physical and mental well-being of people, there needs to be space for exercise and sufficient local recreation areas. The municipality also has a responsibility in this regard. The same applies to preventive health care and access to basic medical care for all citizens.

As Green representatives of the municipality, we therefore resolutely advocate a health-promoting municipality:

1. We consistently implement our elementary right to a healthy living environment in our community.

• We guarantee clean air and a right to peace and quiet: Thus, we develop and implement concrete measures to improve local air quality, e.g. through adjustments to the building regulations in the area of fresh air corridors as well as the buffer zones. We include in the building regulations that additional noise protection measures, such as triple glazing, will be provided in buildings located along busy national roads. Overall, we are reducing motorized private transport in our localities, focusing on low-car and car-free zones, speed-30, shared spaces and better bicycle infrastructure. We will conduct additional air quality measurements on nitrogen oxides and particulate matter to know the exact state of air quality and take action if necessary. We also involve our community in awareness initiatives on air quality and noise control.
• We maintain and expand attractive recreational areas, parks and forests, and design our localities so that people enjoy being outdoors. For example, we design adapted footpaths in the forest and install outdoor equipment in the center to promote „cardio“ activities in the fresh air for all people who want to keep fit.
• We support our local sports clubs while investing in recreational sports. We offer a wide range of recreational sports activities and courses, especially for children and senior citizens. We also provide access to sports infrastructures (e.g. outdoor fitness areas) for those who are not active in clubs.
• We provide a wide range of regional support services for the home, such as „meals on wheels“, „services de proximité“, or help in everyday life, telealarm and outreach work. We support initiatives against loneliness in old age and the creeping loss of autonomy that accompanies it, including restaurants for senior citizens, senior citizens‘ meetings and participation in the „Senior Plus“, „aktiv+“ and local clubhouses projects.
• We create and promote a meeting place for seniors and a commission for the 3rd age and organize numerous leisure, sports and cultural activities for seniors, about which we provide information in several languages.

We are committed to providing good local health care and services.

• We are committed to locating housing and care structures for the elderly such as a CIPA, assisted living („logement encadré“) and/or senior housing in the community.
• We bring a contact person for health issues directly to the citizens* with the „Community Health Nurse“. This person can, for example, be active in the elementary school, in the senior citizens‘ meeting place and be available for consultation hours with the citizens.
• We organize health days/weeks to make citizens more aware of health risks and prevention (e.g. on the subject of strokes). We also offer traditional first aid courses as well as mental health first aid courses.
• We provide menstrual items (pads and tampons), condoms and lick wipes in public restrooms for contraception and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

7.   The future is made by a children and family friendly municipality

In order to offer every child the best chance of a good life, it is important to help and support parents in their great responsibility.

We want all children to have the opportunity to develop their skills and abilities and to contribute to society in a responsible and self-determined way.

As Green municipal representatives, we are resolutely committed to a child- and parent-friendly community. We give all children an environment in which they can develop optimally and strengthen parents in their important role:

1. We strengthen the important role of parents and support the development of partnerships between teaching staff, educational staff, parents and the community.

• We ease the burden on parents by providing more flexible childcare options for shift-working parents at the local/regional level. We also ensure that single parents in particular have childcare support, such as when they are sick.
• We work with all stakeholders to provide constructive, affordable tutoring services for children.
• We offer young people babysitting courses with professional specialists and create a corresponding babysitter referral service for parents.
• We organize special courses in first aid for babies and toddlers.
• We work closely with the newly created regional parents‘ forum and network this with the municipal contact persons in the area of children and young people.
• We create a diverse range of counseling and continuing education opportunities for families by funding and raising awareness of initiatives such as family support, parenting schools and BabyPlus offerings.
• We support local parent associations by providing sufficient financial and logistical resources and encourage their involvement in school projects, festivals and community initiatives.

2. We guarantee quality care for every child and support care and teaching staff.

• We guarantee the creation of enough childcare places. We also create short distances and synergies between the school and the care structure through pedagogical room design, small groups and intelligent building planning.
• With a well thought-out set of specifications, we ensure that the children in our school canteens and Maisons Relais (SEA) are offered healthy, seasonal, regional, vegan and vegetarian food without genetic engineering and give preference to certified organic products. For non-regional products (e.g. cocoa), we rely on Fairtrade products. Overall, we also take action against food waste in public canteens.
• We are committed to barrier-free and inclusive schools, and in terms of infrastructure, we pay attention to design-for-all, flexibility of use, sound insulation, sufficient outdoor light, outdoor classrooms, places of retreat, and multifunctional rooms and materials, such as Airtramp, Snoezel rooms, psychomotor rooms, school libraries, music and theater rooms, and work, creative, and media rooms. 
• We strengthen networking between childcare facilities and local associations and create easier access to culture, sports, music schools and nature through joint projects and initiatives. We ensure and finance the transportation of school classes and care groups to forest and nature upon their request.
• We support the teaching and care staff in the implementation of the PDS („Plan de développement scolaire“) and ensure that the community participates as a constructive partner. In doing so, we promote the networking of formal and non-formal education.

3. We provide our children and young people with a healthy and safe living environment and strengthen their well-being.

• We consistently emphasize exercise, play and learning outdoors and in nature. Interactive playgrounds, natural green playgrounds with sufficient shade and good sports infrastructures are indispensable places to promote movement.
• We ensure inclusive playgrounds by also installing games for people with wheelchairs (e.g. wheelchair swings)
• We promote inclusive nature kindergartens or inclusive nature care structures and also create smaller nature-based learning places in elementary schools to learn in and with nature (e.g. forest classrooms, school gardens).
• We safeguard school routes, expand the pedi-bus/bicycle bus network, and hire escorts for the school and pedi-buses. We ensure that the surroundings of the schools become car-free.
• We actively promote traffic education in childcare facilities and at school, which both sensitizes children to the issue of safety and supports them in raising awareness around sustainable mobility issues.
• We pay great attention to the mental and physical well-being of children and adolescents and ensure the best conditions for quality school medicine.

4. We listen to the voice of our children and strengthen their sense of community.

• We take the needs and rights of children and adolescents seriously and create exchange forums and democratic participation opportunities for our younger citizens* through children/youth community councils, youth forums or interactive workshops.
• We promote associations that are active in youth work and support projects and initiatives that teach sustainability, creativity, social cohesion and democracy. We place a special emphasis on ideas and initiatives that come from young people and children themselves, and accompany and support them in their implementation.
• We create more jobs for pupils and students and expand internship opportunities in our community structures.
• We encourage young adults to discover the diversity of Europe in a sustainable way with an Interrail ticket financed by the community for their 18th birthday. In this way, we promote exchange between different cultures as well as an international sense of community.

8.   The future is based on a strong social cohesion

Every one of us must be able to participate in our social life, regardless of financial or health situation or cultural or sexual identity.

As Green representatives of the municipality, we are committed to enabling everyone to live in dignity and to participate in a diverse social life, both through the fight against poverty and through a vibrant community life.

1. We guarantee dignified and safe housing and supportive care for new life opportunities to all.

• We invest in social rental housing and promote social housing projects. The municipality makes use of available state aid.
• We assist in the placement of private social housing and work with conventional private actors active in the field of housing assistance. In parallel, we keep an inventory of vacant apartments and refer their owners to these associations and organizations.
• We show solidarity with people who have had to flee their homeland and provide suitable infrastructures for the reception and care of refugees.

2. We help everyone to find employment.

• We promote the professional integration of REVIS recipients* through the Social Welfare Office via stabilization measures and sufficient collective care work. In our municipality, we offer employment places in structures and with agencies of solidarity and social economy.
• We target youth unemployment and give the community a strategy to work with the ADEM employment agency and the regional offices of the „Service National de la Jeunesse“. We create apprenticeships for young people who want to complete an apprenticeship, in cooperation with the relevant bodies. 

3. We prevent poverty and social emergencies through a holistic local social policy.  

• We elaborate, together with the Social Commission, a municipal social plan with the aim of preventing exclusion and poverty.  After taking stock of the situation, it enumerates the concrete instruments and supports and establishes a comprehensive information policy on social services in the municipality.
• We provide our social services department with adequate premises and equip it with sufficient financial and human resources.
• We do not close our eyes to domestic violence. We support women’s shelters and counseling centers, and raise public awareness.

4. We give everyone the necessary advice and financial support.

• We provide transparent, unbureaucratic and coherent social assistance through the social welfare office. The municipality provides comprehensive information, in several languages and easy to understand, about the services offered and the important contact points, including those in the region and nationally.
• We provide ongoing support to the ‚Epicerie sociale‘ to reduce food costs for low-income households.
• We regularly review the ‚allocation de vie chère‘ for low-income households and adjust it if necessary.

5. We guarantee equal opportunities and equal participation in social life for all.

• We remove structural barriers in public spaces, buildings or apartments and create barrier-free access to public transportation. We also attach great importance to barrier-free communication and plain language, accessible documents and forms, information in several languages. We ensure that toilets based on the principle of „Design for All“ are installed in all new public buildings and public toilet facilities.
• We implement the legal requirements for hiring job seekers with an impairment and create related jobs in the administration as well as in the technical service.

6. We promote coexistence in our multicultural society.

• We sign the „Pakt vum Zesummeliewen“ and initiate a systematic exchange and encounter among all citizens in the community.
• We inform as a municipality in several languages. 
• We promote a welcoming culture in our community, involve newly arrived citizens* from the beginning and organize an evening „soirée des nouveaux arrivants“.
• We guarantee an attractive and dignified implementation of secular ceremonies, such as PACS ceremonies, wedding ceremonies in alternative locations and burial ceremonies in a forest cemetery, a project that, after years of intervention by déi gréng, is finally also being realized in Mersch.

7. We promote gender equality and protect against discrimination on the basis of gender.

• We establish a gender and equality policy unit at the municipal/regional level. This office, together with the Gender Equality Commission, coordinates the elaboration and implementation of a municipal gender equality plan. In addition to gender equality, this plan will also address the issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.
• We promote projects and actions in schools, care structures and youth centers to provide information about gender identity, sexual orientation and gender equality.
• We provide menstrual items such as tampons and pads and contraceptives such as condoms free of charge in all public restrooms.
• We make sure to name streets, buildings or infrastructures after women as well.

8. We encourage senior citizens to remain healthy, mobile and autonomous as they grow older, to participate actively in social and cultural life under safe conditions, and to ensure their personal well-being.

• We raise awareness of the need for permanent education and training, taking into account longer life spans. We implement specific programs to involve older people more in our general community continuing education programs.
• We take into account the mobility needs of seniors in municipal transportation and public spaces, and enable them to move around without barriers.
• We increasingly enable people to live in their own homes.

9. We promote a lively association life and offer a diverse range of cultural, sports and leisure activities.

• We recognize the enormous importance of associations and promote their activity with subsidies and project funds that are awarded according to transparent criteria. We also support our associations with adequate infrastructures and meeting rooms, as well as a place in local communication platforms, including the Internet.
• We work out a municipal cultural development plan and create synergies between the municipal service responsible for culture, the local cultural commission and associations and structures. We make sure that citizens and representatives of schools, care structures and youth centers, as well as cultural professionals, are involved in the process and focus on inter-municipal cooperation and regional exchange.
• We support the renovation of Villa Faber, which will provide new accommodation for the municipal archives, the Lieshaus and the Geschichtsfrënn once it is completed. We also specifically promote cultural activities in elementary schools, childcare structures or youth centers, such as visits to cultural events and libraries.
• We support initiatives that wish to use church buildings that serve cultic purposes and belong to the community as part of tourism and cultural programs. This is done in consultation with the church management. We preserve church buildings that have been abandoned by their religious community and hand them over to another community purpose in accordance with their architecture and cultic past after a participatory process.
• We promote sports activities and courses in our community and expand the offer. We support sports clubs in the purchase of equipment and materials. We promote recreational sports by facilitating access to sports infrastructures in our community.

9.   The future is based by a safe life and good neighborhood

As Green municipal representatives, we are therefore determined to promote a safe community by strengthening prevention work, ensuring public order and making public spaces safe:

• We draw up a local security plan („Plan local de sécurité“) for our municipality. We identify any risk factors and regularly adapt the local security plan in this regard.
• We strengthen good neighborliness: We increase citizens‘ sense of security by promoting initiatives that deliberately create opportunities and places where neighbors can get to know each other (e.g. Duerf or neighborhood stuff, street festivals, „Noperschaftsfest“).
• We support the mediator project to solve neighborhood conflicts.
• We analyze the „Règlement de police“ of the municipality and, if necessary, make the necessary improvements to strengthen public order. By extending the competences of the „agents municipaux“, they can punish public order violations and provide a citizen-oriented service in our community.
• We restructure unsafe public places in a targeted manner to avoid areas of fear. We increase their attractiveness to make them more lively, ensure their good maintenance, proper lighting and visibility.
• Together with the police and other state agencies, we inform citizens about aspects of general safety (e.g. protection against burglaries or cybercrime).
• The municipality takes responsibility for a preventive addiction and drug policy in cooperation with specialists and relevant and regional actors, and drafts an addiction prevention plan. This prevention plan should be developed in cooperation with the national addiction prevention center, educators, street workers and social services.

10.   Our future is based on citizen-centered management and participatory democracy

As Green municipal representatives, we are resolutely committed to a transparent and citizen-oriented municipality where citizen participation is a priority and the possibilities of digitalization are used to serve citizens well:

• We support the personal engagement of citizens and new forms of civic initiatives, such as local Transition movements, community initiatives, cooperatives and others, with grants and administrative support. We organize events where citizens* can constructively contribute their opinions and ideas on various political issues.
• We involve the population in major projects, such as construction projects or new regulations, at an early stage. To this end, we organize citizens‘ meetings and publish important documents on the municipality’s website.
• We strengthen the institutional forms of consultation by establishing, in addition to the legally required communal school and integration commissions, other commissions, especially in the areas of: Buildings, Environment, Finance, Social Affairs, Gender, Mobility, Culture, Sports, Youth, Senior* Citizens, and Energy and Climate. We ensure that the advisory commissions have equal representation and make sure that, in addition to political representatives, local associations and interested citizens are also involved. In this context, more weight should be given to the proposals of the commissions.
• We consistently simplify all administrative procedures and ensure that they are also digitally accessible.
• We are rethinking the opening hours of the administration and aligning them with the needs of the population.
• We ensure that the municipality’s information and communication are also accessible to people with a disability, e.g. via barrier-free access to public buildings and the municipality’s own documents and web pages that is suitable for people with disabilities, as well as through the consistent use of plain language.
• We guarantee full transparency and extensive information about the work of the mayor’s and aldermen’s councils, the municipal council, the advisory commissions and the municipal services.  
• We ensure that the resolutions and reports of the municipal council are published quickly and easily on the municipality’s website and are available in several languages as well as in plain language. We organize the public municipal council meetings preferably outside normal working hours and provide livestreaming on the Internet to allow citizens* simplified access. We also ensure that all councillors have the opportunity to publish an editorial in the „Gemengebuet“.