Dortmund

Care Revolution Dortmund - working group for a society based on solidarity

In their endeavours to care for themselves and others, more and more people are reaching the limits of their strength, time and financial resources. The consequences are exhaustion, loss of the ability to empathise and impoverishment. Women are particularly affected by this. There is no reason to assume that the existing capitalist system, with its economisation penetrating all areas of life, will change.
A change of perspective is therefore necessary: care and nursing work, from childcare to the care and support of the elderly and dying, does not belong in the hands of profit-orientated companies. They are interested in maximising profits and serving their shareholders.
We are committed to realising a life in dignity, both for those in need of care and for carers, developing steps towards a society based on solidarity in which human needs and care for one another are at the centre. Our goal is a society in which people organise their individual lives together and do not face each other as competitors.

Care Revolution Dortmund

We are a group of citizens from Dortmund and the surrounding area who came together after a lecture by Prof Dr Gabriele Winker (Jan. 2018). We support and see ourselves as part of the nationwide Care Revolution movement. We are or have been active in social professions (social workers, teachers, employees in care professions, working with children, refugees, etc., pastors). We see the social and economic changes that are also strongly affecting Dortmund (digitalisation, job losses in the manufacturing sector, globalisation) primarily as a task and an opportunity to reshape the way we live together and to focus on caring for and working with people. As experienced and politically engaged citizens, we see it as our duty to speak out when it comes to social issues in our city, to ask critical questions and to make our own proposals that serve the goal of a society based on solidarity. We are convinced that politics and administration need intensive dialogue with citizens and their suggestions more than ever in order to make decisions and take paths that are in the interests and for the good of the city and the people who live here.

Initial activities

In a letter to the Lord Mayor of the City of Dortmund, the parliamentary groups represented on the council and those responsible in the city administration, we expressed our concerns, criticism and questions about the planned opening of a day care centre operated by a Swedish public limited company. Based on our experiences in both Germany and Sweden with childcare and educational facilities operated by the company, we pointed out the dangers posed by this and other private companies.

On 1 December 2018, in cooperation with the Kommende Dortmund - Social Institute of the Diocese of Paderborn, we invited the Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen parliamentary group to share experiences and discuss theses by Prof. Dr Gabriele Winker and Markus Kurth, Member of Parliament for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen under the heading: "Health and care in crisis - Care Revolution: pacemaker for politics?"

As part of the German Protestant Church Congress 2019 in Dortmund, we were represented with a stand at the Market of Opportunities (topic area 4: Health - Participation - Life Support).

Activities in summer 2021

1. cooperation in the world garden

The "World Garden" project of the One World Network NRW has been running since 2005. Since then it has been touring NRW, each year to a different location. From June to September 2021, the constantly revised and expanded travelling exhibition will be in Dortmund's Westfalenpark. The World Garden is characterised by a white, round domed tent in and around which the participating groups present their projects on a daily basis, invite people to join in, offer learning stations and help them to network with each other on site. Care Revolution Dortmund was involved on 28 and 29 July. While the children dealt with climate change and measures against species extinction, global warming and CO2 emissions and were often able to express their extensive knowledge and wealth of ideas, adults reported on their experiences in care work, the situation in care facilities and clinics. Many supported the demands of the People's Initiative for Healthy Hospitals in NRW and signed the appeal.

The centre of attraction for children was a self-made wheel of fortune: every number was a question about the climate. Sometimes it was the children who asked the adults: "Why are you campaigning for the climate?" one child wanted to know. And: "Which party do you vote for and why?" asks a 13-year-old. He wants to persuade his grandmother to vote for a party that takes the threats posed by climate change seriously. Among the adults, three demands from the Dortmund appeal 'Placefor Care' were particularly well received:

1. So that everyone can participate in care work in families and neighbourhoods: Reduction of working hours for everyone to a maximum of 30 hours per week

2. So that the earth does not become too hot and we can all live well on it: Produce goods in accordance with the earth's carrying capacity.

3. So that the many carers in private households, especially migrant carers, receive respect: legally regulated appropriate wages and working hours.

You can find the entire Dortmund appeal "Space for Care" here.

2nd popular initiative for healthy hospitals in NRW - for ALL

Together with ver.di, Attac and other committed groups and individuals, we are collecting signatures in front of Dortmund's hospitals, care facilities, at markets and in public places in favour of our demands. We ask everyone who lives in NRW and is also registered to support us. Corona has made it more difficult to collect the necessary signatures in the past year. At the same time, the pandemic has made everyone realise this: We need healthcare that doesn't ask about patients' wallets. We need healthcare that does not pursue profit interests. You can find signature lists at gesunde-krankenhaeuser-nrw.de and go to "Join in".

How hospitals should be:

patient-orientated, barrier-free and self-help friendly

We demand that healthcare must be orientated towards the needs of patients and good quality. Healthcare is a task of general interest!

planned close to home and needs-orientated for everyone in NRW

We are calling for an intensive analysis and sufficient time to draw up the new NRW hospital plan - with the broad participation of all those affected by 2021. There must be no implementation steps or predeterminations before then, such as those suggested by Laumann's "Report on the NRW hospital landscape". We demand the preservation of all clinics as long as such an analysis is not available.

Fully financed by the state of NRW

We demand the full refinancing of investment costs by the state of NRW with immediate effect and a special programme to eliminate the investment backlog of currently over €12.5 billion by 2024. Maintaining and modernising hospital buildings and their equipment is a statutory responsibility of the state of NRW!

with good working conditions for all employees

We are calling for more staff in hospitals and statutory staffing levels that ensure good care for all! We explicitly refer to all professional groups, including those beyond nursing.

A healthcare system orientated towards the common good - without profits!

As a first step, we call on the state government to support a Federal Council initiative to abolish flat rates per case (DRG) and ban profits again.

3rd Care Citizens' Council in Dortmund

In the run-up to the 2020 local elections, we sent questions to all candidates for the office of Lord Mayor with a request for detailed answers. One question was: "Will you use people's everyday knowledge by setting up citizens' forums and thematic councils (food council, care council, etc.), for example, to make life in Dortmund more inclusive and sustainable?" On 16 December 2020, the newly elected mayor Thomas Westphal wrote to us in response:

"For me, the childcare issues you mentioned, as well as the establishment of neighbourhood councils, are clearly part of the `big city of neighbours'. In order to better prepare both sides for a future meeting, I would like to ask you to send me your ideas/concept papers. I am keen to promote good ideas regardless of their source."

On 10 August 2021, we were able to present and explain our ideas to the mayor in a detailed discussion. Mayor Westphal would like to continue the discussion in autumn 2021. Until then, there will be talks with the city council and administration.

The need for institutionalised citizen participation in all political decisions is demonstrated by the widespread lack of viable answers to the necessary changes towards a climate-friendly way of life and city centre design, that is not guided by rows of department stores and the call to consume ("Finally shopping again" - a current advertising poster in Dortmund's city centre), but by citizens' need for affordable living space, for green lungs, for places to meet and relax, for places of culture, for the development of ideas for living together, for space for children and young people.

The fact that there is an urgent need for citizen participation in all political decisions that goes beyond elections is currently also shown by the many statements about not voting in the Bundestag elections in September. Democracy is at risk, a development that we take very seriously.

If you already have experience with institutionalised care or citizens' councils in your town or city, please get in touch with us. We are very interested to hear about your experiences and to network.

Contact: care-revolution-dortmund@web.de