Greener and more seating are the main wishes

Ernst-Abbe-Platz is many things to Jena and our university: a central meeting place and communication hub, a symbol of the revitalisation of the city centre after the political change in 1989/90 - but also a heat hotspot.

The square therefore urgently needs to be redesigned. The city of Jena is now tackling this with the "Climate-adapted redesign of Ernst-Abbe-Platz"External link project. The federal government is funding the project with a total of over 6.3 million euros as part of the "Adapting urban spaces to climate change" programme. The project began in spring 2024 with the planning phase and various participation formats.

University-wide survey as part of the urban project for the "climate-adapted redesign of Ernst-Abbe-Platz"

This included a participation workshop and a survey of affiliates of Friedrich Schiller University - one of the neighbours of Ernst-Abbe-Platz. The survey took place in March 2024 and was coordinated by the Green Office and the Section for Communications and Marketing.

Following evaluation by the Green Office, the results are now available in the form of two reports: a quantitative report with statistical data on the number of participants and prioritisation, and a qualitative report on specific redesign proposals. The Green Office has now discussed both reports with staff from Division for Construction and Facility Management and made them available to those involved in the project. They will therefore be incorporated directly into further planning, which will be coordinated by the city administration.

More information on the current status of the project can be found on the website of the City of Jena.External link

Summary of key results of the survey

Number of participants

The survey took place in March 2024 as an online survey. A total of 3842 university members took part, of which around 66 per cent were students, 13 per cent academic staff, 11 per cent technical and administrative staff (including trainees) and 4 per cent university lecturers.

Importance of the aspects

On a scale of 1 (=not important) to 5 (=very important), participants were able to indicate how important individual aspects of the redesign are to them. Overall, it can be seen that the needs and requirements of all status groups are similar and that there are only a few differences between students and employees when it comes to rating the importance of the aspects mentioned.

The most important aspects across all status groups were greenery, the introduction of trees and shrubs, green spaces and seating. However, aspects such as the quality, durability and eco-balance of the materials and products used also play a role for many respondents. The availability of bicycle racks was also seen as very important by those surveyed - particularly academic employees. However, more extensive bicycle parking facilities such as video surveillance or parking spaces in locked rooms are less important. Mobile seating and children's play facilities were also rated as less important, with the latter being rated as slightly more important by employees in technology and administration than by the other status groups.

Participants were also able to select the three most important aspects for them. Seating and greenery were selected most frequently by all status groups. Bicycle racks were selected slightly more frequently by employees than by students. Students, on the other hand, mentioned the aspects of places to eat and outdoor student workstations more frequently than employees.

You can find the detailed results - after logging in - in the quantitative analysis (overall)This link requires a loginde or in the quantitative analysis (by status group)This link requires a loginde.