SPD on culture and media

The SPD wants to reform the Sorbs Act and the Foundation for the Sorbian People together with the Sorbs, with an eye to their rights to participation and self-determination. Sorbian language, history and culture are to be promoted, starting in daycare.

The Sorbs are a minority in Saxony. The SPD wants to update the law for the Sorbs. The Sorbs should have a say in this. More children should learn Sorbian in daycare.

The platform calls the Sorbian people part of Saxony's identity. Learning the language and knowledge of Sorbian history and culture are to be supported. The Witaj concept, in which children in daycare are immersed in Sorbian, is to be strengthened, and the SPD aims for more Witaj daycare centers and groups. Young children's language levels are to be assessed, and the concept is to be linked more closely with the 2plus school model. The party also wants to discuss other ways of teaching Sorbian in daycare.

The SPD wants to introduce fee guidelines and minimum standards in arts funding to improve working conditions for creative professionals and the solo self-employed. The Kulturraumgesetz (Saxony's law on regional arts funding) is to be revised so that arts funding can be planned over several years.

The SPD wants fair pay in the arts. There should be rules for fees. A fee is the pay for self-employed people. Arts institutions should be able to plan for several years. State money should only go to those who pay union-level wages.

Collectively agreed pay raises are to keep being factored into the budgets of cultural institutions and into funding for the independent arts scene. In revising the Kulturraumgesetz, applying collective agreements is to become a condition for funding; funding is to run over several years and be adjusted regularly. An expert panel or a parliamentary inquiry commission is to draw up guidelines for statewide cultural development planning. Sociocultural centers are to get long-term institutional funding, and music school funding is to be put on a permanent footing.

The SPD wants to make Saxony a leader in educational work at memorial sites and with eyewitnesses to history. Funding for the Saxon Memorials Foundation is to increase.

The SPD wants to strengthen the memory of history. Memorial sites should do modern educational work. The foundation for memorial sites should get more money. This gives helpers more support.

Historical and political education is to be improved further. With higher foundation funding, the SPD wants to support the paid staff and volunteers working across the memorial and remembrance landscape. The platform also wants to expand provenance research, meaning the recording and return of cultural property that is unlawfully in Saxon possession.

The SPD wants to fundamentally restructure Saxony's state media authority and give its media assembly more decision-making powers. Public broadcasting is to be developed further, with a focus on information, education and culture.

The SPD wants to change the state media authority. It oversees private broadcasters in Saxony. The media assembly should have more say. Local media should keep getting money. Public broadcasters should mainly inform and educate.

The media assembly, which according to the platform reflects the diversity of society, is to receive broader powers. Funding for regional media diversity, local journalism and non-commercial local broadcasting through the state media authority will continue. For public broadcasting, the SPD considers a pooling of competencies necessary. Its mission should not be driven by ratings.

The SPD wants to preserve the language and culture of the Sorbs for future generations. Knowledge of Sorbian is to count as a plus in suitable selection procedures, and bilingualism is to become more visible.

The Sorbs are a minority in Saxony. The SPD wants to protect their language and culture. People who speak Sorbian should have an advantage in some selection procedures. Town signs should show two languages. Public information should also be available in Sorbian.

The action plan for the Sorbian language will be continued. Knowledge of Sorbian is to be counted positively in procedures suited to it. The presence of the Sorbs is to become more visible on bilingual place-name signs and in public information.