Cottbus booming with diversity

We, the signatories of this declaration, would like to use today's Germany-wide Diversity Day, the 10th anniversary of which we are celebrating this year, to say thank you to the many people in Cottbus and the surrounding area who, with personal dedication, great willingness to help and donate, with large and small gestures, openness to the world and warmth, have worked and continue to work to ensure that people - regardless of their origin, skin color, religion or gender - can feel welcomed, at home and safe in this city.

Such commitment is all the more to be appreciated in times when the consequences of a long pandemic, extreme price increases on the commodity markets, inflation and, finally, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and the subsequent streams of refugees are causing uncertainty in Europe and Germany. An uncertainty that right-wing populists and self-appointed tribunes of the people are only too happy to reinterpret as a supposed mood of the end of time and use for political intrigues, conspiracy theories and even fantasies of violence and overthrow. And as always, their mistrust, rejection, hatred and violence are then directed against everything foreign, different and incomprehensible that does not fit into their narrow catalog of norms.

We, on the other hand, are firmly convinced that our homeland in Lusatia can only have a good future for everyone here in Lusatia through diversity, modernity and a culture of cosmopolitanism, participation and tolerant interaction. We would like to encourage everyone to make their contribution to this and not to let the new nationalists and old small-minded people have the power of interpretation or even decision-making over the future of this city and this region.

Cottbus has set itself the goal of becoming a boomtown as a regional anchor center for business, science and culture. Together with a strong environment, the city has a good chance of mastering the ongoing structural development, of really blossoming and thus radiating out to Lusatia and beyond - as a university location, as a modern medical center, as the hub of a renewing energy region, as a creative workshop for new modern technologies and as a place of artistic freedom and development.

We must seize this opportunity, because we will not get it a second time. The key is to be open - open to change, to new ideas, to new people, to diversity at all levels. This is how Cottbus becomes an attractive location for students from all over the world, how we convince young professionals to find not only their professional but also their personal future here, to live and stay here with their families. In this way, the city ultimately also becomes interesting as a business location for the settlement of new companies.

In short: Cottbus grows with the values for which it stands and stands up for, through diversity and a living togetherness in which everyone is allowed to feel welcome. If we manage to make our city and our region a little more lovable, livable and also smarter with each passing day, we can all only win in the process.

Prof. Dr. Gesine Grande,
President of the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg

Dr. med. Götz Brodermann,
Managing Director Carl-Thiem-Klinikum Cottbus

Jörg Waniek,
Chief Human Resources Officer LEAG