News24 interview with DW journalist Auron Dodi. The journalist commented on political developments in Germany.

News24: Do only ethnic Germans have the right to call Germany home, or can everyone who was born, works, and lives in Germany call it home? The German government has launched a program to strengthen regional and national cohesion, which is comprehensive.

I am now connected in Germany with Auron Dodin, at DW.

Auron, greetings. What is the goal of this program that the government launched?
A. Dodi: The aim of the new program, launched by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity, is to emphasize the concept that not only people of German ethnicity have the right to call Germany their home (Heimat), but also all those who contribute to regional identity in Germany.
The German government does not emphasize the traditional concept of homeland (Vaterland), oriented around ethnicity, but rather the more inclusive modern concept of “common home,” “Heimat.” By this is meant the place or area that is, or has become, a person’s “home.”
Alois Rainer, German Minister for Regional Identity, from the CSU, explained this on Thursday (16.07.), in Chorin, Brandenburg.
For the government, Heimat, your home, is something that is created collectively. It is created when people come together at the local level, both in urban and rural areas. It is important to keep the individual in mind. And the sense of “common home” is stronger when people are able to shape it themselves.

That sounds good. But what exactly is the government doing to ensure that 'home' becomes more than just a word?
The Minister of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity presented a “Homeland Agenda” (Heimat-Agenda) with the title “Together we make home” (Miteinander ist es Heimat). The idea is that the state should not decide from above. It should give space to people at the local level. Therefore, the government will reduce bureaucracy here too. Decisions, it was said, should be made where they have an effect. And the support provided should be continuous, not laborious, from project to project.
The new program is based on three pillars: regional, lived culture, strong cooperation, and a healthy economy at the local level.

But practically, what does this mean for people at the local level?
The core of the program is listening to what people have to say. The format is called “Dialogues for the Common Home” (Heimat-Dialogue). Ministry representatives will go to regions of Germany and ask people more specifically: What do you miss? A large survey will collect these answers this year. In addition, people who stand out for their commitment in the regions will be honored with a special award.

The support funds will support ideas that come directly from the local level. The village of Serwest in Brandenburg shows what this can look like in practice. There, the residents renovated the old village school, which was lying empty. Today, it is a meeting point for senior citizens, firefighters and a yoga group. A medical clinic will soon open on the upper floor.
How can someone who came from abroad and now calls Germany home benefit from this program?
The program touches on a fundamental issue: how we define belonging and home (Heimat) in a society like Germany's, also shaped by immigration.
According to the German government, the new program is aimed at everyone who lives and works locally in Germany, regardless of their origin. Anyone who lives here and contributes with work is part of this concept. The ministry puts it simply: equal opportunities, regardless of where one feels "at home".
This also includes the colorful neighborhoods with foreigners, such as Berlin-Neukölln. Anyone who has come from afar and is building together with others is part of the concept. The German government is deliberately positioning itself here clearly. That is why the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote about a “front called your home (Heimat)”, because not everyone understands this word so broadly.

Both the government and the far-right forces use the word “Heimat,” but with different meanings. How much practical effect does this have?
In a country shaped by immigrants, the question of who has the right to call that place “home” is important for the attitude towards people and the spirit towards the inhabitants. When presenting the program, the German Minister of Regional Identity Rainer was asked about the far-right AfD party, which has strong support in the countryside and is campaigning on the concept of “Heimat”, which he understands differently.
He said that for the government, what someone calls their home, “Heimat,” is not a protected term. “Heimat,” the German minister said, “belongs to those who care about coexistence, not to those who pit people against each other.” Germany, he said, needs people who give hope and courage again, not people who constantly blacken everything.

What needs to happen now for the goal to bear fruit?
The answer depends on the places people live in. The agenda is intentionally left open: it will be developed further by listening to people and recording their ideas.
Of course, it is not always easy. In the countryside, where 57% of Germany's population lives, there are often no doctors or schools. Many young people leave there. This is precisely the gap that the program seeks to fill. The funding scheme supports ideas that originate directly from rural areas. And there is no lack of hope. There are many people who volunteer for their region.