I’m running as a Green candidate in the Bavarian state elections on 14 October 2018. This is completely new for me. For over a decade I worked as a news anchor and financial journalist in London. But in 2016 my husband and I decided to move the family base back to Germany and settle in a village just outside Munich, a two-hour drive from where I was born. That year was also the year of Brexit and Trump, which made me realise I wanted to get involved, and not just be a detached observer. I decided to enter politics, and joined the party most closely aligned with my concerns for the wellbeing of our planet.

Bavaria has made many headlines this year. A few months ago it served as a launchpad for a political assault against Angela Merkel over the refugee issue – an assault that revealed deep fault lines in the conservative block and almost brought down Germany’s governing coalition. Horst Seehofer, the leader of Bavaria’s ruling CSU party and Germany’s federal minister of the interior, tacks closely to the themes of the far-right AfD, whose spectacular rise last year has destabilised German politics. Alongside like-minded politicians in Austria, Italy and Hungary, the CSU leadership is pushing for a tougher handling of migration, while undermining liberal democratic values.

So as a Green and a fervent pro-European, I feel like I’m on a political frontline. The future of the EU may well be determined right here in Bavaria. Recently, a Green party member from Berlin who grew up in my constituency and knows what campaigning in rural Bavaria means sent in a generous donation, accompanied with the words: “This election really matters”.

Although I don’t much care for labels I can surely be described as a member of the globalised, liberal “elite” – the very group that populists like to lash out at. But coming back to Bavaria after all these years and devoting myself to local politics has convinced me people are eager for different solutions than those demagogues have in store. Here’s why: most people are aware that refugees are hardly the reason for the problems they encounter.

Yes, there are problems in Bavaria – even if it may not seem obvious at first glance. When you land at Munich airport, you probably think everything’s perfect. Roads are well made, and business hums along nicely. Many areas enjoy full employment. The land is fertile and green, with mountains, castles, lakes, lederhosen and bierfests providing picture-postcard views. Volunteering for good causes is held in high regard. There are citizens associations for everything from car-sharing to bee-keeping. If someone makes a promise, they will stand by their word. Being on time is sacred. There’s a sense of stability and balance. You’d never think that a million refugees walked through here not long ago.

During the 2015-16 refugee crisis, thousands of volunteers, church groups, businesses and institutions took people in with compassion and pragmatism. They stepped up to help refugees find homes, learn German, and train for some jobs. A British acquaintance once asked me: “How on Earth does Germany deal with one million people?” “One at a time,” I replied. This holds true in Bavaria as well.

‘Yes, there are problems in Bavaria – even if it may not seem obvious at first glance. The land is fertile and green, with mountains, castles, lakes and beer fests forming postcard sceneries.’ Photograph: Christof Stache/AFP/Getty Images

Integration was in fact going rather well until the regional CSU government started to drive a wedge between the local population and refugees. Bureaucratic cruelty was deployed. Refugees were suddenly ripped out of schools or work places, and placed in centres. It was a tactic aimed at deflecting attention from the real issues: Bavaria is prosperous, but it’s mismanaged. Funds are poured into roads rather than into education or public transport. A small town near us set up hitchhiker benches for the elderly. Mobile network coverage and high-speed internet is better on Greek islands than across most of Bavaria. Groundwater is polluted by farming fertilizers. Some communities have started to issue warnings to boil tap water.

Bavaria’s state government sits on its cash while it outsources the costs of social services to districts and towns. They resort to commercial developments as a source of much-needed income. That means fertile land, ecosystems and traditional communities are destroyed by unchecked construction. Industrialised farming and a rising use of pesticides have led to a situation where people worry about the “silent spring”. “Have you noticed how quiet it is? Where are the insects? Where are the birds?” they ask.

There’s also growing discontent over unaffordable housing and soaring rents. The healthcare system is understaffed, and its employees underpaid; 75% of the elderly are looked after by relatives; hidden poverty is on the rise, especially among older women and single parents. An ageing population has also caused a skilled labour shortage that leaves 260,000 jobs unfilled. Two thirds of businesses consider this the biggest risk to growth.

A large majority are ill at ease with the CSU’s obsession with migrants, security and surveillance

The narrow-minded conservative region I left behind 25 years ago as a student has opened up to the world, and that’s surely a good thing. At the same time, people have held on to their traditions. Smartphones, online shopping and international business relationships live side by side with homemade preserves and shops that close on Sundays. Startups are popping up in the fields of fintech (finance technology), e-mobility and sustainable products. More people speak English; many frequently travel abroad for work, pleasure or studies. And yet the blending of new and old is being held back by bad governance.

Seehofer tries to instil fear in the hope his party will take votes from the far right. But that’s been backfiring. Instead, many conservative voters are appalled. A large majority are ill at ease with the CSU’s obsession with migrants, security and surveillance. Bavaria is one of the safest places I know. There were public protests when a new, intrusive law handed the police unprecedented powers to conduct surveillance and detain people. Seehofer’s plan to introduce stricter border controls is likewise nonsensical. This year no more than 150 refugees have arrived each month in Passau, a main border checkpoint with Austria. That’s an average of five per day.

Fingers are pointed at refugees while the social and environmental crisis is left unaddressed. The CSU is a patriarchal party that has dominated Bavarian politics for more than 50 years. It’s now pandering to the worst xenophobia in order to hang on. But there’s nothing inevitable about the populist wave: reviving grassroots democracy is the answer. People in Bavaria want pragmatic, humane solutions. They don’t buy the scapegoating. In the words of the women at my local grocery store: “We need to get back to good, solid policymaking. Please bring decency to this old boy’s club.”

• Judith Bogner, a German journalist, broadcaster and actor, is a Green candidate in the October 2018 Bavaria state election