Where young people have a digital say

The “direct, visible and effective participation of young people” is a central concern of the Federal Government’s youth strategy. This participation works best when focussed on where young people frequently go in everyday life: the digital world. This is how the platform jugend.beteiligen.jetzt, was created, a service which provides know-how and qualifications in relevant projects. Three examples:

School as the first exercise in democracy

Democracy needs to be learned – also on a small scale. This is made possible by the aula project, an online platform through which young people can help shape their everyday school life. They contribute ideas, discuss them and vote. At a school in Freiburg, for example, pupils arranged to work exclusively with digital media in all subjects on a fixed day of the week.

Help design the city

More green spaces, cheaper tickets for schoolchildren, better sports facilities: in Nuremberg, young people raise their concerns through the laut! project. laut! enables them to express ideas in social media and at events, to discuss them with the mayor or to implement their own subsidized projects. The young people can get more information and view videos they have produced themselves on two YouTube channels. The project is also present on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and invites questions.

Young voices in the media

In Berlin young people work as journalists on the online platform jup! An editorial team between the ages of 14 and 21 writes texts and shoots videos on topics that interest young people. They interview people from politics and culture – for example, the Green politician Cem Özdemir or the band Culcha Candela. Explanatory videos and short documentaries are also part of the format. And of course jup! is! also present on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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