Schmarl calls young people: your district, your ideas!

Schmarl calls young people: your district, your ideas!

What is happening in Schmarl, a district of Rostock with almost 9,000 inhabitants: inside, a high proportion of which are children and adolescents? The "Your Hood. Your Turn" campaign has the goal of making the voices of young people audible in the development of the district. It is estimated that this age group - from 12 to 27 years - has not yet been sufficiently taken into account in the political discussions and decisions. District manager Carolin Hannert emphasizes that it is time to finally take the interests of young people seriously in Schmarl. "There is something" - the opportunity is now cheap!

As part of this Initiative, young people can submit their ideas to improve their living environment by August 10, 2023. The award -winning projects should help to make Schmarl more livable, more beautiful, environmentally friendly and cleaner. A budget of 2,000 euros is available for the implementation of the best suggestions. "This is a great opportunity for young people," says Hannert and asks everyone to become active. Ideas can not only be submitted online - also at the block party on July 20, 2025 at Haus 12 (SBZ) there is the possibility of personal submission.

motivation to participate

A survey shows that many young people in Germany do not feel sufficiently represented in their matters and find participation as impossible. The reasons are diverse: often there is a lack of knowledge of urban development and the corresponding opportunities for participation, while schools and educators have: inside, limited resources to record these topics in class. The federal ministries emphasize that the inclusion of this age group is not a matter of course in urban development processes. Projects such as "Your Hood. Your Turn" can be an important step here to create a sustainable culture of participation that gives young people the feeling of being able to have a say - that is exactly what a corresponding contribution by Luzi.

The participation process ends with a vote that takes place online from August 31 to September 10, 2023. During this phase, citizens can coordinate: inside which ideas should be implemented. The ballot box becomes the place of co -determination for the youth in Schmarl. On September 14, 2023, the winning ideas will be announced at the next block party in the SBZ. "Have a good hand" when it comes to developing creative ideas, this is what this action is about.

success models from other cities

If you follow the successful examples of other cities, there are numerous innovative approaches to involve young people in urban development. In the city of Heidelberg, projects such as "The other Park" or the "lively traffic -calmed areas" are committed, which show how young people can successfully be implemented in urban design. The "#stadtache" app also enables children and adolescents to actively discover and design their city - ideas that would also be transferable in Schmarl.

It is hoped that "your hood. Your gym" not only delivers short -term results, but also laid the foundation for a long -term culture of participation. The previous model projects for youth participation in urban development have shown that there are opportunities to effectively involve young people. It is important to continue to use and promote them. Because only with one voice in the urban matters can a real change be brought about.

Further information on the campaign and participation can be found on the website of the initiative and on the website of 38.1 magazine, [luzi] (https://www.luzi.ruhr/jugend-in-stadt- BBSR.