Coordination of municipal development policy

The City of Aachen creates coordination office for municipal development policy. Karolina Kohl has been in office as Coordinator for Municipal Development Policy (KEpol) for the City of Aachen since October 2024. The KEpol position runs until 2026 and is funded by "Engagement Global" with its service center "Communities in One World" (SKEW).

Funding is provided by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The position is part of the Mayor's Department and the "City of the Future and Citizen Dialogue" department headed by Sabrina Hoenen.

The aim is to develop a development policy strategy for the city of Aachen and to intensify the municipal partnerships with Cape Town (South Africa) and Chernihiv (Ukraine) - in close consultation with Luise Clemens, the Coordinator for Euregional Cooperation and International Affairs.

With the establishment of the KEpol office, the city of Aachen is bundling its development policy activities, which are carried out in the various departments and projects. Aachen has been known as a "Fairtrade Town" since 2011 and promotes fair trade through events such as fair trade fairs and action days. The areas of education for sustainable development, climate protection and adaptation as well as international cooperation are also a focus of development policy.

New local impetus for global sustainable development

As part of the KEpol position, the City of Aachen will strategically align its development policy commitment and provide new local impetus for globally sustainable development. Karolina Kohl will develop a comprehensive development policy concept in close cooperation with various departments and local stakeholders.

The partnerships with Cape Town (South Africa) and Chernihiv (Ukraine) will also be strengthened. The aim is to intensify the exchange of knowledge, experience and ideas between the municipalities. This will promote mutual learning processes and develop innovative solutions that will also benefit the citizens of Aachen. Through its involvement, Aachen also wants to make the city's global responsibility more visible and raise awareness of sustainable development among the population.

Development policy engagement for and with Aachen

Karolina Kohl brings in-depth knowledge and practical experience to her new role. During her Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Sociology as well as her Master's degree in International Relations and Development Policy with a focus on the world regions of Europe and Africa, she worked in various development policy and cooperation projects. Here she dealt intensively with topics such as the 2030 Agenda, migration and displacement as well as participatory approaches.

She is using this experience to shape the new position and promote an expanded development policy commitment by the City of Aachen, in which local initiatives are also actively involved. In this way, the development policy concept combines local and global responsibility and is developed as a strategic orientation for and with these initiatives.

At the same time, public events and educational programs are planned. These promote awareness of development policy issues and enable solution-oriented participation.

Strengthening partnerships promotes intercultural and economic exchange, for example, as well as cooperation for the common good and mutual learning from and with partners on an equal footing. Exchanges for pupils and students will make the partnerships more tangible for citizens.

Lord Mayor Sibylle Keupen emphasizes the importance of local approaches: "Aachen has already taken many steps towards sustainable and solidarity-based development. With the new coordination office, we want to create synergies and develop sustainable solutions that benefit all citizens."

With the new coordination office and Karolina Kohl, the city of Aachen is thus taking a further step towards sustainable and solidarity-based development geared towards the common good.