With the "Youth Participation" working area, the City of Aachen focuses on the participation of young Aachen residents. The aim is to promote their active participation in political and social decision-making processes, to incorporate their perspectives into urban development and to provide information about participation. Further information will be available here from May 2025.
Invitation to the Youth Forum - Be part of it!
As part of the three-day future workshop "Pimp My Future" (6 - 8.11.2024), over 100 pupils developed 17 sustainable ideas for the city of Aachen and developed them into proposals. In a public final plenary session chaired by Lord Mayor Sibylle Keupen, the students selected four of the proposals to be discussed by the local politicians of the City of Aachen in a special session of the Citizens' Forum (Youth Forum) on April 30, 2025.
Information on the Youth Forum
- Date: April 30, 2025
- Time: 17:00 - 19:00
- Location: Forum M, Buchkremerstraße 1-7, 52062 Aachen
(Entrance via the elevator on the right in front of the entrance to the Mayersche bookstore)
These are the four applications selected by the students:
- Motion 1: Modernization of sports facilities and extended opening hours
- Motion 2: Rental bicycles at schools and repair services
- Motion 3: Drinking fountains in the city center
- Motion 4: Climate-friendly waste management and waste training for educational institutions
"Pimp My Future" - young people shape Aachen's future
Sustainability, youth participation and local politics were the focus of the three-day future workshop "Pimp My Future", which took place at Aachen's Nadelfabrik from November 6 to 8, 2024. Over 100 pupils had the opportunity to contribute their ideas for a sustainable future and experience local politics at first hand. The participating schools in the city of Aachen were the 4th Aachen Comprehensive School, Einhard Gymnasium, Heinrich Heine Comprehensive School and the Vocational College for Economics and Administration of the Aachen City Region.
Ideas for more sustainability
Together with local experts and local politicians, the young people developed ideas on current sustainability issues over the course of the three-day future workshop. In three teams, the students developed 17 proposals based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which provided valuable input not only for the schools but also for the city of Aachen. They were supported by a media and editorial team of pupils who accompanied the entire process and documented the results in a magazine and a video insight.
Selection of the four applications for the Youth Forum of the City of Aachen
The highlight of the workshop was the final public plenary session on November 8, 2024. Interested Aachen residents had the opportunity to be present in the Coronation Hall of Aachen City Hall when the young people presented their ideas. Under the direction of Lord Mayor Sibylle Keupen, the proposals were discussed and four proposals were democratically selected. The selected proposals will be submitted to a special meeting of the citizens' forum (youth forum) of the city of Aachen on April 30, 2025 and will be incorporated into the local political decision-making processes.
Cooperation for a sustainable future
The future workshop was organized by "Politik zum Anfassen e. V.", an independent, non-partisan and non-profit association, and sponsored by the City of Aachen's departments of Citizens' Dialogue and Administrative Management, Climate and Environment, and Children, Youth and Schools.