Diversity Award of the City of Aachen

Since 2012, Kingz Corner has been an indispensable hub for diversity and empowerment in Aachen. As a recognized youth welfare organization, the center offers young people ages 16 and older—regardless of their background, religion, or social status—a free, safe space to thrive. Kingz Corner combines creative youth culture with political education, thereby fostering genuine equality of opportunity and a respectful community in Aachen.

The Family Center in Aachen runs an ongoing program featuring open, intercultural, and intergenerational activities. It organizes parent cafés, hosts an intercultural night café, and offers programs by women for women. Language courses are available at the A2–B1 levels.

As master’s students in social work at the Catholic University of Applied Sciences in Aachen, Sophie Orentlikher and Mohammed Arfan Ashmawi developed an outstanding dialogue format on the Israel-Palestine conflict, which they conducted with various groups. With a particularly mindful and diversity-sensitive approach, their dialogue events build bridges in a time marked by polarization. In doing so, they send a strong message about the values embodied by the “Diversity Award”: openness, respect, and a strong sense of community. Sophie Orentlikher and Mohammed Arfan Ashmawi demonstrate that dialogue is possible even on the most difficult topics.

For 25 years, the Aachen Peace Run has promoted integration and diversity by bringing together approximately 4,000 students from all types of schools each year to send a message of peace. Through a sustainable educational program and athletic events, the project breaks down prejudices and strengthens social cohesion in the region.

Since 2008, EASTSIDE BOXING has combined professional sports training with ongoing youth social work. The project specifically targets children and adolescents from diverse backgrounds who are often overlooked by mainstream systems. By combining professional boxing training with educational support, EASTSIDE BOXING creates a safe space for participation, fairness, and personal development. Here, integration is not treated as a one-time event but is fostered as an integral part of daily life within stable group structures, thereby creating real opportunities for the future and social mobility.

The "MOVE YOUR FUTURE" project series, run by the AWO Youth Services in Aachen, promotes the social and athletic participation of children and youth from vulnerable backgrounds through inclusive bicycle repair workshops and mobility training. The project integrates people with immigrant backgrounds and disabilities through low-barrier physical activity programs and by building bridges to organized sports.

The “Aachen Inclusive Table Soccer League” is an outstanding example of low-barrier inclusion and community in action. The project uses table soccer as a unifying element to bring together people with and without disabilities, as well as people of different age groups, in fair competition. The project impressively demonstrates how a simple sporting activity can break down social barriers and strengthen community cohesion in the region.

The “Erste Große Karnevalsgesellschaft 1954 e. V. Eilendorf” combines Carnival, sports, and active inclusion. People with and without physical or intellectual disabilities train together in guard dancing and show dancing. These shared athletic activities foster connections and enable participation regardless of individual circumstances. Inclusion is not an optional extra here, but an integral part of club life. The club exemplifies how shared sports and club activities can bring people together and promote social participation.