• For three days, around 100 pupils had the opportunity to contribute their ideas for a sustainable future at "Pimp My Future".
• At the final plenary session in Aachen Town Hall, the young people presented the results of their discussions to the public and voted on them.
• The proposals are to be discussed in the city's citizens' forum next year.

Sustainability, youth participation and local politics were the focus of the "Pimp My Future" workshop. For three days, from November 6 to 8, over 100 school students had the opportunity to contribute their ideas for a sustainable future and actively influence local political processes in Aachen at the Aachen Nadelfabrik. Together with local experts and local politicians, the young people developed practical solutions to current sustainability issues during the future workshop. They were supported by a media team of pupils who accompanied the entire process and documented the results.

The highlight of the workshop was the public closing plenary session on Friday: for almost two hours, all interested Aachen residents had the opportunity to be present in the Coronation Hall of Aachen City Hall when the young people presented their ideas and voted on specific proposals under the direction of Lord Mayor Sibylle Keupen. The Lord Mayor was delighted: "'Pimp My Future' shows how creative and committed young people are when it comes to shaping their city. They contribute fresh ideas and prove that they want to actively shape the challenges of our time."

Considerable range of topics

This was not only a hands-on approach to politics, but also an opportunity to rethink the city with the impulses of the younger generation. Visitors to the town hall were also able to experience this. The range of topics was remarkable: 17 so-called committees dealt with different areas and in the end brought 17 motions to the plenary session in the town hall. Digitalization in schools, safe school and cycle paths, illuminated sports facilities that are open around the clock and investment in affordable housing were just some of the topics.

Smilla Marie Görgen from the vocational college for business and administration was active in the "Planet" committee, which dealt intensively with the unsealing of surfaces. "There was already a wide range of topics to choose from beforehand, but it was an obvious choice for me," says the student. The four young people on the committee then drew up a concrete application for the unsealing of an area in Lothringer Straße - and the desire to unseal at least one area every year. Lukas Rademacher from Heinrich Heine Comprehensive School, who is active in the "Balance" committee, took one thing away from the three days and the sometimes intensive discussions with other pupils, politicians and experts: "I now know roughly how things work in the city." Thanks in part to the municipal expert, he was able to familiarize himself with the topic of "subsidies for sustainable development" and learned a lot about investments and infrastructure that he had not previously been aware of.

The proposals are to be submitted to the city of Aachen's citizens' forum in the coming year and thus incorporated into local political decision-making processes. In this way, the students have the opportunity to initiate real change. "'Pimp My Future' is a great participation format for young people. In addition to the results of the workshop, we hope to gain valuable insights into suitable forms of youth participation in Aachen," says Heinrich Brötz, Aachen's Councillor for Education, Youth and Culture.

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.