With Animal Meets People”: Dortmund’s youth discover the animal world!

With Animal Meets People”: Dortmund’s youth discover the animal world!

A new impulse for the zoological area in Dortmund: The “Animal Meets People” project starts on September 11, 2025. Here, the Intercultural Project Heroes work intensively to raise awareness among children and young people when it comes to dealing with the animal world. Many young people have little contact with pets due to social circumstances. With the help of this project, the conscious treatment of animals is to be promoted and a sense of responsibility is to be heightened. The goal: Arouse a fascination for animals and strengthen respect when dealing with living beings.

A crucial part of the project is the close collaboration with the Aquado Zoo Dortmund. The young people who researched as part of the project discovered the zoo and were happy to receive a generous donation: a brand new jewel aquarium with complete equipment! The young people's task will be to independently coordinate and maintain the aquarium. There they will breed and care for fish and aquatic plants and carefully monitor their development. This practical experience is intended not only to create enthusiasm for the animal world, but also to promote the personal development of the participants, explains Mirac Göl, youth spokesman for the association.

Together for more animal awareness

The progress of the project will be recorded on social media channels. Content and reports are created in close collaboration with the young people, which not only promotes independence, but also serves to motivate other children and young people to actively engage with the animal world. The project is part of the comprehensive efforts of the Intercultural Project Heroes, who support young people in their personal development.

A look at other projects at the zoo shows that initiatives to promote animal awareness are very popular. For example, the ibis aviary at Aquado Zoo was opened in 2018, where visitors can come into close contact with ibis birds, Inca terns and avocets. The walk-in facility has been accessible to all visitors since May 2019 and is very popular. Financial resources amounting to 170,000 euros were made available for the project, with the active support of Zoofreunde Dortmund, who helped the zoo with its implementation. A real community project!

The path to a better future

Similar approaches can also be found elsewhere. The Tierfreunde Münster, for example, runs children's and youth groups that meet monthly. Here, special attention is paid to topics such as animal and environmental protection. Current discussions and projects are increasingly addressing the problem of plastic waste and its effects on people and animals.

With the “Animal Meets People” project at Aquado Zoo Dortmund, we hope that many more children and young people will find the courage to engage with nature and that responsible interaction with animals will become a matter of course. The initiative is a step in the right direction and could soon be followed by other cities.

For further information about the projects in Dortmund, take a look at the Intercultural Project Heroes websites Lokalklick.eu, the Zoofreunde Dortmund zoofreunde-dortmund.de and youth animal protection jugendtierschutz.de.