Eleven-year-old wants to save Solingen's city center with fresh ideas!

Eleven-year-old wants to save Solingen's city center with fresh ideas!

Something exciting is happening in Solingen: eleven-year-old Alexander Suban has decided to actively help shape his city. With a lot of commitment and a good dose of creativity, he launched his own website to collect wishes for deserted corners of the city center. Under the project name “More Solingen” he places a particular focus on the Clemens Galleries and the main street. The goal? To create more life in the city center and surrounding areas. Alexander reports that he acquired all the technical knowledge for the website himself and invested at least eight hours into it. In addition to the website, he also created a self-cut marketing video that clearly explains the idea behind his project. His efforts did not go unnoticed and received positive feedback from the Solingen Youth City Council after he presented the project.  Solinger Tageblatt reports on this impressive initiative.

The survey mentioned at the beginning, which was carried out among 4,445 young people in autumn 2023, shows what wishes young people have for their inner city. 18% would like more offers in the city center, while 16% would like good shops and cafés. An internet café and an arcade hall are particularly in demand. Alexander plans to revamp his website to display public statistics on participation results and draw the attention of Mayor Tim Kurzbach and relevant retail chains to the survey.

Digital solutions for youth participation

Alexander's initiative is not only a great example of personal commitment, but also fits into the larger trend of digital participation among young people. More and more children and young people are perceived as central actors in society and should be included in decision-making processes that affect their future. Digital platforms and tools offer new opportunities and formats that enable partial listening integration. These include not only online surveys, but also approaches such as gamification and social media. In this way, the engagement of young people can be specifically integrated into political processes. A report on More democracy highlights the importance of taking into account the opinions, ideas and needs of young people.

The potential of digital media is enormous, especially for young people, who use them extensively in everyday life, regardless of their social or economic situation. These digital media not only enable communication and information exchange, but also active social participation. This is also reflected in the numerous digital participation offers, which include both analogue and digital formats. However, these offers require a reliable infrastructure and must also take into account the challenges of barrier-free access in order to ensure the inclusion of all young people. On Youth participation standards The need for quality assurance for digital participation processes is emphasized.

So if not just an eleven-year-old boy, but many young people can actively express their wishes, then we are moving towards a new quality of togetherness. One thing is clear: the will to change is strong, the tools are available and the future belongs to those who shape it.