1. ACT LOCAL – ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP IN A DIALOGUE WITH YOUTH David Benkler and Svenja Stickert March 2013

2. General Remarks Administration has to enable and support youth participation Has to be anchored in statutes / fixed rules Mayor Oliver Ehret encourages active citizenship Young people have to learn more about democracy, participation as well as political processes Their ideas and requests must be taken seriously

3. General Remarks Rapid implementation necessary Youth participation has to take place on all levels Professional support by people with experience in this field of action

4. Timeline 1996-2002: Youth Town Council 2006: „Pupil Parliament“ Since 2012: new approach  development of a suitable model for Singen (no institutionali- zation any more) May 2012: Extensive survey (teenagers) as the basis for further course of action

5. Timeline March 2012: Further education inhouse with expert (as preparation for the development of a strategy regarding youth participation) The town council approves new strategy

6. Timeline May 2012: Youth Forum  sport development plan Youth survey during flea market

7. Timeline September 2012: Kick off Youth Forum October 2012: Facebook Forum November 2012: Youth Town Hall

8. Timeline November/December 2012: Discussions about „Places to stay“ in youth houses December 2012: School invites mayor to talk about street lighting, public transportation, vandalism… Feburary 2013: Application process for Celje begins

9. Good Practice I Youth Forum (September 2012) 150 participants Teenagers, politicians, professionals and employees

10. Good Practice I Group discussions about youth participation and where it is possible Introducing the Facebook Forum and other events Ideas/results written on flip charts

11. Good Practice II Youth Town Hall (November 2012) 120 seventh-graders as well as professionals and employees Pupils get to know different workspaces, such as municipal utility, city treasure, civic center, city planning

12. Good Practice II Learn how decisions in a city council are made Discussions about six topics, e.g. youth participation, places to stay

13. Good Practice III Facebook Forum (October 2012) About 1500 members between 13 and 18 years Established by professionals Moderation: youth houses, streetworkers, Singener Crime Prevention, social workers

14. Good Practice III Teenagers post their requests, suggestions and ideas, provide feedback and know what‘s going on in the city Main topics: sports, security, public places, parties…  We reach (almost) all teenagers!

15. Achivements Better communication between professionals and the youth resulted in: Street soccer court (2008) Skate park (2011) 3 football grounds (2013) New street lighting (2013) 2 sheltered meeting places (2013)

16. Thank you for your attention.