Co-Creating Our City

Young people and city decision-makers rarely get to exchange ideas. Young people often seek out project-based opportunities, inclusive short-term formats as well as online platforms to express their wishes and ideas for vibrant communities. Cities, on the other hand, sometimes lack efficient ways to engage in productive exchange with young residents, especially with those who are underrepresented, at risk, or may have not yet have engaged with existing offerings.

Our collaborative project Co-Creating Our City – Young People and City Leaders Building Next-Level Engagement uses a novel Citizen Science approach to address the mismatch between opportunities for exchange offered in cities and what young people seek out in terms of engagement to realize their ideas of flourishing communities.

Groups of selected young people and city administrators in two cities – Charlotte, NC, and Düsseldorf, Germany – investigate the needs and opportunities for youth engagement and make recommendations for tangible solutions to create vibrant communities in their own cities.

As d|part, we are implementing the project together with the German Marshall Fund of the US.

Dr Anna Soßdorf (SCI:MOVE) provides expertise in Citizen Science and Dr. Christine Hübner is an expert in young people’s civic and democratic engagement.

The project is financially supported by the Gambrell Foundation.