„My NRW, Helping Shape the Future“
As part of our project “Jugend gestalten”, which was carried out from 01.06. to 31.12.2022, a total of 16 young people engaged with the topics of media production, political commitment and democratic participation. The goal was to strengthen their participation in shaping their environment and to motivate them towards personal commitment. We wanted to spark interest in political decision-making processes and to show the young people how they can actively participate in their society.
The project began with a one-day workshop in which the participants got to know one another and gained an overview of the planned project structure. The second workshop, which spanned two days, first conveyed to the young people basic knowledge of legal topics, such as the right to one's own image and personality rights, as well as technical know-how for working with video equipment, cameras and microphones. This workshop laid the foundation for all further practical work.
Over the course of the project, six two-day workshops took place on important topics such as design, dramaturgy, ideation, storyboarding and editing. During the two five-day workshops in the summer and autumn holidays, the young people put their knowledge into practice: they filmed, photographed, conducted interviews and engaged with practical media production in various cities and regions of NRW.
A particular focus was placed on the young people's self-directed work. They actively shaped the project and took responsibility for implementing their ideas. This required not only technical skills, but also a high degree of teamwork, constructive communication and democratic decision-making – values that are of great importance in today's society.
At the end of the project, the young people presented their results on a large presentation day, at which their self-produced media projects were shown. This day was a highlight, on which the young people proudly presented their works and the results of their creative and political engagement.
With this project, we not only imparted technical and creative skills to the young people, but also gave them the opportunity to take on responsibility, express their opinion and experience how they themselves can actively influence political processes. We would like to sincerely thank the Landschaftsverband Westfalen Lippe (LWL), whose funding made the realisation of this valuable project possible for us.
