8th World Congress of Metropolis 2005 in Berlin
Youth Congress "My City - Visions 2005 +"

In May 2005, for the first time a Youth Congress to mark the 20th anniversary of the World Association of Major Metropolises took place in Berlin as an integral part of the World Congress.

About 70 young people from more than 35 member cities of Metropolis and Berlin's partner cities responded to the invitation to meet and formulate together their agenda and own visions for a social, economic, ecological and cultural development of their cities.

Their discussions were held in various workshops in cooperation with id22 - Institute for Creative Sustainability, which has been involved in a wide variety of sustainable development projects since 2000.
www.id22.de

For the first three days of the Youth Congress, the ufaFabrik, an international centre for culture and ecology, provided the main venue where the centre meaningfully combines all aspects of urban living, including housing, jobs, culture, ecology, creativity and community.
www.ufafabrik.de

The Youth Congress programme included visiting various Berlin attractions, attendance at particular events of the World Congress and a visit to the Mellowpark, a youth, sport and leisure facility. The youth also helped decorate a float for the Carnival of Cultures and finally joined in the celebration of the parade.
www.karneval-berlin.de
www.mellowpark.de

The Youth Congress was organized by the Senate Department for Urban Development in cooperation with the General Secretariat of Metropolis in Barcelona, the id22 Institute for Creative Sustainability and the K.I.T. GmbH.
www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de

Objectives of the Youth Congress:

• to share and compare experiences on the subject "city"
• to foster independent ideas and visions on metropolitan development and environmental planning
• to learn about different cultures, social differences and living conditions
• to promote international exchanges and friendships
• to learn how to prepare a documentation and to present it
• to present results of group work to the 8th World Congress of Metropolis
• to encourage regular involvement of young people in future World Congresses of Metropolis.

Youth Congress participants shared and discussed their experiences and ideas about problems and challenges in large cities within the framework of workshops coordinated by id22 in the ufaFabrik.

1. Family, education and vocational training (Everyday problems, difficulties and challenges)

2. Poverty, social exclusion and equality of opportunity (A life worth living - what makes life worth)

3. Development of metropolises (Shaping the city - living space and personal dreams)

4. Mobility and development of urban traffic (Sustainable urban development - dynamics and standstill)

5. Health and environmental protection (Quality of life - what does it mean for you?)

6. Documentation and technology (The technical workshop helped evaluate and summarise interim results of the five topic workshops into presentations. These were communicated to the 8th World Congress 2005 via PowerPoint presentations on 14 May 2005).

The thematic workshops 1 - 5 were organised and realised in the form of "Workshops of the Future". Initially, the youngsters looked with a critical eye at current situations in their cities and then came forward with suggestions of how to solve identified problems through creative ideas. Finally, they discussed possible ways and conceivable steps how to translate those ideas into action.

Participants convincingly demonstrated that they not only possessed the motivation but also an impressive qualification along with a marked team spirit and thus the potential to have a responsible share in the shaping of the future development of our metropolises.

The satisfying results of this first Youth Congress should provide further motivation for the world association Metropolis and metropolises worldwide to further the involvement of youth in the decision-making process and to integrate them into the planning phase.

"Creative sustainability" does imply more than mere youth participation. As the first Youth Congress has shown the youngsters are quite capable of playing their part as an expert when are given the time and space needed to exchange and further develop their own ideas.

The sustainable urban development of large cities around the world calls for increased citizens´ participation including a greater participation of youth. In the years ahead, this is becoming more of an issue when demands increase for improved methods and forms of democracy, citizens´ and youth commitment.

Youth Congress results including presentations, photos and contact information have been published as a DVD.

id22: Institute for Creative Sustainability
ufaFabrik, Viktoriastrasse 10-18, D-12105 Berlin
Tel 49 (0)30 75503-189
institute@id22.de
www.id22.de

Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung
Württembergische Str. 6, D-10707 Berlin
Metropolis-Jugendkongress
Tel 49 (0)30 90139-4166
elke.hollmann@senstadt.berlin.de
www.Metropolis2005.org