Vienna, an ancient city with a history of over 1,800 years, is embracing a sense of “youth”. In 2018, almost one-fifth of Vienna’s citizens were under 19 years old, which has brought the growth and development of young people into the city’s spotlight.

The rapid physical and cognitive development of teenagers creates a critical window of opportunity. If provided with the knowledge and opportunities necessary for growth, the youth can become positive forces for social development.

Based on this philosophy, Vienna has introduced the Werkstadt Junges Wien project, which puts the social inclusion of all children and young people living and growing up in Vienna at the heart of policy-making and city administration through the implementation of more structured, long-term, and large-scale initiatives.

In 2020, Vienna was awarded the 5th Guangzhou Award for its inspiring initiative. Over the years since its inception, the project has grown in size and form, with an increasing number of children and young people actively participating in urban governance. In this edition of Echo of Cities, let’s take a look at Vienna and learn how this historic city is rejuvenating with youthful vitality.

About the Initiative: Listening to Youngsters's Voice in Urban Governance

Over the past 50 years, Vienna has shifted from a shrinking and ageing city into a young and growing one. In 2018, almost one-fifth of all Viennese citizens were under 19. Against this backdrop, the local government has launched the Werkstadt Junges Wien project to actively engage children and young people in experiencing democracy, thereby stimulating the vitality of urban development.

The Werkstadt Junges Wien project is the the biggest participation project for children and young people in Vienna’s history, reaches more than 22,000 young residents aged 4 to 19, and has provided them with numerous opportunities to participate in small-scale activities. Participants can not only express their personal opinions but set their own agendas and decide on priorities in the process of urban governance.

The urban governance issues they engage with are divided into 9 themes: safety and security, mobility and transport, leisure and culture, community and connectedness, space and place, participation and opinion, nature and environment, opportunities and future, health and well-being. Based on these areas, children and young people are tasked with performing a “service check” on the City of Vienna: What is working well, and what is not? Which improvements do they suggest? Through their assessments, the youngsters are encouraged to award medals to the City of Vienna or formulate ideas, visions and suggestions for the city’s improvement.

9 urban governance themes delineated in the Werkstadt Junges Wien

On the macro level, the project aims to establish a more structured, long-term, and large-scale strategy by bringing together the collective efforts of the entire city, where  all municipal departments and enterprises align themselves with the goal of making Vienna a more child- and youth-friendly city for all. During its implementation process, the Social Science Research Institute is responsible for analyzing the gathered information and establishing the 9 themes according to their relevance to children and young people. The government is tasked with formulating policies covering these 9 thematic areas and 193 specific measures. Moreover, the project allocates budgets for material preparation, results analysis, and policy formulation. It also involves businesses and other partners to invest a great deal of time and effort in providing multifaceted support for the project.

As of 2020, approximately 1,000 educators, youth workers, teachers, and volunteers have organized 1,309 workshops for 22,581 children and young people, with the participation of 70 departments and enterprises across the city. The project is also adopted by the Vienna City Council as a legally binding commitment for the whole city.

In 2021, the Werkstadt Junges Wien was selected out of 273 projects and won the fifth Guangzhou Award. The jury commended the project for “involving marginalized people in a unique way” and for “fostering youth ownership in local and overall democracy and improving urban decision-making” by engaging young people in local activities and making it a binding commitment”.

Initiative Updates: 

Upgrading Innovation: A New Chapter for the Child-Friendly City Project

After winning the 5th Guangzhou Award, the Werkstadt Junges Wien has continued to develop and optimize, with an expanding coverage, a more refined systemic structure, and enriched activity content. Specifically, the project has formed 4 main sub-projects around the 9 themes initially proposed: “the Vienna Children’s and Young People’s Parliament”, “A Participatory Budget of One Million Euro Reserved for Children and Young People”, “Vienna Volunteer Week” and “Vienna Queer Youth Center”.

The Vienna Children’s and Young People’s Parliament

In terms of the activities’ form, the project is upgraded by involving Vienna’s children and young people not only in relatively small-scale urban governance activities but also in the establishment of “the Vienna Children’s and Young People’s Parliament”, which encourages them to actively participate in urban management and voice their opinions in the political discourse, thus improving the city’s governance system and approaches. On October 17, 2022, Vienna organized the 3rd plenary session of the 1st Children’s and Young People’s Parliament, where about 250 children and young people came to the Ballroom of the Vienna City Hall to present their questions and demands to the politicians of Vienna and to discuss city politics and strategies for children and youth. Young members of the Children’s and Young People’s Parliament prepared for this interaction with politicians during two plenary sessions in May and September 2022. In the fall of 2023, the second round of the Children’s and Young People’s Parliament commenced, where representatives engaged in direct dialogue with politicians from the Vienna city government.

A Participatory Budget of One Million Euro Reserved for Children and Young People

Financially, the project provides strong budgetary support for children and youth participation. “A Participatory Budget of One Million Euro Reserved for Children and Young People” project is one of the 193 measures under the framework of the Werkstadt Junges Wien adopted in June 2020, in which the Vienna city government allocates 1 million euros to local children and young people for the collection and implementation of their ideas for city development. In the fall of 2021, more than 250 ideas for the future of Vienna were submitted by children and young people at the “Your Vienna for Future” event. On June 14, 2022, a large-scale co-creation day was held at the City Hall, where around 100 children and young people continued to realize their ideas with representatives from 27 departments of the Vienna city and regional politicians. On October 17, 2022, the Children’s and Young People’s Parliament, with the votes of 3,100 children and young people aged between 5 and 20, identified 20 award-winning projects to be implemented over the next 2 years, including setting up new school supply donation boxes in 3 schools, providing water facilities in parks, and offering free menstrual products in 5 schools. The project continued to collect new ideas from people aged 5-20 in September 2023 and a fresh round of initiatives will be voted on and implemented in the spring of 2024.

Vienna youth volunteers

The “Vienna Volunteer Week” is another sub-project of the Werkstadt Junges Wien, aiming to engage children and young people in volunteer services, which significantly enriches their channels and forms of engagement in urban governance. Organized and implemented by the local school WIENXTRA, the activity involves about 80 charity projects, with partners including Vienna schools and organizations, non-governmental organizations, Vienna municipal agencies, and the Vienna City Department of Education and Youth, with a vision to supporting young people in establishing contacts and relationships with clubs, NGOs and organizations. Over the past two years, approximately 8,000 students from over 380 classes have participated in Volunteer Week. The types of volunteer activities are diverse and cover a wide range, which includes donating fresh vegetables to families in need, recycling used cardboard boxes, making handicrafts to protect wildlife, accompanying the elderly, cleaning up the streets, etc. All the voluntary activities have promoted the understanding and involvement of children and young people in charitable work. The year 2023 witnessed the 3rd Vienna Volunteer Week. Gini Stern, head of the WIENXTRA Event Facility stated, “Through Volunteer Week, we also want to show young people that we can make a difference beyond our own goals. When we take responsibility for our community, everyone and society as a whole benefit.”

As the Werkstadt Junges Wien is still in progress, the latest round of the Children’s and Young People’s Parliament started in the fall of 2023, in which kindergarten and classes from grades 1 to 8, as well as young people aged 14 to 20, can register as representatives to participate in urban governance. The collection of ideas for “A Participatory Budget of One Million Euro Reserved for Children and Young People” Project was also launched on September 15, 2023, focusing on the development needs of children and youth.

As children and youth are the builders of the city’s future, the Vienna Werkstadt Junges Wien provides a global example of how to build child- and youth-friendly cities by adopting the concerns of young people regarding urban development, improving the living environment for children and young people, and promoting fair, open and inclusive urban development. The participation of children and youth energizes urban governance and illuminates the future of cities. “This project provides assistance to young people and allows them to try new things. They have happy smiles on their faces because together they have created something valuable for everyone”, Maria, the project manager of Vienna Volunteer Week said.