Simmering finally gets his own children's and youth parliament!

Simmering finally gets his own children's and youth parliament!

In Simmering something is happening for the young generation! The topic of children and youth parliament was lively discussed at the latest district executive meeting. District head Thomas Steinhart from the SPÖ answered the request from ÖVP party chairman Luis William. It is surprising that Simmering is the only district in Vienna so far that has no active children's and youth parliament. But that should change!

The planned youth parliament will be implemented in four phases from June 2025 to May 2026. These begin with the invitation of the schools and the planning, followed by workshops to raise awareness. The delegation work then takes place before the public campaign days take place. The aim is for children and young people to bring their concerns and ideas, even if they cannot present their applications directly in the district council. However, the district councilors are invited to be part of the meetings to promote dialogue. An intensive participation of the district council at the events is also planned.

with partners for the destination

A cooperation with the “Balu & Du” association is aimed at, which is committed to outdoor child and youth care. In order to support the implementation of the project, a separate website is also planned for the children's and youth parliament. Accompanying materials and contact persons should be made available to schools to ensure a smooth process.

The "Strong Children's and Youth Parliaments" initiative supports such projects nationwide and aims to strengthen the political participation of young people. The Academy for Children's and Youth Parliaments offers qualifications for young parliamentarians and their companions, and enables the exchange between the different youth parliaments. This initiative shows how important a sustainable anchoring of youth participation is for democracy, even if it does not provide its own funding, but indicates that there are other funding opportunities. The network thus strengthens the democratic participation of Youngsters and promotes networking.

A look at Germany

In a figurative sense, one could learn from the experiences in Germany, where there are now over 500 children's and youth parliaments. These have established themselves as important platforms for the participation of young people and make a significant contribution to political education. A study has defined essential factors that promote the success of such committees and recommends integrating them into different forms of participation. A cooperative approach can lead to different projects fertilizing each other and creating a “participation landscape” from which everyone benefits.

For the implementation of the project in Simmering, it remains to be seen how the financing is secured. At the moment, the possible amount of over 650,000 euros is listed in the district budget for the excessive child and youth care, but clear sources of financing have not yet been named. However, one thing is certain: the coming months in the Simmering district will be exciting when it comes to starting the youth parliament and making young voices heard.

For more comprehensive information about the initiative and successful concepts in other regions, it is worth taking a look at the website of the Initiative Stark Children's and Youth Parliaments as well as the [study on children's and Youth parliaments] (https://www.netzwerk-democracy-und-leitigung.de/themaege-themenschwerpunkte/einzelansicht-beitraege-themenschwerpunkt/article/studie-starke-kinder-kinder-und-jugendparlamente-kommunale- and-qualitaets characteristics/).

Overall, we can be excited to see how the political commitment of young people will develop in Simmering and how their concerns and ideas are carried into the district council. One thing is clear: the youth has a voice and it is heard!

For further details about the decisions and developments in the meeting, take a look at the article by my district.