© Christian FürthnerWith the Participatory Children's and Youth Million, young people in Vienna submit their ideas and decide themselves which of their projects will be implemented with 1 million EUR.
LISTENING TO YOUNG VOICES
Many young Viennese are not able to vote, due to their age or citizenship, and are therefore excluded from certain parts of democratic decision-making structures. But children and young people are experts in the field of their own concerns and interests. For this reason, they should not only be listened to in these matters, but should also be given part of the decision-making power, because they and their interests should be taken seriously. That's why, in June 2020, the Vienna City Council adopted the city's first Children and Youth Strategy.
APPROPRIATE PARTICIPATION
Through this project, all young Viennese experience democracy in a different way which allows them to see the results of democratic processes that they themselves took a leading role in. To do justice to the right to appropriate participation of children and young people, their opinions on all matters affecting them must be taken into account. While experts from the city's municipal departments and from politics support the young people submitting ideas in the development of these projects, it is children and young people between the ages of 5 and 20 in Vienna who ultimately decide, via online voting, which projects will be implemented.
YOUTH MAKE A DIFFERENCE
The Participatory Children and Youth Million is one of 193 measures of the Vienna Children and Youth Strategy, which reads as follows: "In Vienna, money in the city budget is reserved for the ideas of children and youth. Every year, children and young people can vote in different ways on how this money should be used." With this project we ensure that children and young people can implement their own project ideas. This project makes a major contribution when it comes to encouraging children and young people to take part in democratic decision-making processes, enabling them to realise that they can make a difference.
