Hey, Leia and Carlo here from the Tempelhof-Schöneberg Youth Parliament.

You might be wondering why it’s us you’re hearing from right here. That’s because politics in the district of Tempelhof-Schöneberg is not only for adults but also for kids and young people – and it’s been that way for over 17 years now. What exactly does that mean? We’d like to tell you in the next few minutes.

The KJP – which stands for Children’s and Youth Parliament – in the district of Tempelhof-Schöneberg is for everyone aged 6 to 21. Members are elected from the district’s schools, recreational organisations and youth leagues. They hold office for one school year, and have the chance to contribute ideas, suggestions and wishes to the district government. And how does that work?

By drawing up motions, debating them, and winning a majority of votes at the Youth Parliament. When and where do we do that?

The Youth Parliament has regional committees, or “RAGs” which is the German abbreviation. There are three of them: in Schöneberg/Friedenau, Tempelhof/Mariendorf and Lichtenrade/Marienfelde. These regional committees meet every three weeks. When we meet, we don’t just write motions. We tour different neighbourhoods and we visit the Berlin state assembly and the German federal parliament. We also launch projects, one example being our “dialogue post boxes”.

Check out our website to see how the “dialogue post boxes” work, and now let’s get back to the regional committees at the Youth Parliament.

These committees have another important function. The first time they meet, they elect the members of the Youth Parliament board. Each committee can send three kids or young people to the board. And what exactly does the board do?

The board of the Youth Parliament has representative and organizational jobs. It attends events and discussions where it presents the opinions and perspectives of kids and young people and makes their voices heard. The board also has a seat on the youth welfare committee of the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district assembly, where it reports on the Youth Parliament’s work. In addition, the board meets with members of other youth parliaments and participation committees – from Berlin, other places in Germany and other countries.
Some of the board’s most important jobs are to help plan and conduct the Youth Parliament’s plenary sessions, and to prepare and host meetings of the regional committees.

The members of the board, and of the parliament itself, are supported by a staff member from the Tempelhof-Schöneberg youth welfare office and two volunteers.

That gives you an idea of the parliament and its members and committees. Now we’d like to tell you what exactly happens when we present a motion at the Youth Parliament.
Motions are submitted before the parliament’s plenary session in March. At the session, they’re discussed by all the youth MPs and voted on. If they receive a majority of votes, they’re sent to the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district parliament, or BVV. The district parliament holds an initial vote on them and then sends them to the relevant committees. Youth MPs are invited to attend these committee meetings on their topic.

Let’s say I’m the author of a motion to put a crosswalk on the road in front of my school. I could then be invited to a session of the road and traffic committee at the district parliament. What would that look like?
When I’m invited to the committee at the district parliament responsible for my motion, I present it to the members, answer their questions, and am there for the discussion and the resolution they end up recommending. And then what happens?
The resolution recommended by that district committee is then discussed by the full district parliament and voted on. If my motion passes, it is sent to the district administration to be acted on.

Is that all we do? No, there’s more!

In addition to our regular activities, we often do projects. We form groups for these projects, and anyone from the Youth Parliament can be involved, whether they’re board members or not. We have two projects going on right now: our “dialogue post box” and our “pupils’ rights poster”.
The group behind the “pupils’ rights poster” wants to draw attention to this topic and make pupils more aware of their rights. They’re developing a poster with 11 important rights, which can be hung in classrooms in Berlin. We from the Youth Parliament hope this project will make everyday school life fairer and more enjoyable.

We do lots of other things too! To find out, take a look at our website.

If this podcast speaks to you and you’d like help shape policy in our district, visit our website at: www.berlin.de/kjp-ts/, or find us on Instagram at: @kjpts.

We look forward to hearing from you!