Is Germany’s ‘City of the Future’ a learning city?

The German city of Gelsenkirchen is participating in a national competition entitled ‘Zukunftsstadt’ [City of the Future]. Gelsenkirchen’s entry centres on its plans to become a learning city.

The German Ministry of Education has launched a competition for cities entitled ‘Zukunftsstadt’ [City of the Future]. As part of the competition, fifty-two selected urban and rural communities are developing comprehensive and sustainable visions for the future entitled ‘Vision 2030+’. The competition consists of three phases:

Phase 1 (2015): Development – fifty-two cities develop their ‘Vision 2030+’

Phase 2 (2016/2017): Planning – twenty selected cities develop a concrete concept and implementation plan

Phase 3 (2018/2019): Implementation – up to eight selected cities implement their visions

In April 2015 an independent expert jury selected fifty-two cities, counties and municipalities to participate in the first project phase. The fifty-two entries, which were chosen from a pool of 168 entries received from all over Germany, included Gelsenkirchen’s vision of becoming a learning city.

Gelsenkirchen, which has a population of 259,000, is one of the poorest cities in Germany. In its ‘Vision 2030+’, Gelsenkirchen sets out its plans to enhance the city’s development by empowering citizens and harnessing participation as both a driver for sustainable development and a learning instrument. Gelsenkirchen has worked together with more than six partner institutions and organizations to set up a City of the Future steering group as well as working groups comprising relevant stakeholders. The city plans to organize several workshops and conferences in the first phase of the competition in order to involve all stakeholders in further refining its vision. It also aims to have ‘Vision 2030+ Lernende Stadt!’[Vision 2030+ Learning City] adopted by the city council in the coming months.

More information:

• Zukunftsstadt [Zukunftsstadt]
• City of Gelsenkirchen
• Awarded ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) City