The project aims to contribute to the knowledge-based examination of current challenges of democratic coexistence by the participating pupils. Workshops on the following topics are offered at the start of the project week at Barmen Comprehensive School:

• Understanding democracy and defending it against extremist tendencies
• The importance of human rights for a democratic form of government using the example of the US Declaration of Independence
• Prejudices: how they arise, why they are convenient but dangerous and what we can do about them
• What does a democratic public sphere mean today? How does targeted disinformation - especially via social media - influence the perception of political reality? How can we distinguish between trustworthy and dubious sources?
• How can the integration of refugees and migrants succeed? Are they an enrichment for our society? Or are we now reaching our limits?

On the following days, the students will continue the topics of the workshops in self-designed videos, podcasts and posters. The posters and selected videos and podcasts will be shown at Barmen Comprehensive School on Friday, 10 October. "We also want to strengthen pupils' confidence in their democratic participation opportunities with other public formats," explains project initiator Prof Dr Smail Rapic from the University of Wuppertal.

The videos and podcasts will be available on a project website, which will be set up immediately after the project week. There will also be a poster exhibition in the atrium of Barmen Town Hall from 17 to 30 November 2025.

The project week is supported by the Wuppertaler Initiative für Demokratie und Toleranz e. V. and the Department of Immigration and Integration of the City of Wuppertal with funds from the federal programme "Demokratie leben". The project is also supported by the Association of Friends and Alumni of the University of Wuppertal.