In recent opinion polls, 70 per cent of German citizens express their concern about the rise of extremist and anti-democratic forces. 81 per cent are in favour of more political education in schools. In the project "Democracy education and strengthening democracy in Wuppertal", which was launched in 2014, lecturers from the University of Wuppertal are working together with several schools. In future, the project group will cooperate with the "Immigration and Integration" department of the City of Wuppertal.

A central aim of this project is to encourage pupils to creatively engage with topics such as "Strengthening and defending democracy", "Fake news and prejudice", "Dealing with extremist positions in everyday life" and "Refugees and migration".

From 17 to 30 November, posters designed by pupils from Barmen comprehensive school, Uellendahl-Katernberg comprehensive school and Am Kothen grammar school on these topics will be on display in the atrium of Barmen town hall. The "Wupperwelle24" association is helping to organise the exhibition.

The exhibition will be opened on 17 November at 2 pm - with short speeches by:

• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Gust, Vice-Rector for Third Mission and International Affairs at the University of Wuppertal
• Jacqueline Lohrmann, Department of Immigration and Integration of the City of Wuppertal
• Gudrun Schindler, Barmen Comprehensive School
• Ernst Diebels, Wupperwelle 24

Videos and podcasts recorded by pupils at Barmen Comprehensive School during the democracy education project weeks in October 2024 and October 2025 can be found on the project homepage under "Project results": www.demokratiebildung.uni-wuppertal.de

The exhibition in Barmen Town Hall was made possible by funding from the federal "Live Democracy" programme, which was approved by the Wuppertal Initiative for Democracy and Tolerance e. V. and the Immigration and Integration Department of the City of Wuppertal for the project week at Barmen Comprehensive School in October 2025.