In spring 2018, pics4peace was founded as a non-profit association. After one year of association, founding members take stock.

More young voters in the elections

The 2019 European election was characterized by significantly more votes from young people. More than in any other election year before, especially in Germany. The young generation has set topics. It has succeeded in shaking up the political landscape.

Only with the youth can the future be changed in the long term. Only with the young generation can populists and extremists be stopped. That was the thesis of pics4peace when the founding members started their voluntary work in December 2017. Even then, they spoke of the generation conflict, of the glass wall that stands between the digital young generation and the representatives of the older analog generation and thus the decisions in our society. Today, others are also talking about it.

pics4peace fully confirmed

From the beginning, pics4peace was about helping young people to have a voice that is heard and to build bridges so that the echo chambers between the digital world of young people and the analog world of the older generation are broken through step by step.

Many young people in many cities in Germany, some from other countries, have gotten involved with pics4peace, as the diary on the website www.pics4peace.de impressively shows. With their creative and committed contributions, they have clearly stated what they think, want, need, what is important to them and what they don't like, what needs to be different. And they enjoy dealing with these topics.  Today, thanks to pics4peace and other democratic initiatives by young people, we are a bit further ahead. The voice of young people is being heard. What better thing can happen to us as a country?

Courage for dialogue "No speeches. No taboos. Always at eye level."

But, what about the second part of pics4peace's self-imposed mission to be a bridge to politics?
Where politicians and decision-makers have engaged in direct exchange with young people, the experiment has also been a success. The rules of communication: "No speeches. No taboos. Always at eye level." helped in the conversations. However, it was completely unfamiliar territory for decision-makers: an event with many young people without being allowed to give a prepared speech? Just being there to answer their questions? Quite problematic for the departments in the background of the government representatives was the fact that questions may be asked outside of their own department, - a necessity for the work with pics4peace.
It took courage for the Officials to face the unfamiliar situation and also to admit sometimes that one cannot answer a question. Those who dared were all very satisfied. Some offered of their own accord to be available again. They learned how fruitful such a dialogue can be.

Prescription for politics

We need many more such forums of direct contact. To the surprise of some, young people are ahead of us in some areas. We can learn from them. We just have to give them the attention and trust and let them do it themselves. This happens again and again when working with pics4peace. And vice versa. Younger and older people enrich each other. A recipe for politics!

Authenticity is important for young people. Young people not only see through magic tricks more easily than older people, they also see through when someone is not concerned about them or certain topics, but about others or their own interests.

 The time for empty phrases is over

The time of empty words is probably coming to an end. Ministers who ignore scientific studies and follow the dictates of lobby groups will be punished. Young people are tough. Trust will be the currency that counts in the long run. Trust that is based on the fact that decision-makers think beyond their own interests and take into account the well-understood interests of future generations.

To do that, you first have to understand each other. One of pics4peace's tasks is to contribute to mutual understanding and to use all possibilities of communication. That is why the Democracy Initiative has also chosen a variety of creative approaches to exchange. The fact that this is also absolutely necessary today became clearer than ever through this choice: what is needed are new ways of getting along with each other, other types of communication, real dialogue. Everyone must prove that he/she is serious.
Improvements must be felt

In a time of increasing populism and extremism, all democratic parties must therefore work together constructively, define common goals, across borders, to bring about the best for the people in our country and in Europe. And in such a way that all people feel it, including and especially the disadvantaged. When no one has the feeling of being left behind anymore, then the attraction of forces that threaten democracy will diminish again.

Without you everything would have been nothing!

Important politicians - across the parties - have supported pics4peace from the beginning and have partly actively participated in dialogue actions, across all parties: First and foremost Christian Schuchardt, Mayor of Würzburg, Oliver Jörg, as a Member of Parliament, Winfried Bausback as Minister of Justice, Simone Barrientos, Member of Parliament, Ludwig Spänle, Anti-Semitism Commissioner, Kerstin Celina, Member of Parliament, Marion Schäfer, Mayor of Würzburg, Uwe Becker, Mayor of Frankfurt/Main, Christine Bötsch and Alexander Kolbow, both in the City Council of Würzburg. Thanks are therefore due to them and the many other supporters, who cannot all be named here, for their foresight and openness.

Thanks are due to our media partners the Mainpost and the Bavarian Radio, but also to the Hessian Radio and TVMainfranken, who were strong voices for the concerns of young people at an early stage through their reporting, as well as to Radio Gong and Radio Charivari, who motivated young people to cast their vote with great commitment in the run-up to the European elections with our song4europe "Leuchtsignal" and other activities.

Crucial for the successful work of pics4peace were also our partners and supporters. Therefore, we would like to thank each and every one of them, and especially those who, from the very first day, have made the enormous importance of the cause known to the public through their active contribution and who have supported us until today: the Berlin artist Winfried Muthesius, Dr. Erich Schneider, State Museum for Franconia, the PEN Center Germany with many authors, the Börsenverein des deutschen Buchhandels, Prof. Braun and Prof. Büsching from the FHWS and the staff of the city of Würzburg, above all Ms. Linke, now of the city of Frankfurt, as well as Ms. Fröhlich; not to forget our IT professionals from bueroparallel.

And yet we wouldn't have achieved anything if it hadn't been for the teenagers and young adults who made pics4peace come alive in the first place with their ideas, their creative contributions, the good conversations, with their commitment in workshops or at the creative competition, as moderators, in concept work, in filmmaking and in discussions with decision-makers, or at Song4Europe etc., in Würzburg, Frankfurt, Coburg, Berlin, Mannheim, Augsburg, Regensburg, Bayreuth. pics4peace stays tuned.

You want to support?

If you want to support the work of the non-profit association pics4peace e.V., you can do so here:

pics4peace e.V.

DE41 7905 0000 0048 5662 36

BIC: BYLADEM1SWU

Numbers

    - Our song4europe "Leuchtsignal" was viewed about 5,000 times on our page and that of Der400, who wrote the song with pics4peace in the run-up to the European elections.
    - On Instagram, we report on what's happening with us in pictures, short videos, with brief information. Currently, a good 3,500 people follow us there.

What a good start! :)

Photo: Thomas Obermeier, Mainpost, pics4peace Dialogue event: 200 young adults with minister and mayor, 2018 at the Museum of Franconia.