With YouthBridge from Munich to New York

We are all connected, thanks to globalization. At school, we are taught that globalization ensures that our value systems blend and mix. But so far, I can only really see this happening in the world of adults, in business and politics. Why don't policymakers fight harder for youth exchanges? We young people are the ones who are concerned now about our future and are taking to the streets about the same problems in different countries. Just think of Fridays for Future or the Black Lives Matter movement.

It would definitely make sense to connect young Germans and US-Americans over their shared concerns and enable them to get to know each other. “We must live together as brothers [and sisters] or perish as fools“ said Martin Luther King. I completely agree and think that the sooner we unite, the sooner we learn to live together, to fight mutual prejudices, stop radicalization and develop and strengthen our common values, the sooner we can spread our common values and allow them to have an impact all over the world.

Learning from each other and passing on what we have learnt

Initiatives like “YouthBridge”not only enable young people to build bridges between different communities in and around their own hometowns, they also actively stimulate intercontinental dialog between young people. During our trip to New York in 2018, we met participants from all kinds of projects. We talked to them and learned from them. This led to “YouthBridge” Munich bringing the Catcalls of New Yorkproject to our city in Germany.

This is what it can and should be all about – learning from each other and passing on what we’ve learnt. Germany and the US can learn a lot from each other. But for this to happen, we need open-minded young people who are motivated to shape their future. This is our mission.