For the Frankfurt City Library, we collaborated with young people in Frankfurt in a participatory innovation process and transformed a former library bus into a mobile space for meeting, learning and exchange.
Access to Education
Nowadays public libraries are no longer just places for reading and borrowing books. They are becoming central community spaces where people from diverse backgrounds come together to gain new knowledge and develop new skills.
However, many young people, especially those affected by educational inequality, often lack access to these opportunities — either because they are unaware of them or because the offers do not reflect their needs.
To bridge this gap, the Frankfurt City Library and the non-profit organisation SocialTech launched the project Frankfurt Dream Academy. Through an open-ended and participatory innovation process with local youth, new programmes were developed that reflect the needs and expectations of the young target group and support them in building key skills for the 21st century.
OECD 4C/4K Model:
Creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication are among the most important key skills for the 21st century.
The Frankfurt Dream Academy was funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation as part of the programme “hochdrei – Shaping the Libraries of the Future”. • As implementation partners, we translated the vision into a tangible, real-world solution.
Participatory Process
As the foundation for developing new programmes, we applied the Design Thinking methodology.
Throughout the entire project, young people were actively involved in all stages of development.
–Workshop participant
Following initial street interviews, we collaborated with young people and local youth organizations in a series of workshops to uncover key challenges in Frankfurt and co-create concrete ideas for new programs and formats.
A central theme across all workshops was the lack of spaces for young people in Frankfurt —, both as open free spaces and as safe places for meeting, exploring and connecting with others.
The desire for activities ranged from sports and creative projects to social and community-related topics.
An abandoned library bus was transformed into a mobile meeting place for young people.
Mobile community space
To create an accessible, welcoming space for young people within their own neighborhoods, we collaboratively transformed a former library bus into a mobile hub offering a wide range of activities and learning opportunities.
The redesigned interior combines a comfortable area for relaxing with adaptable spaces for hands-on work, creative projects and workshops, allowing the environment to flexibly respond to different needs. The exterior was co-designed by the young participants themselves as part of a graffiti workshop, giving the bus a unique and personal character.
Between 2020 and 2021, the Dream Academy bus travelled across three districts of Frankfurt — Sossenheim, Preungesheim and Fechenheim — bringing its programs directly into local communities.
– Emely, project participant
Alongside open access to games, creative tools and sports equipment, participants were able to join a variety of hands-on workshops — from graffiti and sketching to sewing, bike repair and hip-hop.
our
As a team we accompanied the project end to end – from shaping the initial funding proposal to delivering the final outcome. Michael and Isabelle drove the overall vision, design concept and facilitation of the participatory Design Thinking process. The visual identity of the project was developed by Steffen.
The transformation of the bus interior was led by Malte together with Robert, supported throughout the build by Paul, Paula and Zahy. Beyond the physical redesign, the project also included capacity building and creative engagement: Minh hosted a de-escalation training for the on-site team, while Parwiz guided the young participants through a photography and video workshop.
Insights from our
The team’s outstanding commitment, creative ideas and the flexible involvement of a wide range of experts played a key role in the success of our Dream Academy. What truly sets whywedo. apart is their passion and dedication.
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