Vorschau

Municipality of Windeck

Family Municipality 2024: Thinking consistently about families - in all 66 villages

More Siegtal is not possible

Around 19,000 inhabitants spread across 66 villages in the Rhein-Sieg district make up the municipality of Windeck.

(Photo: © CC-BY-SA, Jiri Hampl/Tourismus Windecker Ländchen e. V.)

Equal opportunities and participation

All types of families should experience equal opportunities and participation in Windeck, with political participation starting with the very youngest in kindergarten. In view of the high level of cultural and linguistic diversity, services are designed to be inclusive and integrative.

The municipality has one of the highest birth rates in the district, and around 18% of residents are under the age of 18.

State prize for family-friendly municipalities 2024

With its "workbook on family friendliness", the municipality of Windeck presents an offer that consistently takes families into account in all administrative areas. This convinced the jury at the Landespreis für familienfreundliche Kommunen (state prize for family-friendly municipalities) and was awarded in the "small town" category.

We present some of the municipality's offers here. Further information, links to the project descriptions and to the North Rhine-Westphalia state prize can be found in the sidebar.

Family-friendly offers in the municipality of Windeck

  1. Digital participation of children and young people
    Via the website wi-ju.de (Windecks Jugend), children and young people in Windeck can anonymously submit suggestions, share their thoughts and concerns and view information about the youth center. The platform is being further expanded together with young people. The platform was also used to involve children and young people in the decision to purchase a mobile pump track as part of the Hertie Foundation's "Jugend entscheidet" project.
  2. Practicing democratic participation: children's consultation hour and 8-member council
    From an early age, children and young people in Windeck should be able to participate in political decisions at a low threshold. To this end, it is important to know about opportunities for participation and to practice expressing opinions. In Windeck, kindergarten and primary school children are involved in the planning of playground equipment. There are also children's parliaments at elementary school and daycare centers, to which the mayor is invited.

    There are also plans to introduce a council of 8, made up of young people from the eighth grade, to decide on the distribution of financial resources in a democratic role play.
  3. LiLa time: Make reading aloud a habit
    The "LiLa-Zeit" is a "read & listen" hour in which stories are told and read aloud. Refugee and newly arrived children of nursery age can playfully engage with stories and words. Stories are brought to life through movement and the use of natural materials, light and theater props. Reading aloud and engaging with language and stories should thus become firmly anchored in the children's everyday lives.

The other 2024 award-winning municipalities

The cities of Hamm, Gladbeck and Brühl, the district of Düren with its 15 towns belonging to the district and the municipality of Dörentrup were also recognized for their innovative, family-friendly offers . The projects range from family-oriented intergenerational projects to family-friendly town halls.

  • Hamm

    Family community 2024: focus on family friendliness

  • Gladbeck

    Family Municipality 2024: A young, diverse and family-friendly city

  • Brühl

    Family Municipality 2024: Committed to a child- and people-friendly city

Further information Offers for families in the municipality of Windeck

Digital participation of children and young people: the platform "Windecks Jugend" (wi-ju.de).

wi-ju.de

Lies- und Lausschstunden (LiLa-Zeit) for refugee and newly arrived daycare children

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LiLa time

The Windeck community center offers various courses as well as the opportunity to implement your own projects on the premises.

Windeck community center

Further information Links to read more

"We live diversity": Under this motto, the Ministry of Family Affairs in North Rhine-Westphalia has announced a state prize for municipalities that are particularly committed to meeting the needs of families.

State prize for municipalities Press release from September 18, 2024

Whether living together in different lifestyles and households, the diversity of family life, different educational and employment biographies or different immigration histories: Diversity is part of North Rhine-Westphalia's DNA.

Diversity in NRW: facts and figures