Big Challenges, Local Ideas: HACKTIVE YOUTH in Nürnberg 💡
On 1 September 2026, participants from a wide range of cultural backgrounds came together in Nürnberg for a HACKTIVE YOUTH workshop exploring housing, isolation, belonging, and some of the everyday challenges young people face while living in Germany.
Hosted by Victoria Utomo at Wohnanlage St. Peter, the workshop brought together participants from China, France, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam and other backgrounds. The diversity of the group created an opportunity to compare experiences across different countries and cultures.
The session began with introductions and an informal exchange about participants’ home countries. This helped everyone get to know one another before moving into the main activities of the workshop.
Identifying the Challenges
Using a card-based activity, participants were invited to write down social challenges they had experienced or observed, both in their home countries and in Germany.
Housing was one of the biggest concerns. Participants discussed how increasingly difficult it is for young people to find affordable places to live.
Other challenges included adapting to life in Germany because of the language barrier, difficulties finding employment, and the struggle to make friends and build a social network in a new environment.
Although participants came from very different countries, many discovered that they were dealing with surprisingly similar problems.
Turning Problems Into Ideas
Participants discussed the need for better infrastructure and stronger opportunities for young people to enter the labour market. They also explored what young people can do when traditional employment opportunities are limited.
One idea was to encourage and support entrepreneurship, including creating small businesses or start-ups as an alternative pathway to employment and financial independence.
The discussion looked at how young people could become more active in developing their own opportunities rather than relying only on existing companies to provide them.
The activity encouraged participants to think creatively about what could realistically improve the situations they had identified.
Creating Space for Different Perspectives
One of the most valuable parts of the session was the exchange between participants themselves.
People who had grown up in different parts of the world were able to compare their experiences of housing, employment, language barriers, social connection and adapting to a new environment.
The workshop showed how many of these challenges cross national and cultural boundaries, while also highlighting the importance of creating spaces where young people can openly discuss them and work together on possible solutions.
The Nürnberg workshop was organised by Victoria as part of HACKTIVE YOUTH, an Erasmus+ Capacity Building project supporting young people to explore social challenges, strengthen active citizenship and develop practical ideas for positive change in their communities.
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