Projects and initiatives in the area of e-participation are:

At national level (Bund)

• Joint youth participation project jugend.beteiligen.jetzt of the German Children and Youth Foundation (Deutsche Kinder- und Jugendstiftung, DKJS), the German Federal Youth Council (Deutscher Bundesjugendring, DBJR) and IJAB – International Youth Service of the Federal Republic of German (IJAB – Fachstelle für Internationale Jugendarbeit der Bundesrepublik Deutschland) (2016-2018)
  jugend.beteiligen.jetztcame about as a joint project under the Youth Strategy (Jugendstrategie) of the Federal Youth Ministry (Bundesjugendministerium, BMFSFJ) (2016-2018). In 2019, it was incorporated into the federal government's Youth Strategy
  • Main goal: to promote digital participation through
    • knowledge and recommendations relating to e-participation,
    • training, e.g. in MOOCs and tutorials,
    • tools: digital tools for various types of e-participation, such as ePartool, Antragsgrün, Ypart, EtherPad and the BarCamp tool Camper,
    • the presentation of good examples of youth participation projects using a project map,
    • networking communities, youth organisations and youth initiatives that use (digital) youth participation to spread good practice examples of digital participation,
    • further training opportunities.
  • Outcomes: project ongoing until 2020.
• Multilateral cooperation project Youthpart by IJAB and international partners (2011-2014)
  • Main goal: to share information and experiences on a national and international level and develop models for greater youth participation in the digital society through
    • identifying innovative e-participation processes on a national and international level and systematising and documenting these processes using youth-friendly criteria for effective participation,
    • monitoring trial runs of pilot projects by public administration bodies and youth work organisations and further developing these projects in bilateral dialogue.
  • Outcomes:
    • the development and publication of guidelines for successful e-participation by young people in German and in English.
    • guidelines in German
      guidelines in English
    • the development and publication of a guide for digital youth participation on the participation platform Ypart.eu in German 
      and in English
    • the development and publication of a practical guide for holding youth BarCamps in German  
    • online tools to promote e-participation by young people:
      • Opin: platform for digital youth participation in Europe
      • Camper – the BarCamp tool: support tool for organising participative events and a practical guide (2020)
      • Yopad: Etherpad for collaborative text editing
• Pilot programme Youthpart #local – youth participation in communities (Youthpart #lokal – Kommunale Jugendbeteiligung) by the German Children and Youth Foundation (Deutsche Kinder- und Jugendstiftung, DKJS) together with IJAB – International Youth Service of the Federal Republic of Germany (IJAB – Fachstelle für Internationale Jugendarbeit der Bundesrepublik Deutschland) (2013-2014)
  Main goal: to help selected local communities introduce Internet-based methods to sustainably integrate youth participation in communities by monitoring and supporting the process using the ypart.eu online tool.
  Outcomes: i.a. a guide to youth participation in communities (Kommunale Jugendbeteiligung in der Digitalen Gesellschaft: ein Leitfaden) .
• Youth participation project "I'm in politics" (Ichmache>Politik) of the German Federal Youth Council (Deutscher Bundesjugendring, DBJR) (2012-2017)
  • Main goal: to enable youth participation in current political processes through
    • Participation meetings, workshops and regional activities:
      • 2012-2014: helping to develop an Independent Youth Policy (Eigenständige Jugendpolitik).
      • 2014-2017: contributing to dialogue on developing a demographic strategy for the federal government.
    • Online-dialogue at using the e-participation tool ePartool.
  • Outcomes: i.a. participation of young people aged between 12 and 27 in political decisions and shaping policy.

At regional level (Länder)

• Rhineland-Palatinate youth forum (jugendforum rlp) online-dialogue: dialogue on the future of Rhineland-Palatinate initiated at Facebook and continued at the platform (2012-2014)
  • Main goal: to develop visions and proposals for the future of Rhineland-Palatinate.
  • Outcomes: development of the "our future" – youth manifesto for Rhineland-Palatinate (Jugendmanifest rlp 'Unsere Zukunft') and its handover to the state government. The forum continues to work on a range of participative projects. These include in particular "Forum for youth in Europe" (Jugendforum Europa), the "Ask the minister!" (Frag die MP!) Q&A channel and the "Youth engagement competition in Rhineland-Palatinate: Get involved – make a difference" (Jugend-Engagement-Wettbewerb RLP: Sich einmischen – was bewegen).
• E-participation working group at the Lower Saxonyyouth organisation (Landesjugendring) (since 2013) and the "We decide – young people have their say!" (we decide – Jugend mischt mit!) project, giving young people the opportunity to experience first-hand political self-efficacy as well as political processes of participation and decision-making. A joint online platform is being developed in a participative process aiming to involve all target groups. The platform will provide simple, easily available participation opportunities. In parallel, it will bring young people into contact with political decision-makers in a networked and structured environment where wishes and demands are discussed together.
• Participation campaign "Your village II" (DingDeinDorf II)  in the Saarland (October 2012 to December 2013)
  • Main goal: to rate how youth-appropriate and youth-friendly Saarland towns and communities are and make targeted improvements – using online tools such as the "Your dialogue" forum (DingDeinDialog) or Facebook.
  • Outcomes: motivation of young people to get involved in a participation project and ongoing development of communication into a participative process. Broadening of young people's social horizons. Improvements in the youth-friendliness of local communities.

Overview of further training programmes on digital youth participation

ICT tools used to encourage e-participation by young people

• specific online e-participation tools for young people (see "Projects and initiatives in the area of e-participation"), e.g. ePartool,

• online petitions,
• Facebook, Twitter and YouTube,
• videos, podcasts and other websites by parties, politicians, governments and political foundations,
• weblogs.

The services are open to all young people.

Position papers and studies on the relationship between e-participation and political participation by young people:

• Baden-Württemberg State Agency for Civic Education (Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Baden-Württemberg), 2018. Study on child and youth participation in Baden-Württemberg, 2018 (Kommunale Kinder- und Jugendbeteiligung in Baden-Württemberg 2018), page 30 et seq.
• Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag (Büro für Technikfolgenabschätzung beim Deutschen Bundestag, TAB), 2017. Online public participation in parliamentary work – closing report on the TA project (Online-Bürgerbeteiligung an der Parlamentsarbeit – Endbericht zum TA-Projekt).
• Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (Bundesinstitut für Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung, BBSR) in the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (Bundesamt für Bauwesen und Raumordnung, BBR), 2017. Web-based media in urban development planning: Public participation and public engagement in the digital society (Webbasierte Medien in der Stadtentwicklung: Bürgerbeteiligung und Bürgerengagement in der digitalen Gesellschaft).
• Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend, BMFSFJ), 2017. Political Online Participation (Politische Online-Partizipation). In: 15th Child and Youth Report (15. Kinder- und Jugendbericht), p. 294 f.
• Regional Agency for Civic Education Baden-Württemberg (Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Baden-Württemberg), 2016. Political Youth Participation (DER BÜRGER IM STAAT 4–2016. Politische Partizipation junger Menschen).
• Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung), 2016. Young – political – active?!: Political attitudes and engagement among young people. Outcomes of the 2015 FES youth study (Jung – politisch – aktiv?! Politische Einstellungen und politisches Engagement junger Menschen. Ergebnisse der FES-Jugendstudie 2015)
• Ritzi, Claudia/Wagner, Aiko, 2016: Symbolic participation or 'real' participation? – a representative study of online and offline political participation by young people in Germany (Symbolische Beteiligung oder ‚echte‛ Partizipation? Eine repräsentative Untersuchung der politischen Beteiligung junger Erwachsener in Deutschland ‚online‛ und ‚offline‛). Parliamentary Affairs Journal (Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen, ZParl), Issue 2/2016.
• German Youth Institute/Technical University of Dortmund (Deutsches Jugendinstitut/Technische Universität Dortmund) research alliance, 2015. Political participation by young people in Web 2.0 – opportunities, limits, challenges (Politische Partizipation Jugendlicher im Web 2.0 – Chancen, Grenzen, Herausforderungen.)
• Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (Alexander-von-Humboldt-Institut für Internet und Gesellschaft), 2014. Get involved online and make a difference – 2014 participation study (Online mitmachen und entscheiden. Partizipationsstudie 2014).
• German institute for trust and security on the Internet (Deutsches Institut für Vertrauen und Sicherheit im Internet, DIVSI), 2014. DIVSI under-25s study – children, young people and young adults in the digital world (DIVSI U25-Studie. Kinder, Jugendliche und junge Erwachsene in der digitalen Welt).
• Hanns Seidel Foundation (Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung), 2013. Youth, Internet and Politics in Bavaria – new opportunities and approaches to communication between politics and young voters (Jugend, Internet und Politik in Bayern. Neue Chancen und Ansätze für die Kommunikation zwischen Politik und jungen Wählern).
• German Children's Fund (Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk), 2013. Survey on political engagement by young people (Umfrage zum politischen Engagement von Jugendlichen), carried out between 10 September and 7 October 2012.
• Ritzi/Schaal/Kaufmann, 2012. Between earnest and entertaining – an empirical analysis of the motives behind online political activity by young adults (Zwischen Ernst und Unterhaltung – Eine empirische Analyse der Motive politischer Aktivität junger Erwachsener im Internet).
• German Federal Youth Council (Deutscher Bundesjugendring), 2012. E-participation – participation on and with the Internet (ePartizipation – Beteiligung im und mit dem Internet). Position 85.
• Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung), 2011. Do you speak politics? (Sprichst du Politik?)
• JFF institute for media education (JFF – Institut für Medienpädagogik in Forschung und Praxis), 2011. Participation in and with the social web – challenges for citizenship education (Partizipation in und mit dem Social Web – Herausforderungen für die politische Bildung).