As an information and dialog tool, PARTAKE accompanies the arrival of new Aachen residents and makes it easier for them to get to know their new environment and to get involved in the city's design quickly and easily.



The problem:

Every year, many new people come to Aachen - especially through the universities, many of them come from other countries, cultures and language areas. It is therefore often more difficult for them to arrive and integrate in their new place of residence. The newcomers are particularly difficult to reach when it comes to the city of Aachen's declared goal of actively involving citizens and enabling as much participation as possible. Yet it is precisely their diverse perspectives that can be a valuable addition to "the old established".



The idea:

With PARTAKE, we transfer the successful model of "onboarding apps", which companies use to support and communicate during the start-up phase of new employees, to the arrival in Aachen. New citizens simply enter their favorite messenger and from then on receive messages from PARTAKE with important information, tips and orientation aids. Via PARTAKE, questions and calls for participation can be sent to all users simultaneously - as individual text or voice messages in the respective preferred messenger. Responses from users are collected and processed centrally. At the beginning of use, users can choose between German, English and, if necessary, other languages.



About yonu: yonu is a novel platform and app for community-based local journalism. Diverse content from decentralized editorial teams is bundled in ONE app and ONE subscription. yonu will start with a pilot phase for Aachen from mid/end of October 2023. Part of the concept is to address specific sub-target groups, communities and subcultures with an editorial offer that is relevant and beneficial to them in order to get people excited about local journalism again. In Aachen, expats, newcomers and international students & university staff are among the exciting target groups not typically reached by local media. We want to change that - and get these people more involved in city events and in actively shaping and participating locally.



 Website of yonu