At the beginning of April, the Bonn im Wandel team presses the button: after more than a year of intensive development, the new Bonn4Future join-in platform for sustainable engagement in Bonn is online. A long-awaited dream has come true for the association:  www.bonn4future.de (opens in a new tab) will be the new digital home for all people who are already committed to tomorrow.

Anyone in Bonn who is committed to sustainability, climate protection, social justice and good coexistence can make their own projects visible on the digital city map. More than 70 organizations are already listed there. The Events Calendar contains exciting dates for a sustainable Bonn worth living in. The platform sees itself as a participatory project: "We make change" is the slogan.

"There are many thousands of people in this city who are committed to making Bonn liveable, sustainable and a little fairer. This is exactly what we want to make visible and support," says educator Robert Janßen-Morof, who is coordinating the development of the platform at Bonn im Wandel. "We are very grateful that we are able to implement this important project with the support and guidance of the city administration."

"There is no alternative to comprehensive sustainable development. The platform makes it more visible how many people in Bonn are committed to this," says Birgit Rücker. As a representative of the city's Office for International Affairs and Global Sustainability, she accompanied the steering committee for the development of the platform.

The first topic is food and agriculture

The editorial team at Bonn im Wandel is starting with the first topic page "Food and agriculture". Readers can now find best practice examples, background articles, initiative portraits and current events on the platform. "We are expanding the topic pages step by step," says Bonn im Wandel board member and editor-in-chief Gesa Maschkowski. "We are looking for partners for each of the following key topics. We are starting with Solidarische Landwirtschaft Bonn and Regionalwert AG Rheinland. We look forward to guest contributions and collaborations."

The platform uses the free software Hubs4Change. "It was developed specifically for sustainability initiatives and is already running in Freiburg," says Andi Rüther. He is a web developer at Geeks4Change, the technical partner of Bonn im Wandel, and developed the platform.

The non-profit association Bonn im Wandel has a lot of previous experience in web development and promoting initiatives. The association's website www.bonnimwandel.de already had hundreds of articles and events in its participatory calendar. And several thousand Bonn residents have subscribed to Stadtwandelnews. With the new platform, the change-makers are now starting a new chapter.

The new online platform is an important component of the "Bonn4Future - We for the climate" participatory process. This has moved to its own subpage: beteiligung.bonn4future.de. Bonn im Wandel launched the Bonn4Future project in 2020 and is now implementing it in close cooperation with the City of Bonn. At www.bonn-macht-mit.de, citizens can already take part in the city of Bonn's participation processes online. With the new Bonn4Future platform, citizens can now make their own involvement visible.

You can find the Bonn4Future platform at:  www.bonn4future.de (opens in a new tab)