Dear RRCGN Community, We love our work. Every day, we passionately commit ourselves to supporting young talents in Cologne, making empowerment tangible, and consistently creating safe spaces for diversity, creativity, and community—both locally and through our international exchange projects. This foundational cultural work is indispensable for a vibrant, equitable, and future-proof urban society. But right…
Why RRCGN supports the “sowieso” campaign of the German Music Council
42 young artists, eight participating countries, 14 days of artistic encounter and two unique stage shows in Cologne: The ROOTS & ROUTES Experience (RRXP) is back! As every year, the #RRXP in 2026 is an intensive, open process. Within two weeks of creative collaboration, the young artists from all over Europe completely determine the content…
From May 24 to 27, 2026, artists, youth workers, project coordinators, and cultural professionals from across Europe gathered in Florence, Italy. The goal: the seminar “International Network Development and Regeneration in Artistic Youth Work” (INDaRAY26). Organized by us and hosted by the Centro di Creazione e Cultura, the event provided the perfect space to exchange…
The ROOTS & ROUTES International Association (RRIA) has elected a new board! We are thrilled that our RRCGN team remains part of it: Janna Hadler was re-elected as treasurer. On May 26, 2026, the General Assembly of the ROOTS & ROUTES International Network took place in Florence—immediately following the international seminar INDaRAY26 (International Network Development…
As part of our major European project, Peer Coach 2.0, young, creative talents from all over Europe recently came together once again. The program at the ROOTS & ROUTES Peer Coach Academy in Heek focused on intensive exchange, methodological learning, and creative development. During this time, Delal actively supported the RRCGN team as part of…
A year of tracing our roots is coming to an end. Together, the project group has conducted research, explored their family histories, and sought their artistic voices through workshops—now it’s time to share the results in an exhibition. The participants are currently putting the finishing touches on their reflections on topics such as post-migrant identity,…
On May 11, 2026, we had the privilege of experiencing a very special evening: We attended Olivia Dean’s amazing concert at Cologne’s Lanxess Arena! This was made possible by a generous invitation from the CAA agency, who asked us to share the tickets with young, artistically active people from our network. So we put out…
Which places in Cologne are important to you? Where do you like to hang out, where do you feel uncomfortable—and where could a creative touch actually be added? In the “ReStory” project, you can make the city your own space. We at ROOTS & ROUTES Cologne e. V. (RRCGN) have launched the project “ReStory –…
Great news for ROOTS & ROUTES Cologne e. V.: Our project, the intersectional youth magazine sec*, which was published in two issues as part of iJuLa, is featured as a winner in the newly released Dieter Baacke Prize Handbook! Under the title “Taking a Stand, Shaping Society”, the Society for Media Education and Communication Culture…
From 23 to 27 February 2025, cultural education organizations from 12 countries met in Hungary for the seminar “CABY25: Connecting Art-Based Youthwork”. RRCGN and the ROOTS & ROUTES International Association had jointly invited to #CABY25. The event provided a space for representatives of the participating organizations to share insights, explore other approaches and jointly develop ideas for…
On February 9, 2026, a new milestone will be reached in the “ROOTS & ROUTES Peer Coach Education 2.0” (RRPCA 2.0) project: This week, young international artists and aspiring coaches will gather in Salzburg to take their skills to the next level. The six-day Level Up Seminar Salzburg offers participants (all alumni of one of…
Created in the workshop “Game Lab: Let’s make a Visual Novel!” at ROOTS & ROUTES Space in Cologne, 2025 The culture rabbit isn’t doing so well. The culture rabbit is on the brink of extinction. And YOU can’t save it. At least not on your own. Make the right decisions, win allies, and breathe new…
At the end of last year, RRCGN hosted its first international residency in its own space. The following text is a personal account by one of the participants and has been deliberately left unchanged in order to convey the individual impressions and feelings experienced during this time. I can say that having the RRCGN Space…
In the summer of 2025, German participant Lara traveled to Larissa in Greece to take part in the international youth art project Heterotopia, organized by our partner organization Synergy of Music Theater (SMouTh) – a personal account of encountering people, ideas, and spaces full of contrasts. In June 2025, upon arriving in the hot summer of Larissa, I…
On Saturday, June 28, 2025, a very special musical experience awaits you at ROOTS & ROUTES Space: Canadian singer-songwriter Karyn Ellis will be performing a full-length concert in Cologne as part of the ROOTS & ROUTES Concerts series. She will be accompanied by Cologne-based guitarist Sascha Düx. 📍 Location: ROOTS & ROUTES Space (Herthastraße 50,…
With two impressive performances at the Alte Feuerwache Cologne, this year’s edition of The ROOTS & ROUTES Experience concluded on July 30. The piece “Memorial of a Goldfish”, developed by 27 young artists from six European cities, brought dance, theatre, music, media art, and spoken word into a dense, intense dialogue. At its core was…
From August 6 to 12, 2025, we will be participating in a new EOTO seminar for professionals in the international ROOTS & ROUTES network, this time in Lithuania! The Kaunas Cultural Center of Various Nations invites artistic coaches to a week-long exchange. Together, we want to share creative methods and experiences from artistic youth and…
The first ESC seminar for the international voluntary service of the European Solidarity Corps took place in Weimar. RRCGN team member Penelope was there.
On Monday, April 7, 2025, RRCGN held its annual general meeting. Nine members were present in person, two participated via video conference. The Board gave an overview of the activities and finances for 2024 and discussed plans for 2025. Board member Niklas Josten had previously announced that he would no longer be standing as a…
Insights into the performance of the street dance and theater project with young people in the fall of 2021!
On January 12, 2022, we received the Participation Award for the iJuLa project at the award ceremony of the MIXED UP competition!
The iJuLa Update Academy, which took place from April 3 to 12, 2023, in the picturesque surroundings of the Landesmusikakademie NRW in Heek-Nienborg, proved to be an inspiring and insightful time for all participants. Under the guidance of our educational teams, the group focused on the essential topic of intersectionality for the project and was…
This year, once again, we from ROOTS & ROUTES Cologne had the honor of organizing the rally for IDAHOBITA*. (internationalen Day bzw. Tag gegen Homo*-, Bi*-, Inter*-, Trans*- & Asexuellenfeindlichkeit) We supported artistically, and once again, participants from the iJuLa project joined with a creative idea! The rally was organized together by the Cologne community,…
After 20 years of working in international youth exchange, we developed quality criteria, guidelines, and practical tools in international cooperation within the project “OASES for Change – Organising Artistic-Self-Empowerment Spaces,” which we presented on May 25th in Cologne.
Kölnchella is more than just a festival! On August 13th, participants of our project “iJuLa – intersektionale JugendLabore im Veedel” brought around 2,000 visitors to the second Kölnchella Summer Festival at the beautifully decorated grounds of the Orangery Theatre Cologne, and today they can proudly pat themselves on the back! With features like a tattoo…
What actually happens when we close our eyes? From November 5th to 21st, 2023, our annual international encounter project took place again on the North Sea island of Baltrum. In the project “(IN)SOMNIA – What happens when we close our eyes?”, 40 young artists from France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Turkey, and Germany focused on the…
This December, we had the great fortune to host the winter concert series “Sternenklänge” and the show “Star Drag” as part of the “Kölnchella” series at the iJuLa space! Today, we’re excited to share a few highlights from these events with you. 🙂 Diversity Fund NRW
In November of this year, our international encounter took place „INSOMNIA – What happens when we close our eyes?“ It took place on Baltrum – we’re incredibly excited to gradually share the fantastic results throughout this month. Despite the holiday rush and year-end deadlines, we’ve still managed to find a small selection of photos to…
Are you between 16 and 26 years old and into music, dance, theater, or film?Interested in developing your creative skills through international artistic exchanges and connecting with fellow creatives from across Europe?All guided by professional coaches! Then sign up for one of our 2024 encounters! All you need to do is take part in one…
We are pleased to announce that the artistic direction for our upcoming summer project ROOTS & ROUTES Experience 2024 (#RRXP24) has been successfully cast! After searching at home and abroad, we have found a fantastic director, theater maker and author in the talented Antigone Akgün, who will shape the project with creativity and commitment and…
The professionals seminar on “International Network Development and Regeneration in Artistic Youthwork” (INDaRAY24) took place from February 26 to March 1, 2024 in Salzburg, Austria. In an open and inspiring atmosphere, project coordinators and staff from various organizations of our international ROOTS & ROUTES network came together to exchange ideas on network development, quality criteria…
The City of Cologne is threatening to cut cultural education facilities by up to 50% – risking losses of millions…
It is with great pleasure that we can announce that our queer youth music festival Kölnchella 2024 is imminent. After two years of Kölnchella and a total of six larger and smaller events, this year we are celebrating Cologne’s queer youth culture in a great indoor location with great artists and DJs. The overall theme…
After 20 years in the international youth encounter work we have developed in the project “OASES for Change – Organising Artistic-Self-Empowerment Spaces” in international cooperation quality criteria, guidelines and practical tools which we will present on May 25th in Cologne.
New look, new swing, new rooms – on the 1st of October 2021 there is reason to celebrate, and you’re more than invited!
ROOTS & ROUTES has won three prizes in recent weeks: One at the NRW competition “Europe at home”, two at the NRW Youth Culture Prize.
On July 2, 2021, the first iJuLa youth lab will open with an open day: In Herthastraße in Cologne-Zollstock, there will be a stage program, participatory activities, coffee, and cake from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
After 28 months, the project “DeTalks – Creative and Inclusive Non-Verbal Education” ended New Year’s Eve 2020.
The annual RRCGN general meeting had to be held as an online conference for the first time.
2019 was an exciting year with many exciting projects, we thank all participants, artists, partners and supporters!
2020 could be even better.
At the annual general meeting of the ROOTS & ROUTES International Association (RRIA) in Marseille on Thursday (12 September), Janna Hadler, content lead at RRCGN, was elected as one of two RRIA Vice Presidents.
The city’s youth welfare committee decided that ROOTS & ROUTES Cologne e. V. will receive regular funding as a specialised cultural education institution.
At the Youth Culture Award NRW, RRCGN won the young.europe.award with the project “The Roots & Routes Experience 2017”.
ROOTS & ROUTES Cologne e. V. was founded on 4 December.