ROOTS & ROUTES Cologne e. V. (RRCGN) has been active as a non-profit initiative in Cologne since 2013. We strengthen young artists* at the roots (ROOTS) and open spaces for them to discover new paths (ROUTES). RRCGN is a full member of the international ROOTS & ROUTES network, a recognized youth welfare organization and is funded by the City of Cologne as a specialized cultural education institution.
Re:CreateWe want to work for an open, inclusive society. For diversity-conscious thought and action: To reach and move people through art.
we provide young artists with platforms for their personal and artistic development. With international master classes, peer coach academies and seminars, we promote their professionalisation in the creative sector.
RRCGN organizes its own international exchanges in Germany and sends participants to exchanges offered by international partners. ROOTS & ROUTES exchanges combine diversity-conscious (youth) cultural work with political education, bring together various artistic disciplines, and usually result in collaborative productions: Sometimes as an interdisciplinary performance by the entire group (e.g., in the ROOTS & ROUTES Experience), and sometimes as smaller projects—films, songs, short performances, installations—by several creation groups with international casts (e.g., in our Baltrum projects).
RRCGN trains peer coaches for cultural education in youth work, following the curriculum developed by the international ROOTS & ROUTES network, which includes an intensive course phase (a 10- to 12-day block seminar), a supervised practical phase (at least 60 hours of independently led activities), and a final reflection session. More information is available here.
ROOTS & ROUTES Step 1 projects are generally open to all young people who would like to gain their first experiences in one or more artistic fields. In addition to professional coaches, the instructors often include trained ROOTS & ROUTES peer coaches as well as peer coaches in training—for example, during our fall break workshop weeks in Bergisch-Gladbach and in our other local projects.
RRCGN coordinates local, national, and transnational thematic projects, such as the most recent Young Arts for Queer Rights and Visibility (2017–2019), iJuLa—Intersectional Youth Labs in the Neighborhood since 2020, and OASES for Change—Organizing Artistic Self-Empowerment Spaces since 2021. We frequently collaborate with our international partners on projects at the expert level to (further) develop ideas, approaches, and methods.
Young Arts for Queer Rights and Visibility
The project guide (2017–2019) includes a project overview, background articles, suggestions, and materials for educational practice (55 pages, approx. 9 MB).
Generation Europe Mixed Reality Exchange – An International Online Youth Exchange During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Article by the RRCGN team on the website of IJAB – Fachstelle für Internationale Jugendarbeit der Bundesrepublik Deutschland e. V.
DeTalks: Creative and Nonverbal Methods for Approaching New Languages
A resource guide from the international DeTalks project (2018–2020) in German; featuring methods from the seven participating countries (105 pages, approx. 5 MB).
The Future Begins at the End of the World
Interview with Janna Hadler and Sascha Düx about the international event “Future Lab Young Europe 2019” (#FLYE19) on the North Sea island of Baltrum, in: kubi – Magazine for Cultural Education, No. 19.
Art4Act – A Guidebook for Youth Workers
A resource guide from the “Art4Act – Art in Action for an Inclusive Society” project (2016–2018), available only in English (104 pages, approx. 5 MB).
Would you like to work with us? RRCGN will be happy to work with you to develop customised offers for your institution, your organisation or your event.
The five-member RRCGN team is made up of educational and artistic professionals, cultural and educational scientists. Our focus is on international youth work, diversity, art and cultural education.
With our many freelancers and peer coaches, we can cover a wide range of artistic disciplines and styles: from dance and music to theatre and visual arts to filmmaking and media arts. From hip-hop and urban culture to contemporary performing arts.
In our peer coach projects, we are always training young performing arts and media artists who would like to pass on their skills to their peers and younger people.
This is why we are well-positioned for a wide range of workshop offers, further education and training projects; our team members, freelancers and peer coaches can adapt to individual formats, such as:
Please send your request and ideas to:
info@rrcgn.de