zugehört … & zugehörig?

Germany talks about migration, integration and belonging all the time. Yet the people being talked about rarely get to speak for themselves. At school, at work, in public and in everyday life, many find that they are overlooked, treated differently, or not taken for granted as part of this society. What they know from these experiences has hardly been documented.

“zugehört … & zugehörig?” lets the people who have these experiences be heard. The project with Zeitgeist Labs asks when children, young people and adults feel they belong, when they do not, and what they think would have to change.

Two voice assistants were built for the project, both designed with privacy in mind: one for children and young people, one for adults. They hold in-depth conversations in several languages and can speak with many people at once.

The conversations are anonymous, and nobody is asked for their real name. They centre on people’s own impressions, experiences and views of belonging, exclusion, recognition and participation.

The interviews from the participating communities are brought together and analysed to the standards of qualitative research. The aim is to show how people in Germany experience belonging, exclusion, participation and recognition, and what that means for schools, workplaces, communities, the media, research and policy.

The findings are shared in a public report and an interactive presentation.