Jugend hackt
A program for young people who want to improve the world with their technical skills

Improving the world with code – that has been the goal of Jugend hackt since 2013, a programme for young people between the ages of 12 and 18 who are interested in technology and want to explore how technology and society are connected. At Jugend hackt, we do code and tinker, of course, but we are interested in more than that. We want to teach responsible use of technology. For us, this includes exploring ethical hacking, but also the openness of code and data. Tech skills are more than just something that looks good on a CV.
So we’re not interested in preparing young people for a specific career or getting them in touch with the business world as early as possible. For us, learning is above all about trying things out for yourself and making mistakes. Our educational approach is therefore strongly based on experiential learning. Together with our volunteer mentors, young people at Jugend hackt can develop their own project ideas and implement them together.
Jugend hackt is a non-profit program of the non-profit organizations Open Knowledge Foundation Deutschland e. V. and mediale pfade.org - Verein für Medienbildung e.V. Participation in our programs is free of charge for young people as far as possible. We value diversity in our program and actively promote the participation of young people who otherwise have limited educational opportunities in the technical field. The positive change that our program brings about in the lives of our participants is demonstrable. Jugend hackt has been awarded the PHINEO seal for effectiveness.
More information is available on the Jugend hackt website.
Funding Agencies
- The Deutsche Bahn Stiftung funds Jugend hackt Labs since 2019.
- Jugend hackt was funded by the SKala-Initiative from 2018 to March 2021.
Prizes & Awards
Dieter-Baacke-Preis 2015
Deutscher Engagementpreis 2016
Phineo-Siegel für Wirksamkeit 2017
European Youth Culture Award 2017
BKM-Preis Kulturelle Bildung 2018
Theodor-Heuss-Medaille 2018
Resources (German)
- Handbuch Jugendhackathons online version
- wissenschaftliche Evaluation zu Jugend hackt Events 2015 PDF download
- wissenschaftliche Evaluation zu Jugend hackt Labs 2019 PDF download