back to the project overview

JobVille 2025 in Dortmund

reflect.awareness at JobVille

Awareness-concept, awareness-team and prevention campaign at a career fair for children and youth

On 10–11 September 2025, JobVille took place in Dortmund—a career fair for children and young people that provides access to career orientation, opportunities, and participation. Events targeting young people are not only spaces for information but also social spaces, where diverse backgrounds, experiences, and expectations meet. To ensure that all participants can navigate and engage safely, discrimination-sensitive structures, clear responsibilities, and preventive approaches are essential.

reflect.awareness e.V. supported JobVille 2025 with a comprehensive awareness-concept, an on-site awareness-team, and mediation support. The goal of our work was to embed awareness as an integral part of the event—not only as a reactive measure in emergencies, but as a structuring practice that enables participation and consistently counteracts boundary violations.

Awareness-concept and multi-week preparation

In the weeks leading up to JobVille, we collaboratively developed the awareness-concept with the organizers. Together, we established responsibilities, communication channels, and concrete procedures to provide guidance and operational clarity in a large and dynamic event setting.

A key component was a comprehensive prevention campaign emphasizing awareness as a shared responsibility: respecting boundaries, acting in a discrimination-sensitive manner, taking responsibility, and making support easily accessible. Prevention, for us, means creating structures that proactively counter violations and discriminatory behavior.

On-site awareness-team and team-structure

During JobVille, awareness-work was carried out by five teams. Under the leadership of Hanna Mathäs, reflect.awareness e.V. provided seven awareness-staff who worked alongside three external awareness personnel. This team structure ensured continuous presence, clear approachability, and the ability to respond situationally—even in complex or emotionally challenging situations.

The awareness-team was visible, approachable, and supportive throughout. We attentively monitored the event, offered opportunities for conversation, and supported people who felt uncomfortable, observed boundary-crossing behavior, or were directly affected. When necessary, we also provided mediation to clarify responsibilities and de-escalate conflicts.

Approach: Power of definition and partiality

Our awareness work is grounded in an anti-sexist, anti-discriminatory, and power-critical stance. Central to our approach are power of definition and partiality: those affected determine how they experience a situation and what support they need. We listen, take experiences seriously, and do not question perspectives. In this context, awareness also means that discrimination is not individualized, but understood and addressed as an expression of social power structures.

Awareness as a prerequisite for participation in education and career orientation

JobVille 2025 demonstrated that awareness is not limited to festivals or nightlife. Educational, participatory, and career-orientation events also benefit from clear awareness structures—especially when young people are at the center and participation is actively shaped. Through the combination of conceptual work, a prevention campaign, team presence, and mediation, awareness became a tangible framework for responsible participation.