Thematic Area

Inclusion

Zwei Projektbeteiligte des Inklusiven Internationalen Tanzfestivals der Kreisau-Initiative umarmen sich herzlich.

Zwei Mädchen tanzen innerhalb des Projekts Fair Signs der Kreisau-Initiative ausgelassen miteinander und halten sich an den Händen.

What drives us

Because everyone belongs.

Imagine a society where everyone can truly take part. Whether young or old, with or without disabilities, regardless of background, language, identity, or educational background. No one is left on the sidelines. Diversity is not a barrier, but our strength. That’s what we put into practice in our projects.

Young people with very different experiences and backgrounds come together and grow beyond what they thought possible. Our goal: for participants to laugh together, try new things, overcome their fears, open up, and stand up for themselves and others. We create space for different needs and respond to them individually. At the same time, different educational backgrounds, language backgrounds, physical abilities, and other circumstances become opportunities to learn from one another.

These experiences also inform our training, consultation, and capacity-building work, through which we support and strengthen professionals, organisations, and initiatives across different fields of work.

Current projects

Current projects in the field of Inclusion

Building Bridges

Sometimes we think that differences such as language, background, or physical characteristics separate us from one another. Yet often, all it takes is one encounter to realise how much connects us. The Building Bridges project series shows how: its projects bring together young people from across Europe, with and without disabilities, and with different life experiences and backgrounds.

Zahlreiche junge Menschen tanzen bei dem Internationalen Inklusiven Tanzfestival der Kreisau-Initiativeausgelassen miteinander, die Hände in die Luft gestreckt.

Professional Exchange

Want to develop your professional skills while connecting with peers from other countries? The Professional Exchange project makes it possible. Here, young people from different countries come together. They share the same professional field but bring very different life stories and perspectives. Together, they learn from one another, develop their skills, and discover what connects them.

Mehrere junge Teilnehmende des Projekts Fachaustausch der Kreisau-Initiative stehen aufgereiht mit einer Trainerin und schauen fröhlich nach rechts.

Fair

Fairness sounds simple, yet it is often a challenge. We live in societies where people, their stories, and their needs are fundamentally different. What does it mean to truly meet one another as equals, accept our differences, and support one another?

Girls

Girls and young women should feel safe in their everyday lives. They should be able to be loud, quiet, angry, proud, or simply themselves, without being judged. The Girls project creates space for this. It offers a place where young women can share their issues and concerns, build trust with one another, and discover their own strengths.

The Kreisau Model

Education should be accessible to everyone, regardless of background, abilities, or impairments. This is where the “Kreisau Model” training series comes in: through regular training and professional development sessions, youth work professionals come together to make their projects more inclusive, diversity-sensitive, and trauma-sensitive.

Zahlreiche junge Menschen sitzen an einer langen Tafel und bemalen innerhalb des Projekts Fair Signs der Kreisau-Initiative Keramik.

NextGen Rights

Children’s and young people’s rights are important. But they only matter if they can be felt in everyday life. That’s exactly what NextGen Rights is about. Young people from Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Germany come together to talk about their rights. They ask themselves: Where do we run into obstacles? What’s missing? And how can we be better protected and heard?

In Ukraine, with Ukraine

The training brings together youth work professionals who are asking themselves: How can we support young people in war zones like Ukraine? How can we shape youth work in times of trauma? How can we create safe spaces where young people can share their experiences and find strength? And how can we build networks between Ukrainians and professionals from EU-/European countries?

What gives us strength?

Crises, wars, and conflicts, both global and personal, often leave deep marks. Many people have experienced traumatic events that they carry with them for a long time and that weigh heavily on them. Young people in particular need someone early on who will listen, understand, and support them.

Zwei Projektbeteiligte des Inklusiven Internationalen Tanzfestivals der Kreisau-Initiative legen behutsam ihre Hände auf den Rücken einer Person mit rotem T-Shirt.

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Completed projects

Past projects in the field of Inclusion

Cultures in Contact

Recognising discrimination and taking a stand against it: that was the focus of the “Cultures in Contact” project. Youth workers from across Europe explored the various forms and complex contexts of discrimination. The project focused on two levels: the personal level, which is often shaped by preju...

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DisAble the barRiErs (DARE)

Inclusion doesn’t happen on its own. To enable people with different abilities, backgrounds, and needs to participate equally in social life, we need good ideas, tools, and people to put them into practice. DisAble the barRiErs has brought together European youth organisations to break down barriers...

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Fit for Mobility

In Europe, different groups of people have different opportunities to get to know other countries, cultures, and people. “Fit for Mobility” showed young people from children’s homes, children’s villages, and adoptive or foster families where the opportunities and challenges lie, and how they can dea...

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Forum Dialogue

“Forum Dialogue” offered young people what its name promises: the opportunity to engage with one another. In creative ways, the young participants were able to explore social issues that concern us all: religion, family, moral courage, and social cohesion. This resulted in formats such as theatre pi...

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Let's do it

Democracy projects thrive on topics such as diversity and cohesion, and on the people who communicate them. “Let’s do it” was designed to train people with a wide range of experiences, such as disabilities, histories of displacement, or other barriers, to become youth work teamers. Together with exp...

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Perspective on Inclusion

Language shapes reality. It can bring people together, but it can also exclude them. As part of the “Perspective on Inklusion” partnership, partner organisations from Poland and Germany have worked together to rethink language from an inclusive perspective. We wanted to find ways to make communicati...

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