Democracy

Weimar stands for art and culture, classicism and the modern age, cosmopolitan attitudes and nationalism, democracy and forced labour, even genocide. Weimar is a town of European importance. Our centre is situated in a small park in the centre of Weimar. The European Youth Education and Meeting Centre (EJBW) is an institution for political education, intercultural learning as well as theatre and pedagogical work. We invite children, young people and multipliers from Weimar, Thuringia, Germany and all over the world to come to our - national and international - seminars. Our centre is available to you for co-operation or just as a guest house. Creative thinking, independent judgement, solidarity and responsible action - these are the aims of our educational work.

(wlp)° - the world lecture project is an online library for video lectures in any language and of any faculty from all over the world. The project is collecting all links to video lectures and their meta data in one freely accessible database. A search engine helps the users to find the lecture of their choice easily. They can search lectures according to various criteria: theme, faculty, country, language and others. Everyone can contribute to broadening (wlp)°'s lecture fund. Once registered it is easy to put new lectures onto the data base or to complete the data of the lectures that are already available. (wlp)° is looking for partners across the globe who contribute in facilitating the exchange and the access of knowledge for everyone – everywhere. The World Academy of Young Scientists (WAYS) and Young-People Platform in Agricultural Research (YPARD) for Development are already collaborating with (wlp)°.

The experience of the peaceful "Wende" in 1989 awakened in many people the hope that a Germany without a military could be possible. This hope led people from various civil initiatives in Halle together to found the Friedenskreis in 1990. The Friedenskreis Halle e.V. is an group of people of differing world views, religions, nationalities and political affiliations. We see peace not as a state of being or as a distant goal, and not simply as the absence of war. Peace is for us a means to a common, just and non-violent life together in diversity, where the personal development and liberty of the individual is made possible. The conception of this life together is always a new experience. This is why we try to explore, find and pass on new ways of doing so, while never forgetting to question the same. We are consequently involved in education, peace-associated activities and in projects for civil conflict resolution on both the domestic and international levels. Our work is made possible by paid and voluntary staff and carried through donations and public subsidies. Our current programme and projects

• Seminars and educational programmes in the areas of communication, conflict resolution, mediation, dealing with violence and learning how to speak out
• Consulting for initiatives and projects
• Lectures and seminars on current peace-associated themes
• Civil conflict resolution through the development of an educational and encounter centre in Jajce, Bosnia.
• Work camps, youth encounters and volunteer work in the countries of the Balkans.
• Counselling on military service and conscientious objection
• Cooperation in activities and campaigns against militarisation
• Coordination of the initiative "Zivilcourage: Bündnis für Gewaltlosigkeit, Demokratie und Toleranz in Halle"

Arche noVa is an aid organisation that sets up humanitarian aid projects (Syrien, Irak, Libanon, Ukraine), development cooperation projects (Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippinen, Uganda, Äthiopien, Somalia, Mali, Kenia) as well as development education in the form of school projects on topics such as ‘water’, ‘world trade and globalisation’, ‘(international) conflicts’ and ‘humanitarian aid’.

RAA - regional centers for foreigners' concerns, youth work and schools in the German state of Brandenburg - is a non-profit organization based in Potsdam. We manage six "Regionale Büros für Integration und Toleranz" (BIT) (regional offices for integration and open-mindedness) and four other offices as well as regional and local projects. In 2004, we established "Globales Lernen/Entwicklungszusammenarbeit" (global learning and cooperation for development). For us, global learning is about raising awareness of the world as a whole, of interrelations between North and South, and about relating our everyday life to the lives of people in developing countries. RAA is involved in an enormous variety of development-policy projects. We offer working groups, workshops, and training for teaching staff, and support schools in organizing workshops for students. Long-term projects include supporting school partnerships between schools in Brandenburg and schools in Senegal, Zanzibar/Tanzania and Angola, as well as smaller-scale initiatives. "Begegnungen mit Sansibar" (meeting Zanzibar) is a project that combines education and cooperation for development. Since 1992, more than 160 adolescents and teachers have been given the chance to gain deep insights into another culture and to help promote interactions between Germany and Tanzania, and more will follow. The project in Zanzibar encourages participants to closely examine both the foreign culture and their own. It includes such diverse activities as the building of classrooms, theater projects, thematic research, workshops, seminars and continuous education for teachers. In Germany, the results of this work are available as educational materials, thus enabling our partners from Tanzania to present their life and their views in Brandenburg. In addition, RAA is in charge of organizing and holding the "Brandenburger entwicklungspolitische Bildungs- und Informationstage" (Brandenburg educational and informational days on development aid) as well as the education program of the 'Berlin Import Shop' fair.

People involved for many years in promoting "democracy with children" and children's rights came together to found the association "Macht Kinder stark für Demokratie" (prepare children for democracy!). They work in many domains such as the media, industry and commerce, educational institutions, public administration, and children's rights organizations. Makista wants to ensure that children are respected from day one and that they adopt democratic values. In this way, they can learn to respect others and take responsibility for the community at large. Many institutions and private sponsors are committed to the rights of children and youths. Makista aims to provide basic information concerning children's rights. We support opportunities to share ideas and experiences. We organize symposia and workshops, and we develop web-based information services for pupils, parents and teachers. We are a network of people who, for many years, have been committed to supporting the rights of children as laid down in the 1989 UN Convention on Children's Rights. A main concern of the Convention is to give children and youths a voice in all matters that affect them. Our many years of experience with the involvement of children and youths of all ages show that when young people are taken seriously, they can do much more than we normally expect. This assumes that adults provide them with a supportive environment. We would very much like to provide you with information on our experience in this domain, as well as addresses, links, literature, practical tips and suggestions for valuable projects. Makista is not associated with any political party and it is recognized as a non-profit organization.

The Heinrich Böll's institute Schleswig - Holstein offers services for the political education, mainly in the most northern federal state. We consider us as an independent part of the worldwide green movement. Our events and other educational projects are aimed to further clarify "green" discussions and proposals and to spread them through society. We want to stimulate democratic processes and enable people to become active independently and to take part in forming society and politics.

Here, we relate to subjects, discussions and questions which are of particular importance for the "green project" and its programmatic advancement. We love the dispute and the common research of new knowledge and answers. Our events are places of the political discussion, considered as the serious and heated dispute about important present and future subjects. The authentic representation of different positions, the dialogue between people from different social spectra and the "learning of each other" are characteristics for our events and projects.

Lower Saxony is committed to a range of activities in Sub-Saharan Africa and thus assumes responsibility for sustainable global development. The aim is to learn as much as possible from and with one another in the context of a global partnership and responsibility with
cosmopolitanism and cross-cultural competence.

Lower Saxony focuses on three priority areas of development cooperation:

1. Partnership with the Eastern Cape (South Africa) since 1995
2. Project cooperation with Tanzania since 2010
3. Development educational and information work

As part of the development policy information and educational work within Lower Saxony, the State Chancellery promotes the Association Development Policy Lower Saxony (Verband Entwicklungspolitik Niedersachsen e.V. - VEN). The VEN is the network of development
NGOs, initiatives and so-called One-World-Shops (Weltläden). The main focus of the VEN is the development educational and information work. The funds are directed to the implementation of „IBQ - projects“ (information, education and skills) of NGOs in Lower Saxony in the field of development cooperation.

Since 2014 Lower Saxony has been co-financing the nationwide Promoter-Program (Promotorenprogramm). The aim is to raise awareness on development issues in Lower Saxony. The continuation of the program up to 2018 has been decided upon in 2015 and the financial means are guaranteed.

As part of a special program for humanitarian aid, Lower Saxony has decided to take in 70 traumatized women and children from northern Iraq in 2015. They are victims of extreme violence by fighters of the terrorist organization Islamic State, whom Lower Saxony is going to ensure a safe stay over the next two years. The regional government has decided to allocate 1.1 million euros in 2015 and 6.8 million euros for the following years for the reception, accommodation and health care of these women and children.

2016 is planned to focus on the implementation and consolidation of the new Development Policy Guidelines and their linking with the Strategy for Sustainability of Lower Saxony, which is currently under revision. The intensified cooperation with development policy actors within the civil society - a positive effect of the process of drafting the guidelines - will be continued by, for example, giving these organizations an active part in developing the implementation strategy.

Furthermore, Lower Saxony participates in the newly established Bund-Länder-Program. With the involvement of GIZ’s office in Lower Saxony (Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit) project opportunities are currently being examined and planned to be approved
by the end of January 2016.