Media

By means of educational measures related to development policy, through public relations work, and by cooperating in projects in southern countries, the Werkhof e.V. Darmstadt contributes to the fight against poverty and inequality, which are increasing worldwide. We believe that our own society has to change ecologically and economically if we are to have a world that can survive into the future. A fundamental change in thinking is necessary, particularly in rich regions.

A tremendous amount of money is made despite the global problems of migration, unemployment, threats to democracy and human rights, hunger, war, environmental destruction. In fact, there has never been as much financial capital as there is today, which is a result of what appears to be the only important fundamental value in society: "Maximize profit through any possible means". The consequences of this catastrophic development and the incalculable risks concern everyone.

For these reasons, we are particularly involved in activities within our own society, where we especially work with young people, both in and outside of school. Within the scope of our promotion of education and
awareness, it is of special importance to us to reach youths and the professionals working with them. With our long-term project 'Free trade – fair trade?' we try to draw young people's attention to the worldwide
interdependencies in all areas of life, but especially to the unequal conditions on the world economy and the possible consequences of globalisation.

Overview of our work:

• Basic workshops (radio broacasting) for young people and educators (14 years and older)
• Our "world economy and us" simulation and other games on development policy (15 years and older)
• Media packages

The refugee council tries to tangibly improve the life situation of refugees in Lower Saxony with specific projects. We do not only want to criticize  discriminating treatment of refugees, but also to intervene and change the situation.

The main focal areas of our project work includes:

• asylum and health,
• child refugees,
• access to the job market,
• (anti-) discrimination,
• temporary right for tolerated refugees, and
• networking of refugee relief.

The refugee council of Lower Saxony was founded in 1984 and is registered as a charitable organization. It consists of a network of about 500 refugee initiatives, congregations, labour unions and individuals who do not consent to the prevalent discrimination of refugees in Lower Saxony. This network provides the basis for fighting racism in Lower Saxony. The refugee council is a member of PRO ASYL (German Human Rights organization) and cooperates closely with the refugee councils of other German federal states.

Considering the decrease of funded refugee work it is important to maintain the remaining support structures for refugees and to further strengthen the initiatives. In cooperation with other associations our goal is to network and improve refugee work in Lower Saxony.

Our activities include:

• professional counselling,
• seminars and symposia,
• public relations work,
• legal assistance in individual cases,
• publishing of  the Flüchtlingsrat (refugee council) magazine,
• representation of the interests of refugees in Lower Saxony, and
• critical monitoring of refugee policy in Lower Saxony.

The office of information Nicaragua is one of the oldest organizations of the Nicaraguan solidarity movement. The history of the office of information was until the 90s closely related with the economyof the solidarity movement to Central America and especially to Nicaragua. Today our work concentrates on the area of development education  and information for Latin America and on thecooperation and support of base initiatives in Nicaragua. We provide information, publish publications, provide educational materials, maintain a third world archive, mediate examiners, organize visits with Latin-American activists and organize actions, series of events, school workshops and seminars. Within the framework of several projects educational materials were developed on subjects like economy, migration, climate change and environmental justice, human rights and social movements as well as colonialism and racism. Besides the educational materials we also offer disseminator courses. For several years we also offer successful workshops on the above mentioned subjects for young people . We use interactive and participative exercises of global learning, so that young people can approach appropriately to the subject of the workshops. Moreover we refer to the interests and experiences of the participants and put a main focus on the learning. Our work focuses on fun, the connections with the life and reality of young people, reflection as well as the ability to own judgment and action.

Networking of asylum and refugee policy initiatives in Bavaria

Since its establishment in the year 1976 the Institute for Peace Education (ift) has consistently pursued the goal of bringing the problems of peace and conflict into the forefront of public consciousness. The work in this area is based on the efforts to bring the results of scientific study – in particular peace research – combined with practical work, which is relevant for peace education into the public eye.
A central task for the ift is the promotion and development of the educational program "Global Learning".

The Institute for Peace Education was established as a recognized peace-educational service institute. The programs and curriculum are freely available and used by persons from all education ranges and interested parties. The ift maintains an office in Tübingen and works within a group of experienced specialists from science and research, education and media, as well as electronic design. All publications and media are published in an own publishing house. The whole work is financed through grants and the contributions of the members.

The unification of different and international approaches like education for development, intercultural education or peace education is one of the important tasks of the Institute for Peace Education. Through this the ift contributes new visions for global education and learning in the 21-Century. These visions also include a recollection of past values.

Forum for International Dialogue