Projekt:Kultur – Cultural Work at Schools

Projekt:Kultur – Cultural Work at Schools

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PROJEKT:KULTUR

CULTURAL WORK AT SCHOOLS

We want to give ‘teaching’ a new face. In our eyes, teaching and learning aren’t just about memorizing and repeating known information. We view learning as forming, implementing and evaluating a process whose outcome is not predetermined. The people involved shape a project during its lifetime, change it and adapt it, all while aiming for a presentable product.

Ulrike Kegler, member of the board of trustees and initiator of Projekt:Kultur

Project description:

For the programme Projekt:Kultur, all types of lower secondary schools can apply to the NEUMAYER STIFTUNG for a time-limited project in the fields of theatre, art, handicrafts, dance or cooking. The concept of culture is intentionally broad. The project is accompanied and carried out by external experts who are selected independently by the schools. Cooperation with the teachers during the entire process is an essential prerequisite. The project involves all students of a grade level and takes place for a limited period of at least two weeks – in the place of regular lessons.

Project goals:

Children and youth between the ages of 12 and 16 are going through a phase of life in which many changes take place every day and at the same time life determining decisions are being made. The theoretically shaped and often one-dimensional classes at secondary schools usually do not have the potential to meet the needs of children and young people in this crucial phase of their lives. They need new impulses that go beyond learning for exams and promote community experiences and a sense of belonging. Often it is cultural experiences and engagement in creative processes that create new spaces of experience, thus opening up the possibility to enjoy self-expression and self-efficacy on the path to acquiring a new self-image and eventually redefining personal success. External experts, who are brought into the school for a limited period of time, play an essential role in the project concept. They embody other areas of life and expand the school’s one-dimensional laboratory perspective. Guided by people from different professional fields and cultural backgrounds, students develop expertise, shape processes from start to finish and collectively experience the essential interplay of effort (process) and success (product).

Projects have become a highly relevant form of work in the modern professional world. People with different skills collaborate across disciplines according to a plan to achieve a common goal and product. This basic competence must be learned and implemented in schools today.

Barbara Riekmann, member of the Club of Rome Schools and initiator of Projekt:Kultur

FAQ

When does the application period start?

Project:Culture started its pilot phase in the 2021/2022 school year, the third funding year is currently underway and applications for the 2024/2025 school year are now open! Applications can be submitted exclusively via the online application tool.

Where does Projekt:Kultur take place?

At selected schools of all types in the DACH region (German speaking countries).

Who is the project aimed at?

The NEUMAYER STIFTUNG supports a total of thirty schools of all types within the context of Projekt:Kultur. Schools from Germany, Austria and Switzerland can apply for Projekt:Kultur. The projects are aimed at students in grades 7 to 10 and are led by the school administration as the project board in conjunction with an assigned teacher who is responsible for the project. In addition, the project is supported by external experts. The requirements are the participation of as many students as possible from one grade level (lower secondary school, 7th to 10th grade) and the project must be carried out by external experts. An open and experimental attitude as well as a binding participation of all project participants are required.

Who selects the projects?

The selection committee of the NEUMAYER STIFTUNG chooses a total of up to thirty schools for funding. 

Aim of the funding:

NEUMAYER STIFTUNG supports thirty cultural projects per school year.

Type of funding:

The NEUMAYER STIFTUNG supports cultural projects at the chosen schools with up to 10,000.00 € per school. The framework of the project participation includes a kick-off workshop and a final workshop. At the beginning of the school year, the participating schools present their respective projects, exchange suggestions and then refine project ideas. The conclusion of the project takes place with a one-day workshop in October, where results are presented and experiences are shared. 

Duration of funding:

Once per school year; ongoing

2 Questions for … the initiators of Projekt:Kultur, Ulrike Kegler and Barbara Riekmann

What does your project stand for?

Ulrike Kegler: “Project-based learning is still a relatively uncommon approach in the realm of teaching methodology in schools. However, young people seek opportunities to engage with relevant, real-world problems and effect meaningful change. Experts will contribute to bringing this type of relevance into schools as part of our project. They are skilled at taking on “serious” projects, an area where schools often fall short, as the practice environment can feel artificial and disconnected from the real world, especially when it comes to collaborative performance.”

What do you want to achieve with your project?

Barbara Riekmann: “In many cases, the special challenges faced during the Corona pandemic have led to all creative and inspiring tasks being pushed into the background in order for schools to continue operating under the challenging conditions. Potentials and opportunities of a hybrid education system, besides all the difficulties it brought forth, may have been overlooked.“ 

Contact Information:

NEUMAYER STIFTUNG Königsstraße 28 , 70173 Stuttgart E-Mail: projekt-kultur@neumayer-stiftung.de 

KIFA – WEITER BILDEN

KIFA – WEITER BILDEN

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KIFA – WEITER BILDEN

Project initiator:

NEUMAYER STIFTUNG is currently implementing the KIFA education program in 32 day care centers in Germany and in Satu Mare, Romania.

Project description:

KIFA – weiter bilden (KIFA further education) is a systemic educational program for the further education and empowerment of all mothers in day care centers, based on tandem work between educational specialists and mothers.

The KIFA pedagogy links to the resources of the families and strengthens the mothers’ educational, training and language skills. By activating conscious participation, involvement and co-determination, participation is made possible and identification with the day care center as well as mutual appreciation between parents and the day care center team is stimulated.

With KIFA, day care centers become family centers where mothers are strengthened, receive encouragement, develop and educate themselves personally, and carry the spirit of cooperation into their families.

KIFA has been successfully established for more than 20 years in more than 30 day care centers and is an operative project of the NEUMAYER STIFTUNG.

Structure and affinity provide the framework for a healthy society.

This is what KIFA pedagogy stands for, it develops education further.

 

Mission statement

Project aims:

KIFA brings about help for self-help. The core of the program is to strengthen the mothers’ educational and upbringing skills through practical experience, exchange of experiences at eye level and with specially developed materials. KIFA thus causes parental activation and parental participation and supports healthy growing up and good educational opportunities for children from the very beginning – regardless of gender, origin or nationality.

Project location:

Germany

Project start:

2008

Project target group(s):

Women and mothers and/or families and educational specialists in child day care facilities; primary school teachers.

Aim of the funding:

KIFA is an operative project of the NEUMAYER FOUNDATION, which actively promotes the empowerment of women and mothers in daycare centers – in a structure all its own. Under the motto: “Continuing Education”, KIFA’s continuous further development, quality assurance and dissemination takes place.

Type of funding:

Funding by NEUMAYER STIFTUNG covers staffing costs, start-up financing during the implementation phase in nurseries, qualification of specialists and mentors, process and practical support, (further) development of parent course materials and strategy development.

Duration of funding:

Since 2008; unlimited

Successes/awards:
  • Bildungsidee 2012
  • Landesweiterbildungspreis Baden-Württemberg 2010
  • Preis Soziale Stadt 2008
Contact details of the project initiator:

KIFA organization office at
NEUMAYER STIFTUNG
Königstraße 28
70173 Stuttgart
Email: kifa@neumayer-stiftung.de

Neumayer Häuser

Neumayer Häuser

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NEUMAYER HÄUSER

 

The NEUMAYER HÄUSER are a community-based social housing project in Hausach, where people from different backgrounds and family constellations can support each other in the community, regardless of their origin.

 

Why a community-based social housing model?

It is often only temporary and hard to control circumstances that push people to the edge of society. In order to support these persons, the NEUMAYER STIFTUNG has made it its goal to provide affordable housing in Hausach, in the Kinzigtal region.
In 19 residential units, which range from one- to five-room apartments, the NEUMAYER HÄUSERN provide living spaces for people in need and thereby create a social living space that serves as a model and catalyst for a collective response to an issue currently facing society.
The NEUMAYER HÄUSER are to be seen as a preventive offer with the aim of stabilizing the personal situations of tenants within 5 years while also serving as a way to counteract social decline.
The foundation was able to win the Diakonisches Werk Ortenau as a partner for the NEUMAYER HÄUSER.

NEUMAYER HÄUSER is a response to a highly topical and currently much-discussed issue. Together, we want to take on the challenge of shaping community life for the future and creating affordable housing and services that are designed to meet the needs of the local society.

Jennifer Schmid, Coordination NEUMAYER HÄUSER

Why a community-based social housing model in the rural region of Hausach?

The NEUMAYER STIFTUNG advocates for a society characterized by social cohesion and equal opportunities, in which people are there for each other and take responsibility. The founder, Hansjürgen Neumayer, was committed to providing affordable housing for people in need in Hausach.
The NEUMAYER HÄUSER address one of the most pressing social issues of our time: the lack of affordable housing is a major factor in the growing risk of poverty among families, single parents, and the elderly. Even those with regular incomes are often unable to find affordable housing. Housing shortages are particularly critical for people with physical or mental illness, rent debts or a Schufa record, or in other precarious situations, who have no chance of finding housing on the free housing market.
In urban areas, this supply gap is already being addressed. In rural areas, it is a known fact, but often occurs in a more concealed way and solutions are still pending in many places. The NEUMAYER HÄUSER are aimed at serving as a blueprint for rural areas.

Who will live in the NEUMAYER HÄUSER?

Within the framework of the NEUMAYER STIFTUNG, the target groups of the community-based social housing model NEUMAYER HÄUSER are single people, couples, families and senior citizens whose financial means are not sufficient to afford or maintain adequate housing on the free housing market.
These people usually have their own income, but still need state support and feel constant financial pressure. They are already known to the partnering social institutions. The NEUMAYER HÄUSER offering is intended to reduce and avoid the risk of complete dependence on the state assistance system and the associated social decline that often comes with such dependence.

NEUMAYER STIFTUNG’s collective housing model is a sign of the foundation’s close ties with its home – and equally, in the most literal sense, an important building block for housebuilding in our community. NEUMAYER HÄUSER will fill a gap with regards to the need for affordable housing.

Wolfgang Hermann, Mayor of the Town of Hausach

What does “Wohnen plus” include?

The project is a preventive service and offers transitional assistance: People in need are given the opportunity to stabilize their personal situation – socially, psychologically and/or financially – in the NEUMAYER HÄUSERN within five years. Afterwards, the tenants should be able to take advantage of offers on the free housing market.
The concept of community-based social housing thrives on bringing together people in need in different life situations and circumstances. Tenants should, above all, be given the opportunity to get “back into society” through a central and community-promoting housing setting.
Often the tenants do not have a secure family structure in the background. It is therefore all the more important that neighborhood support and a well-functioning, empowering domestic community are fostered by the housing concept. Community-based social housing should aspire for a lifestyle of mutual support and togetherness within the community.
Since the structural conditions of the target group are related to specific needs, socio-pedagogical support and close networking with social institutions, nonprofits and other organizations in the Kinzigtal region are an integral part of the concept. The Diakonisches Werk Ortenau in Hausach was brought in as a partner for this purpose.
Individual support and offerings to strengthen the housing community while promoting personal development are essential components of the NEUMAYER HÄUSER. In this respect, the Diakonisches Werk Ortenau in Hausach plays a facilitating role.

In addition to the multi-layered concept, which is completely geared to Hausach and its needs, we were also convinced by the great experience of Diakonisches Werk Ortenau in the region as well as the team that developed NEUMAYER HÄUSER together with us.

Michael Wurthmann, Director NEUMAYER STIFTUNG

Community living as an opportunity

NEUMAYER HÄUSER’s housing offer is conceived as a stabilization phase, with the goal that after up to five years, tenants will be able to find and keep housing on their own on the free housing market.

Contact details of the project initiator:

NEUMAYER STIFTUNG
Königstraße 28
70173 Stuttgart
Email: neumayer-haeuser@neumayer-stiftung.de
www.neumayer-stiftung.de

Annual LeseLenz in Hausach

Annual LeseLenz in Hausach

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ANNUAL LESELENZ IN HAUSACH

Project initiator:

Stadt Hausach, Verein zur Förderung des Hausacher LeseLenzes e.V.

Hausacher LeseLenz is a renowned literary festival that has been held in Hausach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, for 23 years. Every year more than 50 public readings are given in front of now between four and five thousand literature enthusiasts. The festival draws hundreds of first-class international authors to Hausach. Writing, drawing and storytelling workshops, as well as an extensive supporting programme encourage visitors to experience and discover language in a whole new way.

The series of events for children entitled „kinderleicht & lesejung“ is an important part of the literary festival. Every year, it encourages over 2,000 pupils from the region to take part in Hausacher LeseLenz.

Hausacher LeseLenz therefore brings together people who are interested in language and literature with people who otherwise have little access to literature and poetry. The main focus of attention is obviously on children and young people whose entire life can be positively influenced by improved access to literature.

Hausacher LeseLenz also supports authors with scholarships and prizes. The three „Stadtschreiber*innen“ scholarships give winners a three-month stay in Hausach. The „Amanda-Neumayer-Stipendium“ scholarship awarded by NEUMAYER STIFTUNG gives further support to the festival in the sphere of children’s and young adults’ literature.

Project description:

As one of the main patrons, NEUMAYER STIFTUNG facilitates events and public readings as part of Hausacher LeseLenz. Workshops in schools and kindergartens are offered as part of the „kinderleicht & lesejung“ series, and the results are recorded and presented in the printed publication “Wortwerk”. Authors are supported by their own scholarships.

Reading could mean learning to find your way in this world: Literature is language.

Language means capacity for dialogue.

Language is social work.

Reading keeps people alert and curious.

Mission statement

Project aims:

Language work is social work. Making literature accessible should encourage reading and therefore improve complex thinking and participation in society. Young people and adults get access to first-class, nationally and internationally renowned literature.

An easily accessible offer gives them the opportunity to broaden their horizons, and they can enjoy learning how to use language creatively in the workshops. There is support for authors and people engaged in culture, who can form international networks. The town benefits from the international cultural exchange.

Project location:

Hausach, Baden-Württemberg

Project start:

1998

Project target group(s):

Children and young people from the region and talented up-and-coming authors

Aim of the funding:

NEUMAYER STIFTUNG’s commitment is aimed at promoting reading and passing on linguistic competence in children and young people. Experiencing literature is supposed to break down possible barriers and create new points of view.
The readings give all listeners access to first-class literature and break down barriers to entry. Furthermore, the foundation also supports talented up-and-coming authors and facilitates international networks of people involved in creating literature.

Type of funding:

Numerous activities by NEUMAYER STIFTUNG make Hausacher LeseLenz possible. The festival programme is made up of numerous formats financed by the foundation, such as public readings and workshops in schools and kindergartens. The award of the “Amanda-Neumayer-Stipendium” scholarship for literature aimed at children and young readers enhances the event’s international significance.

Duration of funding:

Since 2008; annually

Successes/awards:

José F. A. Oliver, founder and curator of Hausacher LeseLenz, was awarded the „Kulturpreis Baden-Württemberg“ cultural prize in 2007. The prize was awarded for Hausacher LeseLenz, among other achievements.

Contact details of the project initiator:

Hausacher LeseLenz
Pfarrer-Brunner-Str. 4
77756 Hausach
Email: info@leselenz.com
www.leselenz.com

„Der Ortenauer Weg“

„Der Ortenauer Weg“

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„DER ORTENAUER WEG“

Project initiator:

Bildungsregion Ortenau e.V.

The organisation „Bildungsregion Ortenau e.V.“ (BRO) [Educational Region of Ortenau Association] offers its members and cooperating educational players a platform for networking, interaction and development of innovative projects and plans in the region. It takes a participatory approach whose success has been proven in networking education partners and facilitation of educational processes.

The project „Der Ortenauer Weg“ supports schools in joining up the existing sub-projects that are part of the school development and continuing education project „L:ike“ and putting them into an overall context. Furthermore, the project „Der Ortenauer Weg“ helps schools to involve partners and places of learning outside of school, in order to dovetail scholastic learning with the everyday lives of pupils.

Project description:

To help teachers reflect upon and expand existing teaching skills, and to support schools in shaping learning in real-world contexts with out-of-school learning partners in the region, the Staatliche Schulamt [state education authority] of Offenburg developed the further education and training concept „L:ike“ („Lernen: individuell, kooperativ, eigenverantwortlich“ or „Learning: individual, cooperative, independent“ in English), in cooperation with Bildungsregion Ortenau e.V., Schulentwicklung.ch and NEUMAYER STIFTUNG.

The project „Der Ortenauer Weg“ brings together various different L:ike sub-projects and helps the participating students to develop further on this basis. Individual measures and further education and training modules are planned and implemented according to the level of development of the schools and based on requirements.

To facilitate successful educational paths in the region

„Learn from others – learn from each other – learn together“

Mission statement

Project aims:

To improve the educational paths of pupils and make them compatible. Learning in stable relationship structures should mean that pupils are no longer left behind. Each school has a concept that precisely fits their specific situation, and schools in each region support each other through mutual dialogue. Educational pathways that pay attention to and support individual pupils are developed, evaluated and stabilised. Involving schools in networks with other schools and places of learning outside of school creates a link between school-based education and learning content from the adult world. Focal points can be created based on the social framework conditions of schools.

Project location:

Offenburg, Baden-Württemberg

Project start:

2016

Project target group(s):

All types of schools and counselling and education centres for pupils with special educational needs, in the area of the Staatliche Schulamt Offenburg or Bildungsregion Ortenau.

Aim of the funding:

Breaks in the educational paths of pupils can be prevented if school is a constant point of reference with familiar teachers and little change. Every student should get a school-leaving qualification followed by vocational or professional training. Close dialogue between schools enables experiences and knowledge to be shared.

Type of funding:

Facilitation of continual support of the project over six years by two project officers. Financing of further education and training within the school, specialist talks and coaching. In addition, evaluation is taken over by PH Ludwigsburg University of Education.

Duration of funding:

2016 – 2022

Contact details of the project initiator:

Bildungsregion Ortenau e.V.
In der Spöck 10
77656 Offenburg
Telephone: +49 (0)781 9686740
Fax: +49 (0)781 9686750
Email:info@bildungsregion-ortenau.de
www.bildungsregion-ortenau.de