Full force for more democracy and human rights
For many years, the wannseeFORUM was characterized by neglecting its property. What a blessing that the members of the Berlin state parliament approved an increase in funding! Just in time, one might say. For the first time in a long time, it was possible to begin renovating the wannseeFORUM's "hidden educator"—the listed building and garden—and thus better meet the requirements of a modern overnight accommodation and catering establishment. Examples include adapting the food service area to current hygiene standards and renovating the kitchen. Initial recommendations resulting from participation in the "Roadmap Diversity and Inclusion" program of the Jugend.Sprungbrett. Kultur-Netzwerk (Youth.Springboard.Culture Network) were also implemented. Access to the basement of the Landhauswas made inclusive, and another inclusive overnight room was opened. Thanks to the increased funding, we were able to continue offering our usual high-quality, emancipatory, participatory, and inclusive educational programs for children and young people in 2024. Even slightly more than in previous years, and under significantly better conditions for our young guests here at our center. At the same time, we were confronted with the electoral successes of the far right and the sharp rise in racist and antisemitic acts of violence in our society. This led to anxieties about the future not only among participants with a migration background and/or Jewish heritage, but also generally intensified the feeling of powerlessness among many young people. A cross-cutting theme for all areas was therefore the further development of seminar concepts on the topic of the future and the capacity for utopian thinking. Despite all the current crises, we empowered the participants who came to us to cope with the particular challenges of our time and encouraged them to look to the future with confidence. Although the conditions that shape our daily lives are becoming increasingly dire, it is worthwhile to defend human rights and democracy, to fight for them, and to stand up for them. This approach is also attracting international interest. For example, in June we were able to welcome Zhanna Andreasyan, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Armenia, and her delegation.
A low-threshold approach that enables everyone to participate in our educational programs is particularly important to us. International youth exchanges help to break down prejudices. They are one of many initiatives we use to counteract right-wing tendencies. In 2024, we offered several events in this area. Through the Academy for Children's and Youth Parliaments and our cooperation with the Charlottenburg/Wilmersdorf Children's and Youth Parliament, young people from Berlin, Slovakia, Poland, and Greece came together to develop ideas for implementing EU Youth Goal 3: Inclusive Societies. The seminar not only promoted intercultural learning and strengthened European identity through direct encounters between young people, but also contributed to strengthening youth participation in Berlin, as the results were incorporated into the EU Youth Dialogue (see EU NEEDS YOU!). The continuous development and implementation of inclusive and participatory approaches in educational work is particularly important to us, not only in this context. We successfully continued our work with young people from Berlin, both with and without refugee experience. Raising awareness of the empowerment of people with a migration background and refugee experience was thus strengthened (see I'M INVOLVED). Participation remained one of our core themes. The seminars for student representatives and student mentors continued to be in high demand in 2024. With the Academy for Children's and Youth Parliaments, we succeeded in contributing to the establishment of both such parliaments and youth advisory boards. Conducting innovative youth education work also means not closing ourselves off to new developments, but rather empowering participants to engage with them. For example, seminars on artificial intelligence (AI) and political participation were held in the New Media department. Since October, a full-time position has again been available for this area.
Understanding and working with AI enabled participants to develop their own strategies for action through practical media learning. Being able to act is fundamental to participation in democracy. Therefore, in the subject area of "School and Democracy," the personal responsibility of young people for their actions and the motivation for participation among young people were of great importance in 2024. Strengthening democratic competence is more important than ever, especially after the pandemic and in times of feelings of powerlessness in the face of global crises. The connection between feelings of powerlessness and vulnerability and the state of one's own mental and physical health is undeniable. It is therefore natural that the youth advisory board addressed this topic in the Pentecost LAB, which it organized and conducted, and held a multi-day event by young people for young people. The opportunity to discover and experience self-efficacy was not limited to this event. In seminars on life in Berlin, we addressed the topic of poverty and referred to a section in the 2024 report by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights on Germany concerning protection from poverty. As a youth education center once again certified and awarded by the Council of Europe, we are addressing the topics of the report and integrating them into our educational work. This applies not only to seminars with volunteers, but also to our invitations to young people from open youth work facilities to participate in political education programs at the wannseeFORUM. The aforementioned increase in funding enabled us to reactivate an educational position that had been eliminated during the pandemic: In October, we created the department of Social Issues and Political Participation. The collaboration with gangway eV, established within this department, has continued to bear fruit. We conducted seminars in cooperation with Streetcollege and Move the Streets. New additions to our network include the Kreuzberg Children's Foundation and MOVE in, a project for young people seeking educational opportunities outside of mainstream schools.
Unfortunately, we were unable to implement all the measures we had planned in the area of antisemitism prevention. Following the terrorist attack of October 7, 2023, we had intended to offer more programs in this area. However, thanks to increased funding, we were able to expand our cooperation with the Anne Frank Center in Berlin. While the Anne Frank Ambassadors had previously primarily visited us as guest groups, the increased funding allowed us to conduct two collaborative seminars in 2024. Whether this level of cooperation can be maintained depends largely on the amount of our basic funding from the State of Berlin.
The increased funding and the positive development in third-party funding acquisition meant that in 2024 we were able to consolidate the projects we had recently developed and bring new groups to the educational center. This includes young people with special needs, whom we can now enable to participate thanks to the increased inclusive development of our facility. We intend to continue this process as well. Participation remains one of our three core themes at wannseeFOURM, at the state and European levels. Those who can participate in important political and social decisions and experience self-efficacy overcome feelings of powerlessness and are less susceptible to right-wing demagogues. Currently, the demand for our educational seminars exceeds the supply. Therefore, it is essential not only to maintain existing access points but also to open up new ones.