We are thrilled to share fantastic news as we step into the new year!
After a thorough review and on-site visits by auditors from Youth for Europe, Act for transformation has been awarded the Quality Label for the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) volunteer program. This official recognition allows us to both host and send volunteers across Europe and the South Caucasus under the ESC program from the European Union.
As part of this exciting new opportunity, in Autumn 2025, we will welcome our first ESC volunteers at Um-Welthaus in Aalen and we will also be able to send volunteers to our partner organizations abroad.
Through our volunteer programs, we provide young people with the opportunity to engage in civil society organisation that promote democracy, peace, and nonviolence. This new ESC program adds to our existing volunteer engagement through the Federal Volunteer Service (BFD) and the International Youth Volunteer Service (IJFD), strengthening our mission of international solidarity.
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We are now looking for partner organizations in Europe and the South Caucasus that may be interested in hosting volunteers from Germany through ESC. If your organization is involved in the ESC program or is considering participating, we would love to explore collaboration opportunities with you!
We are also looking for volunteers who are interested in being sent through to European countries and South Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan), through act for transformation. You can find more details or apply via the link: https://tinyurl.com/nhjxk39e
For more information about the ESC program in general, visit: www.solidaritaetskorps.de
Stay tuned for more updates as we look forward to building meaningful partnerships and welcoming new volunteers!
Peaceful greetings,
The act for transformation Team
We are excited to share this amazing opportunity we have with our partners from Armenian Progressive Youth in Armenia.
We are partnering on the Erasmus Plus Training Course "Together for Peace" to equip youth leaders and youth workers with skills to promote non-violent conflict management.
We are looking for 4 participants between 18 and 35 years old living in Germany (with travel permit to Armenia): youth workers, youth leaders and other active individuals, with either professional or volunteer experience in youth work, refugee support, or peace initiatives.
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This could be a great opportunity for youth workers and volunteers, to further develop their skills and engage with international peers.
Application Details:
• Deadline for Applications: February 15, 2025
• Training Course: 22nd to 30th of April 2025 in Armenia
Link to Facebook Post: https://tinyurl.com/2kh3wkfz
Link to the Application Form: https://forms.gle/oWurBpyEVsmf4BJJ9
Project Info Pack: https://tinyurl.com/2tjcja3h
We look forward to receiving your applications and eventually meeting you all in Armenia in April.
“fairtogether: You(th) for Peace” – Exchange Program Promotes Nonviolence and Democracy
The project “fairtogether: You(th) for Peace” by act for transformation, cooperative based in Aalen, is one of the award winners in the 2024 “Active for Democracy and Tolerance” competition hosted by the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb)! This international exchange program brought together young adults from Georgia, Poland, Armenia, and Germany, inspiring them to engage locally in nonviolence, dialogue, and democracy.
In two intercultural training seminar weeks for multipliers held in Bakuriani, Georgia, and Schwäbisch Gmünd/Aalen, 25 young participants explored topics such as nonviolent communication, conflict resolution, transcultural coexistence, and civic engagement. Using interactive methods like role-playing and discussions, practical approaches were conveyed.
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In their communities, the participants organized youth initiative projects involving around 220 young people, both with and without refugee backgrounds. These creative formats included city rallies, quiz nights, and juggling workshops. During online meetings, the young multipliers discussed inclusion and democracy with representatives of local politics. Monika, a participant from Armenia, emphasized the importance of such projects, especially in current times:
“The training in Georgia was the best experience I’ve ever had! This project is a great example of how young people can use the knowledge and experiences gained through international exchange programs to make a difference in their local communities.”
A year after the 2022 exchange program, the participants reunited in Schwäbisch Gmünd and Aalen in 2023 to share their experiences. They also discussed opportunities for political engagement for youth with the Aalen Youth Council. Representatives from the Youth Council of Zugdidi in Georgia joined the discussions, making the exchange highly enriching for everyone involved.
The project was successfully implemented with the support of young adults, mentors, volunteers, and one full-time staff member, and was funded by the European Union through Youth for Europe (Erasmus Program). Partner organizations included act for transformation, cooperative, the Institute of Innovation Foundation in Poland, Association Atinati and the Center for Peace and Civic Development in Georgia, as well as Armenian Progressive Youth in Armenia.
Projects like “fairtogether: You(th) for Peace” highlight the importance of international collaboration, nonviolence, and democracy education for our society. To ensure that such valuable exchange programs can continue in the future, we rely on your support. For more information about our work and ways to support us, please visit our website.
You can now support our current peace projects via: https://www.betterplace.org/en/organisations/15393-act-for-transformation-gem-eg. Every donation helps us to continue our work for peace and social change.
Thank you very much for your support!
The "One World Children's Holiday Program" at the Haldenhof was a great time for children from Aalen. A varied program was offered for the 23 children in the Um-Weltzelt, who came from Germany, Ukraine and African countries. Sergeiy Terntyev, who worked as a children's animator in the Ukraine, conducted exciting experiments with water and made giant soap bubbles. The volunteers offered handicrafts with clay and natural materials, as well as the reuse of plastic for creative things and enriched the days with lots of games together. On the last day, Daniel the juggler shared his skills with the children and the parents came to the Intercultural Garden to marvel at their children's new skills and to have fun and chat over a barbecue.
The event concluded on Saturday with a joint excursion with the parents to the Himmelsgarten in Schwäbisch Gmünd. The children really enjoyed the Himmelsgarten family park and the Taubental valley with its long ball track through the forest. The water playground, the mini golf course and the climbing park in the forest were also welcome challenges that parents and children had to overcome together. The activities were sponsored by the Kinderland Foundation and the Baden-Württemberg Strength Program.
Offers for children at Um-Welthaus
We have a wide range of activities for children, tutoring in German and math, playing chess, handicrafts and outdoor activities and pony riding at Haldenhof. Our trainers speak German, English, Russian and Turkish. The activities take place from Monday to Friday from 4 - 6 pm. If you are interested, just drop by or give us a call. We look forward to seeing you. Registration: um-welthaus@act4transformation.net Tel. 07361-9751045
Our new rooms in the former Hofacker School in Gartenstr. in Aalen: the girls' dance group has plenty of space and a bright room. Khrystyna Shvets leads the girls in a motivating way, body awareness and rhythm are required.
We are delighted that the cooperation with the neighbourhood management of Q85 and Heike Jänischke has been intensified and that we now have plenty of space for sports, games and fun until the summer - and of course for learning during tutoring. The project is funded by the Kinderland Foundation Baden-Württemberg.
On Friday, a guided tour of the sites of forced labour in Wasseralfingen took place as part of the International Weeks against Racism. The route led from the railway station to the newly erected memorial plaques at the former allotment gardens, on to the stumbling block at the Wiesendorf satellite camp and then to the Russian and Polish graves at the cemetery. The tour, which was organised interactively by Jürgen Menzel from act for transformation, ended at the memorial plaque and the work of art at the town hall. The tour was also translated for Ukrainian participants and the German past and current responsibility for Eastern Europe came up several times. In future, the guided tour can be booked as a memorial site tour at the Um-Welthaus Aalen at any time.
Faruku Kibaba, Director of the Great Lake Peace Centre from Kasese in Uganda, visited act for transformation in Aalen as a project partner and further cooperation was intensified. There is currently a regular online exchange between young people from Uganda, Georgia and Germany on topics relating to sustainable development, funded by the Development Cooperation Foundation (SEZ), and an incoming volunteer, Salim Mbusa, who works in Aalen at the Um-Welthaus and the adfc bicycle workshop. During the visit to Schwäbisch Hall and the Freundeskreis Afrika e.V., the exchange of volunteers as part of the Weltwärts programme was agreed and from September, a German volunteer will work at the Great Lake Peace Centre in Uganda and a new Ugandan volunteer will come to Aalen to work at Um-Welthaus. The application deadline for the German volunteer is mid-May at: bewerbung@act4transformation.net
Photo: (from left to right) Jürgen Menzel (Board member of act for transformation), Faruku Kibaba (Head of Great Lake Peace Centre, Uganda), Claude Keil (Freundeskreis Afrika e.V.), Heidrun Seidel and Salim Mbusa (act for transformation) during their visit to the Freundeskreis Afrika e.V. in Schwäbisch Hall.
On Thursday, SWR-Aktuell reported on the wax collection campaign for Ukraine organised by act for transformation. The television team from Ulm filmed in the afternoon in the Um-Welthaus (Torhaus) and interviewed the volunteers and participants. They had previously visited Neresheim Abbey and brought candles and Father Matthias from the abbey. Ohla Veronova also organised the wax collection campaign last year, where more than two and a half tonnes were collected. It is sent to the volunteers in Kharkiv, who use it to make new candles that can be used for lighting and cooking. There was a live broadcast to Kharkiv that afternoon, during which the volunteer group in Ukraine and in Aalen greeted and introduced themselves to each other. The people from Kharkiv expressed their gratitude for the support from Aalen and emphasised that even in the second winter of the war there are severe restrictions in the supply of electricity and heat and that support is therefore still needed. The report and film can be found on the SWR website in the Ulm region section (https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/ulm/aalen-wachs-ukraine-kloster-neresheim-gefluechtete-frauen-100.html) Photo: SWR-Ulm
With the new project "fairtogether: shaping life together" in East Württemberg and Berlin, act for transformation is promoting volunteer work for and with refugees. The project is funded for one year by the "German Foundation for Engagement and
and Volunteering" and offers various workshops and a
training for trainers in the fairtogether training concept. The
project coordinator Alena Kemm will guide and support the training courses and new employees. Napuli Langa Görlich and Gideon Gichiri will implement the project in the Berlin office and Sarah Lobenhofer and Salim Mbusa in Aalen. We are looking forward to the first workshops and the participants.
Opening of our new office at Planckstr. 20, in the centre of Berlin. Our project "fairtogether - shaping change together" is for refugees and volunteers working with refugees. It is being implemented in Berlin / Brandenburg and Aalen / Baden-Württemberg and is funded by the Ehrenamtsstiftung. Napuli Paula Langa will coordinate the project in Berlin and realise it with the association "Blacks and Whites together for Human Rights". We are looking forward to the co-operation.
Dec. 2023
We again offer a varied holiday programme for children at Haldenhof. The children showed a lot of skill juggling with Daniel Schiffner and learned different throwing and balancing techniques with scarves, ball and plate. The children visibly had a lot of fun playing games, exploring the forest and yard and enjoying a natural environment in the fresh air. In the culturally mixed group of Ukrainian, Turkish and German children, there was also constant translation into different languages, but laughter is understandable in all cultures.
Erasmus+ one-year project completed in July we finished "Fairtogether: You(th) for Peace" with our partners from Poland, Armenia and Georgia in Hornberg-Hostel near Schwäbisch Gmünd. 20 experienced and committed participants from Georgia, Armenia, Poland and Germany took part in the seminar to become Fairtogether multipliers for peace education, inclusion and non-violent conflict resolution in their communities. The main topics of the seminar were evaluation, democracy, political participation and activism. The seminar was led by international experienced trainers from Georgia and Germany. The group of young people had the opportunity to rebuild their relationships, share their experiences with local projects in their own countries and learn from each other's struggles and successes.
Minister Lucha visiting the One World House Aalen August 17, 2022 and our Ukraine projects and talked to the women's group. The project is funded by the state in the "Strength Program" (Staerke).
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Minister Manfred Lucha showed great interest in our work, as did the Lord Mayor of Aalen, Frederick Bruetting, and District Administrator Joachim Blaese. They informed out about our projects and the support of Ukrainian people in Aalen. In particular, the exchange with Ludymila Komashko's women's group, funded by the country's "Strength" project, gave the women the opportunity to talk to him about their situation and to find German politicians who would listen.