„Die Akademie Biggesee, eine gemeinnützige und außerschulische Bildungseinrichtung der politischen Jugend- und Erwachsenenbildung organisierte in den Jahren 2013 bis 2015 in Kooperation mit dem Hof Hasharon Regional Council of Israel drei deutsch-israelische Jugendbegegnungen. Das Regional Council bietet ca. 850 Jugendlichen zwischen 13 und 18 Jahren zahlreiche Möglichkeiten der außerschulischen Bildung. Soziale Werte und Kompetenzen haben in der Agenda des Councils einen hohen Stellenwert.

Bei der ersten Begegnung hatten jeweils 13 deutsche und 13 israelische Jugendliche die Gelegenheit, sich je eine Woche in beiden Ländern zu begegnen. Ein interaktiv und vielseitig ausgerichtetes Programm sollte eine lebensnahe interkulturelle Begegnung der Jugendlichen beider Länder ermöglichen helfen. Über erlebnis-, erfahrungs- und handlungsorientierte methodische Zugänge konnten die unterschiedlichen kulturellen Wahrnehmungen, Alltagswelten, Lebenskonzepte und Werte diskutiert und gemeinsam erarbeitet werden.

Mit Blick auf die schrecklichen Ereignisse des Holocausts stellten die persönlichen Lernerfahrungen und die damit verbundenen Emotionen mit diesem Thema sowie das Lernen aus der Geschichte zur Beantwortung aktueller gesellschaftlicher Fragen ein Schwerpunktthema dar. Zudem wurden erlebnisorientierte Outdooreinheiten geplant, bei denen sich die Jugendlichen unter gruppendynamischen und spielerischen Bedingungen begegnen konnten. In Projekttagen sollten die Jugendlichen eigene Video-/Theaterarbeiten sowie Dokumentationen erstellen. Damit konnte der Transfer des Erlebten und die damit verbundenen Einsichten für das eigene Leben auf den Punkt gebracht werden.“

Einen ausführlichen Bericht mit vielen bunten Fotos finden Sie hier.

This year, everything is different: for the first time since the establishment of the Mixed Commission for German-Israeli Youth Exchange in the early 1970s, the annual meeting to discuss German-Israeli cooperation in youth exchange could not take place in the framework of a physical meeting, in the yearly-alternating mode in Germany or Israel. Chaired by Thomas Thomer, Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, and Naftali Dery, board member of the Israel Youth Exchange Authority (IYEA), the representatives of the structures involved in youth exchange between Germany and Israel met digitally on December 2nd, 2020 to discuss current challenges and new developments in the field of youth exchange.

“The Mixed Commission noted that the Covid-19 pandemic has become an unprecedented challenge for German-Israeli cooperation in the field of youth politics and, at the same time, an incentive for the development of new formats and directions.” These words from the meeting’s protocol reflect the exchange work in 2020, in which the opening of opportunities for collaboration in the digital space was advanced on many levels. The Mixed Commission thanked the partnerships for the consistency of cooperation in the difficult year 2020. It recognized the remaining high number of around 380 applications for funding for 2021 as a good sign of the sustained interest of young people and organizations in German-Israeli encounters.

In terms of content, the Mixed Commission also addressed the specific impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the lives of young people this year: Israeli speaker Ron Brown outlined the multi-leveled challenges for young people in being limited to digital communication, including exposure to incriminating content and mentions of violence and drug use on social media. For the members of the Mixed Commission, this served as a push to mutually exchange information from the field of youth research in both countries.

The Mixed Commission thanked ConAct and the IYEA for the great commitment in the creative design and development of the German-Israeli youth exchange in the framework of numerous projects, despite all the challenges posed in 2020. The Commission also praised the newly launched project “Acting Against Anti-Semitism in Youth Work and Education” and endorsed its continuation in 2021. The Mixed Commission approved the various plans for accompanying the German-Israeli Youth Exchange in 2021, and “agrees that once the pandemic subsides, a concerted effort is needed to reactivate physical youth exchanges”. For 2021, 4.7 million euros will be allocated for German-Israeli youth exchanges.

On November 11, 2020, more than 70 professionals in the field of youth work from Germany and Israel met for a seminar by ConAct and the Israel Youth Exchange Authority. The German-Israeli Hub 2020: Youth Exchanges in the Digital Space had a very special character, due to situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. It was a digital event, in which all participants and speakers communicated with one another from their own homes or offices, thereby using – as given by the seminar’s topic – new ways of digital joint work. In this sense alone, this event was an innovation.

Following the opening greetings, the participants worked in small groups, exchanging about the leading questions of the seminar: Which programs are suitable for digital collaboration? What challenges and what opportunities do the increased use of digital channels bring with it in times of the Covid-19 pandemic? What will be needed for 2021 in order to continue and develop valuable exchange work?

In the afternoon, the participants got to know a good practice example for an international youth exchange project in the digital sphere. Then the group was divided into small groups, who attended parallel workshops. In this part, they learned about multiple digital tools for the communication with their partners but also for the implementation of exchange projects, as well as experimented in methods for digital language animation.

Next to the event program, the participants enjoyed multiple offers for informal exchange. Prior to the event, they were invited to create their own Exchange IDs and to upload them to a padlet, so that all participants could get to know each other. During the lunch break, digital coffee bars for casual conversation were opened, and participants could select the small groups they would like to chat with. Throughout the entire event, the participants could share their thoughts, project ideas and further inputs on an open padlet.

By the end of the seminar, everyone was pleased so have met each other after almost a year without physical youth exchanges. Many agreed that it must not be the last event about the topic of digitalization. With that, everyone expressed their anticipation for a physical gathering, as soon as one is possible.

On November 18, participating organizations in this year's New Con-T-Acts Match-Making Seminar met for an online meeting led by ConAct and the Israel Youth Exchange Authority. This year, planned physical seminar events in Germany and Israel had to be postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, representatives of the eleven emerging partnerships met for a first group meeting in the digital space.

The partner organizations were already "paired up" at the beginning of the year and are now setting about planning the first joint exchange projects for 2021. The seminar focused on meeting the respective partners and getting to know the other participants for the first time. During an input presentation followed by a question and answer session, the most important aspects and questions in the program development process were discussed. Finally, the "pairs" came together in small groups to agree on the next planning steps. For the coming year, it is planned to hold physical seminars in Germany and Israel.

We thank the Israel Youth Exchange Authority for the very good cooperation in this special year. We wish the participating organizations continued motivation and success in their joint planning and look forward to seeing everyone in person at a physical Match-Making Seminar soon.

In the past year we all got to know and tested new ways of digital working. From this experience, ConAct would like to give to you some recommendations and suggestions for programs, which can be used for digital cooperation – whether in the organization team, with the partners from abroad or with the participants from your exchange projects. In this collection you can find programs for collaborative working and mindmapping, for little games, evaluations and much more. Of course, the list is a selection of possibilities.

Maybe you already made experience with other suitable programs? We are looking forward to your impressions.

We recently launched a new channel that you can use to keep up to date on German-Israeli youth exchange: You can now also find us as @ConAct.DE.IL on Instagram. We're looking forward to connecting you there even more with each other and showing you what great exchange projects take place between the two countries every year!

On the Instagram profile, you will not only find news from ConAct's work and updates from the German-Israeli youth exchange. You will also see how we are working behind the scenes or what is going on in the youth exchanges of the different sponsors. In addition, we plan to launch various activities around Hebrew words, Israeli holidays or important country facts. Of course, you can also engage in dialogue with us. Whether you have questions, feedback or stories to tell from your daily work – your contributions are welcome. Feel free to link to us in posts or stories of your own about your German-Israeli youth and professional encounters, or point us to pictures, videos, or stories from the exchange on Instagram that you think are worth sharing.

And: Feel free to share the link to the account with the participants of your exchange programs. We would be happy to establish a direct contact channel especially with young people from the field of German-Israeli youth contacts.

After five years, our public relations officer Rebecca Görmann is saying goodbye to ConAct at the end of December and turning to new tasks. Her time at ConAct included the development of a corporate design, the establishment of various social media channels for the communication of ConAct's work, as well as numerous large and small projects in which she was also involved in shaping the content. We thank her for her great commitment to the work of ConAct and to the German-Israeli Youth Exchange and wish her the very best for the future! We are very happy to welcome Hannah Stobbe as a new public relations officer in the ConAct team as of January 2021.

Under the title "Signposts for the Future", the 3rd European Youth Work Convention (EYWC) presented a final declaration that sets out guidelines and suggestions for the implementation of a strong European Youth Work Agenda. The Convention is the largest online event held to date in the field of Youth Work in Europe. In the context of Germany's overlapping EU Presidency and the German Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, around 1,000 participants from the Youth Work Community of Practice from 46 European countries and Israel gathered on a digital platform from December 7 to 10, 2020. 

In its final declaration, the EYWC formulates recommendations for goals, work areas and concrete actions on 17 pages. The Final Declaration as a PDF document can be downloaded here. Further information is available on the website of the 3rd European Youth Work Convention.