Intercultural youth encounters

We conduct bi- and trilateral youth exchange projects in close cooperation with our institutional partners, Fondation INFA in France and Club Culturel Ali Belhouane in Tunisia, acting as the central agency of the Franco-German Youth Office. The participants come from a network of partners consisting of vocational training centres, vocational schools, and youth centres.

A first six-day youth encounter takes place in Germany, followed by a second encounter in France half a year later, and possibly another one in Tunisia. The responsibility for the organisation and educational content lies with the IKAB-Bildungswerk, the Fondation INFA, or the Club Culturel Ali Belhouane. The focus of all activities is the development of personal, social, and intercultural competences. Our view of competence development is broad and implies participation and commitment to democratic citizenship. Ego-stability, cooperation, solidarity, and a spirit of initiative are prerequisites for being able to take responsibility for oneself and within society.

Twice a year, co-operation meetings with representatives of the partner organisations take place alternately in Germany and France. Apart from providing a platform for exchanging information and reflecting educational practice, these meetings are used for planning programmes and finding new partners. To prepare the individual seminars and fine-tune group profiles and goals, more in-depth discussions are scheduled with the group leaders or facilitators involved. We offer regular training courses for the further education of our partners. These courses are intended to increase awareness of overarching educational issues in the intercultural context.