90 People from 11 Countries: European Conference Highlights Ways to Strengthen Child Safeguarding Through Cultural Education [EN]

Creating safe spaces, including within cultural education, is essential to enable children and young people to express their creativity, cultivate a sense of self-efficacy and community, and educate themselves through the arts, media, and play. During the three-day European conference as part of the BKJ’s “Start2Act”-project, it became clear that supporting practitioners in developing safeguarding strategies and preventive measures is crucial, whether through funding to create time and space for development and discussion, or through knowledge-sharing and consultation.

We have achieved a great deal with the “Start2Act” project. Across the broad spectrum of cultural education, we established child safeguarding as a central theme and highlighted the urgency of taking action. The need remains great, because maintaining legally mandated safeguarding policies requires a wide range of resources: personnel, funding, and expertise. We advocate for the structures of cultural education to maintain and expand these resources and make them the foundation for holistic child safeguarding.

Ute Handwerg, BKJ Board Member

“Start2Act” ‒ More Than Just a Name

Thanks to the funding of “Start2Act,” over 250 projects have been supported over the past two years in establishing and further developing safeguarding structures. State Secretary Dr. Petra Bahr of The Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth emphasized through her message that places where children and young people spend time must become safe spaces.

“Start2Act“! The very name of the project highlights the urgency and importance of its mission. It is time to act, to take concrete steps to transform places of cultural education into spaces of safety, respect and empowerment.

State Secretary Dr. Petra Bahr, Federal Ministry of Education, Family, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth

At the conference, 16-year-old Mathilda reported on the awareness-raising project “We Read and Write CHILD SAFEGUARDING” organized by the Bundesverband der Friedrich-Bödecker-Kreise e.V. as part of “Start2Act.” The participatory experience she encountered there filled a gap she had always felt. This involvement has had a lasting impact on Mathilda and has motivated her to continue advocating for the participation of young people.

This was the first time I really delved deeply into the topic of child safeguarding in this way. It was only then that I realized that these things actually happen. It would be great if young people were integrated even more. I want to work to ensure that children are truly involved and protected, because I’ve realized that there’s a huge gap in the school system. Children are the main topic there, yet they are not taken seriously, decisions are often made about them without their input. I want to change that.

Mathilda, a teenager active in the Start2Act project of the Bundesverband der Friedrich-Bödecker-Kreise e.V.

„Krig is ein Scheis“ (War is Crap, German original contains typos)

CircO Hannover provided insight into what child safeguarding means in the context of circus education projects, and the Junge Ensemble Stuttgart showcased the diverse artistic projects that were developed as part of their child safeguarding strategy, created in collaboration with children and young people and featuring slogans such as “Listen to us!” and “War is crap.” Lina Höhne vividly illustrated that the foundation of this work lies in the children’s needs, even if they are only two years old.

Day 1 also provided an overview of the entire subject area, as it is viewed not only in Germany but also internationally. Prof. Mechthild Wolff from the Landshut University of Applied Sciences critically emphasized in her keynote that the existence of safeguarding strategies serves as a barometer for how seriously young people’s rights are actually taken.

Emilia Popovych from the National Ukrainian Youth Association (NUMO) reported on the current situation regarding child safeguarding strategies in Ukraine, particularly under wartime conditions, and how NUMO advocates that every municipality should have a youth club to serve as a safe space for children and adolescents. Together with Kerstin Claus, the Independent Federal Commissioner Against Child Sexual Abuse (UBSKM), and Henrike Schauerte from the German Choir Youth, she emphasized during the panel discussion how urgent it is to advance child safeguarding in a strategic and collaborative manner.

In cultural education as well, safeguarding policies create a reliable framework, strengthen prevention efforts, and provide clarity and confidence for taking action. In doing so, they form an essential foundation that makes creativity and participation possible in the first place. Especially for volunteer-based and smaller organisations, targeted support is needed in the development and implementation of such measures so that these processes are not experienced as overwhelming. Projects such as Start2Act are crucial in this regard, as they provide guidance, practical knowledge, and financial resources to where they are needed. In this way, child safeguarding becomes practically implementable across the field.

Kerstin Claus, Independent Federal Commissioner for the Protection of Children and Adolescents against Sexual Abuse

Henrike Schauerte emphasized “participation” as the key to successful child safeguarding. She argued that training in participatory methods must also be provided in cultural education, not just theoretically but also from an artistic perspective. For example, in how a group is conducted or how repertoire can be decided collectively. This would also require financial resources, such as the “Start2Act” project, which is now coming to an end, and from which children’s and youth choirs have benefited greatly: If safeguarding concepts are genuinely desired, resources must be provided. This was the unanimous conclusion.

Inspiration and Focus

Day 2 began with an overview of the successes of the BKJ’s “Start2Act” project: With total funding of approximately 1.5 million euros, “Start2Act” has supported over 250 projects aimed at preventing (sexual) violence in cultural education throughout Germany. As a result, over 30,000 people were reached with content related to child safeguarding and prevention; in training programs, 40 multipliers were trained as child safeguarding specialists in cultural education, and an additional 300 professionals were trained in various aspects of child safeguarding.

The practical guide “Participation and Prevention. Working together to strengthen Child Safeguarding”, available in German and English, supports professionals in developing sustainable safeguarding strategies in cultural education based on participation. The materials package developed within the program, including posters aimed at increasing confidence in taking action, provides practical help for daily work in the field: Where can professionals find assistance in case of an emergency, and what core values and principles can children and young people rely on in cultural education settings?

In addition, the day featured a wide range of workshops and presentations that showcased practical cultural education work for developing child safeguarding policies in countries such as Albania, Romania, Ukraine, and Germany – using artistic methods that allowed participants to experience for themselves: emotions, boundaries, and spaces.

„Participation is key“

Cultural education, as represented by the BKJ, can be such a powerful way to help children’s rights, during activities and beyond in their day-to-day lives. Cultural education can help improve children’s mental health and well-being, can address loneliess, create lasting connections with children and adults alike, and empower children to really express themselves during a really important part of their development. But for that to happen, children need to be safe during their participation. That’s why BKJ’s work to strengthen safeguarding in cultural education across Germany is so important ‒ we are so happy to have BKJ as a member of the Eurochild network.

Ciaran O’Donell, Eurochild

Artistic contributions by The Vocals Berlin/Vokalhelden e. V., whose safeguarding policy development process was also funded by the “Start2Act” project, excerpts from the performance “Artikel 1” by the Campus Company, and the prevention theater piece “Hinterm Vorhang” by LAG Spiel und Theater NRW provided the framework for the entire three-day program.

What’s next?

Substantial progress has been made, yet the question remains: what still needs to be done? Christine Eichholz, theaterpädagogische werkstatt and trainer specializing in (sexual) violence in schools and youth welfare, summarized her observations from the conference. She offered encouragement by vividly describing the lasting effects of positive experiences with support systems for children and young people, underscoring this with examples from her many years of prevention work. However, she also pointed out the existing gaps. She noted for instance, that belief systems such as “great art requires suffering” are often used as a justification for not respecting the personal boundaries of (young) people. 

And the conclusion? “We will continue to learn. We will continue to listen. We will continue to take action.”