Germany 
Wikipedia Entry
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Summary of CRE Activities
For a summary of CRE activity in this area please review the OCDRCM website profile for this country.
For a review of Social Emotional Learning activities in the country, see this 2008 report from the Marcelino Botin Foundation on SEL work in Germany.
Active CRE Organization:
GTZ - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)
In the future the promotion of basic education and crisis prevention are to be more closely interwoven in development cooperation than is the case at present. This is the objective of the sector project “Education And Conflict Transformation”, which GTZ Department 43 “Health, Education, Social Security” has been conducting since the beginning of 2004 on behalf of the Federal German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). In concrete terms this means that children and young people in cooperation and partner-countries for German development cooperation learn to live together in peace and to defend social cohesion.
The objective of the first, three-year phase is that of implementing education concepts and instruments for the promotion of democratic conduct and peaceful co-existence in the development of key strategies and programmes for development cooperation. The elaboration and further development of education concepts and instruments takes place through evidence-based evaluation and documentation of findings and experiences to date, and analysis of the pilot measures conducted to test innovative approaches in curricular and extra-curricular basic education. The findings provided by the sector project primarily contribute towards programme-oriented development cooperation in the basic education sector. They are available for use at project level in crisis and post-crisis situations, as well as in other key development cooperation sectors. It is intended to anchor basic education measures with a crisis- and conflict-relevant orientation as clearly designated components in development cooperation projects.
In initial discussions with sector and country departments within BMZ, and also with specialist and regional departments at GTZ, four key topic complexes
have emerged:
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Active CRE Organization:
Institute for Peace Education Tübingen
Since its establishment in 1976 (first called “Association for Peace Education”), the Institute for Peace Education (ift) has consistently pursued the goal of bringing the problems of peace and conflict into the forefront of public consciousness. Their work tries to bring the results of scientific study - in particular peace research - combined with practical work (which is relevant for peace education) into the public eye. Peace education is based on the conviction that attitudes and behaviour can be changed through education, and they have an influence on political decisions and structures. Peace education, as it is developed and practiced by the Institute for Peace Education, is also a means to further individual participation in society and politic processes. Peace education sees the responsibility of the individual, and considers how it affects political processes. For its work in peace education, the Institute for Peace Education was awarded the outstanding German “Theodor Heuss Medal” in 1982, and in 1999 an honourable mention for the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education. More recently, the Institute received the “Chosen Place” award in 2007 by the Deutsche Bank as well as the WinWinno award in the same year.
The Institute for Peace Education critically examines inter-personal, social and international conflicts in order to offer possibilities of peaceful settlements of conflicts. The traditions and history of non-violence are thereby substantial components to achieve these goals. The philosophy of peace education means that different, and even opposite points of view, are freely discussed without prejudice. The Institute for Peace Education prepares and carries out discussions between different groups that sometimes do not even trust each other (for example soldiers and conscientious objectors).
