About us

Strengthening young people's potential

Since 2005, cultures interactive has been working to initiate a debate on inhuman and anti-democratic attitudes - particularly in the area of right-wing extremism, but also in the case of Islamic extremism, conspiracy narratives and other similar phenomena. To this end, we have developed and successfully implemented various methodological approaches to youth-cultural political education, educational intervention and early distancing. Our services are aimed at young people and young adults as well as educational professionals.

Providing impulses, promoting reflection and showing attitude

In our prevention work, we value a critical, open-minded attitude and approaches that strengthen the potential of young people from different backgrounds - in particular the ability to communicate, creativity and reflection, as well as their willingness to engage in dialog. We are convinced that prejudices, ideologically motivated hatred or feelings of personal disadvantage cannot simply be explained away with “better” arguments. Instead, we want to offer young people alternative, positive identification opportunities as well as experiences of self-efficacy and encourage them to develop constructive coping strategies. Emotional and social learning is essential for this. In order to be able to confront ideas and ideologies of inequality with (young) people and educational professionals, but also in professional debates and public discourse, specialist knowledge and experience in the field of work is also required. Furthermore, a willingness to change perspective and self-reflection is essential.

The approach of human rights-oriented youth cultural work

The question of how young people and young adults from structurally weak social areas in particular can be reached for democratic and human rights-conscious basic attitudes has occupied us since Cultures Interactive was founded. In our experience, it is important to closely link the perspectives and interests of young people with political, cultural and social education. That is why we use youth cultures and young people's forms of expression and media to support social and democratic skills. We also aim to promote an emancipatory and critical awareness in dealing with political issues. A central philosophy of youth cultural practice and therefore an important part of our work is “DIY - do-it-yourself”: because the idea of being able to participate culturally and politically with simple means, through mutual exchange and peer-to-peer skills transfer, promotes solidarity and civic participation.

We see it as our mission to counter inhuman attitudes and promote open-minded aspects in youth cultures. This is why we are constantly developing the approach of human rights-oriented youth cultural work for different target groups and current phenomena. Our top priority is to address the lifeworlds of our target groups and actively involve them in our work. We share our experiences with governmental and non-governmental organizations on a national and international level in order to ensure the quality of prevention of right-wing extremism, religious fundamentalism and group-focused enmity. One of our focuses is on gender-reflective and intersectional approaches.

Narrative methods

In addition to youth cultural work, the narrative approach has also proven to be a valuable method of promoting democracy, as it sustainably supports the resources and potential of young people and creates resilience against anti-democratic attitudes. This is because democracy promotion also requires protected, moderated discussion spaces in the peer group in order to exchange and process personal experiences, impressions and reflections without reservation. The narrative approach also comes into play in the youth culture workshops and in our Time Out format. There, ideologies of inequality can be addressed and reflected on against the background of their individual biographical and socio-spatial contexts. The learning effects for individuals and groups include processes of changing perspectives and promoting democratic skills as well as long-term social participation.