An exciting transnational collaboration with Werkhaus e.V in Krefeld, Germany, funded by the Cultural Bridge programme.
Following the success of our previous transnational collaboration, Common Values, Shared Dreams, between us here at The Mighty Creatives and Werkhaus e.V, we’re excited to have secured funding Tier Two of the Cultural Bridge programme to continue our work together on our new project, Without Walls.
Through Without Walls, we’ll be bringing together young people from Krefeld, Germany and Leicester, UK to co-create two immersive exhibitions in each of our home cities. Through the power of arts, culture and creativity, we hope to empower young people to create and lead with purpose – and shape the future through creativity, inspiring lasting change in our communities.
Werkhaus e.V are a cultural organisation which works with local partners and initiatives to reach people from all social classes, different age groups and nationalities. In Krefeld, Germany, they run a Cultural Centre, a Centre for Child and Youth Work, a Centre for Cultural Youth Education, an Education Centre and a Neighbourhood House.
After originally meeting in Krefeld in October 2023, supported and made possible by The City of Leicester European Twinning Association (CLETA), we recognised shared beliefs and values about how to support young people.
Our first collaboration through Common Values, Shared Dreams saw an exchange of ideas, concepts and best practices, drawing on our expertise in developing cultural programmes for children and young people experiencing disadvantage in our respective countries.
Our Creative Mentoring model and Werkhaus e.V’s activities both adopt a young person-centred approach. Through our work, we’ve learnt how this approach empowers young people to have positive agency on the world they live in, and enable them to make positive changes for both themselves and their communities.
We want to share our expertise in the development and delivery of arts and cultural programmes that have been designed specifically for children and young people in need – those experiencing disadvantage.
In April 2024, we visited Krefeld, Germany with three of our Creative Mentors to explore and learn from Werkhaus’ work including their centre “SpieDie“, where accessible activities for children, who mostly are socially disadvantaged, are offered. We’re also take part in a discussion with professionals from the Children and Youth Work services at Intercultural Centre Südbahnhof.
In November 2024, we welcomed members of the Werkhaus team to our offices in Leicester. Here, we introduced them further to the practice of our Creative Mentoring service and the child-centred social pedagogical approach we use throughout all our work during a two-day skills and knowledge sharing session. We were also delighted to offer the opportunity for the Werkhaus team to experience the Diwali celebrations in our city.
It proved a fantastic opportunity to meet with the responsible authorities for youth protection in both the East Midlands and Krefled.
Our transnational collaboration will see the exchange of ideas and best practices across artists, educators and cultural organisations. Through this partnership, we will:
But that’s not all! Once the exchange has completed, we plan to have established a long-lasting partnership that fosters the creative potential of young people in need in both Krefeld and Leicester and to support sustainable social and cultural development in our communities. We want to continue sharing our learning and best practice approaches beyond Leicester and Krefeld to reach more children and young people experiencing disadvantage.
This project is funded by Cultural Bridge, which celebrates bilateral artistic partnerships between the UK and Germany through the collaboration between Arts Council England, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, British Council, Creative Scotland, Fonds Soziokultur, Goethe-Institut London and Wales Arts International / Arts Council of Wales.
