Working Group of German Educational Institutions

The Arbeitskreis deutscher Bildungsstätten e. V. (AdB) — in English the Working Group of German Educational Institutions — is a nationwide German professional association (Fachverband) for non-formal political youth and adult education. It is a registered association (eingetragener Verein) whose members are legally independent institutions and organisations active in out-of-school political education and youth work. Its office (Geschäftsstelle) is located in Berlin, and it describes itself as acting both nationally and internationally. The AdB brings together more than one hundred member institutions with widely differing profiles. Together with them it advocates a diverse, democratic, constitutional and open society and the fundamental and human rights anchored in the German Basic Law (Grundgesetz). It explicitly opposes exclusion, discrimination, anti-democratic positions, historical revisionism and nationalism. Political education within the AdB aims at emancipation and participation, critical faculties and maturity (Mündigkeit), and is understood as part of the right to education. As a professional association, the AdB sees its tasks in specialist and further-training conferences and projects at home and abroad, in developing and testing models and concepts of out-of-school political education and youth welfare, in organising specialist commissions and working groups, and in publishing. It develops innovative educational formats together with its member institutions, offers needs-based further training for specialist and management staff, organises exchange among professionals in commissions and working groups, supports quality development processes in member institutions, and is networked nationally and internationally, including in European and international specialist exchange. The association is funded as an essential part of the child and youth welfare infrastructure at federal level by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ); its own materials also refer to funding by the federal ministry responsible for education, family, seniors, women and youth. It maintains contact with parliament and government, primarily on behalf of the interests of political education provided by independent (freie) providers. It sees itself as not one-sidedly bound to any confession or political party. In recent years the AdB has published position papers and statements on topics such as the EU Youth Strategy III, digital youth work and democratic participation in digital spaces, the EU Multiannual Financial Framework 2028–2034, and making educational institutions resilient to climate change. It also publishes the journal "Außerschulische Bildung" and runs projects such as "GESTALT" on all-day schooling and political and cultural education. Its annual theme has addressed political education in times of far-right threat.

The Arbeitskreis deutscher Bildungsstätten e. V. (AdB) is a nationwide German professional association of political education. In the AdB, institutions of out-of-school political youth and adult education with very different profiles have joined together. It aims to offer its members a forum for specialist exchange, further training and joint representation of educational-policy interests. The AdB sees itself as not one-sidedly bound to any confession or political party. As an essential part of the child and youth welfare infrastructure at federal level, the association is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. The association's seat is Berlin, where its office is also located. According to its statutes, the association serves the exchange of experience and cooperation of its members in the Federal Republic of Germany, and it seeks to directly promote out-of-school education, in particular political education as an element of general education. Understanding itself as a professional association, it sees its tasks above all in specialist and further-training conferences and projects at home and abroad, in the development and testing of models and concepts of out-of-school political education and youth welfare, in the organisation of specialist commissions and working groups, and in the publication of materials. International work built in its early days on occasional participation in international initiatives, continuing the tradition of educational institutions that, immediately after the Second World War, sought to contribute to reconciliation through the organisation of international educational events. Berthold Finkelstein served on the board and as chairman of the association from 1961 to 1981. With partners in Poland (from 1975), Israel (from 1978) and the Soviet Union/Russia (from 1983), specialist programmes were carried out every year. Democracy development was the theme of short-term projects and time-limited cooperation — under very different questions — with France (1976), the United Kingdom (1976–79), Italy (1981–84), Lithuania (1993–96), Estonia (1992–94) and Bulgaria (1993). After the collapse of the bloc systems and the associated political, social and economic upheavals, cooperation from the beginning of the 1990s was built up and deepened under the motto "Learning for Democracy" with partners in Central and Eastern Europe, above all in Russia (with the Moscow University for the Humanities and Social Sciences and the "Movement of Women of Russia"), Mongolia (with the NGO "Sunrise" and the city of Ulaanbaatar) and the Palestinian Autonomous Territories (Jerusalem Centre for Women and Institute for Peace and Democracy). The annual specialist programmes with Israel — for many years with the Rutenberg Institute for Youth Education in Haifa, and since 1994 with Givat Haviva, the central educational institution of the kibbutz movement — addressed the challenges of democratic development in both countries. At the beginning of cooperation with the Spanish adult education association FEUP (from 1984) stood the attempt to support the young Spanish democracy through participatory approaches in educational work. In 2002, on the initiative of the AdB, the European education network for democracy and human rights "DARE" was founded with its seat in Belgium, with the purpose of providing a platform for partnerships, cooperation and strategy development. "DARE – Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe" has been joined by 36 organisations in 26 countries. A six-member board chaired by Hannelore Chiout of the AdB coordinates the activities. The network was funded by the European Commission as a Grundtvig-4 project and includes NGOs, educational, research and other organisations whose priority task is education for human rights and democratic citizenship. Standing working groups advise on educational, political and operational questions, seminars and conferences are held annually, and a newsletter appears regularly. In more recent years the AdB has continued to act as a policy voice for non-formal political education, issuing statements and position papers on European youth policy, digital participation, EU financing frameworks and climate resilience, and running projects and publications such as the journal "Außerschulische Bildung" and the "GESTALT" project.

• 2026

  AdB contributes a position paper to the European consultation process on EU Youth Strategy III and starts the GESTALT project.

• 2025

  Policy paper published on making educational institutions resilient to climate change.

• 2002

  On the initiative of the AdB, the European network DARE – Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe is founded with its seat in Belgium.

• 1994

  Annual specialist programmes with Israel continue with Givat Haviva, the central educational institution of the kibbutz movement.

• 1993

  Time-limited cooperation with Bulgaria and with Lithuania (until 1996) begins.

• 1992

  Time-limited cooperation with Estonia begins (until 1994).

• 1984

  Cooperation with the Spanish adult education association FEUP begins.

• 1983

  Annual specialist programmes with partners in the Soviet Union/Russia begin.

• 1981

  Time-limited cooperation with Italy begins (until 1984).

• 1978

  Annual specialist programmes with partners in Israel begin.

• 1976

  Time-limited cooperation on democracy development with France and the United Kingdom (UK until 1979).

• 1975

  Annual specialist programmes with partners in Poland begin.

• 1961

  Berthold Finkelstein begins his service on the board and as chairman of the association (until 1981).

A non-partisan, non-confessional nationwide professional association and advocacy body for independent providers of non-formal political youth and adult education in Germany.

• Journal "Außerschulische Bildung"

  The association's journal on out-of-school education, with issues such as one on pedagogical practices of decolonialisation.

• DARE – Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe

  European education network founded in 2002 on the AdB's initiative, with 36 organisations in 26 countries.

• GESTALT project

  Project on developing all-day schooling in political and cultural education (systems, participation, actors, learning venues and transfer).

• Position papers and statements

  Policy documents on topics such as EU Youth Strategy III, digital youth work, the EU Multiannual Financial Framework and climate resilience.

1. 1Arbeitskreis deutscher Bildungsstätten e.V. – official websiteadb.de
2. 2Über uns | Arbeitskreis deutscher Bildungsstätten e.V.adb.de
3. 3Stellungnahmen | Arbeitskreis deutscher Bildungsstätten e.V.adb.de
4. 4Selbstverständnis des Arbeitskreises deutscher Bildungsstätten e. V. (AdB)adb.de
5. 5Arbeitskreis Deutscher Bildungsstätten – Wikidatawikidata.org
6. 6Arbeitskreis deutscher Bildungsstätten – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org