Verein Niedersächsischer Bildungsinitiativen

The Verein Niedersächsischer Bildungsinitiativen e.V. (VNB) is a Hannover-based association of around 50 member organisations that carry out self-organised educational work with different thematic priorities. It was founded on 12 June 1983 and understands itself as the education organisation (Bildungswerk) of non-governmental organisations in Lower Saxony. In 1990 it was recognised by the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture as a state institution of adult education under the Lower Saxony Adult Education Act. Since July 2019 it has been a signatory of the Initiative Transparente Zivilgesellschaft (Transparent Civil Society Initiative). The VNB describes itself as a certified education and project provider with a diverse offering. It supports people who want to develop personally or professionally, and it advises non-governmental organisations, voluntary initiatives and associations. Its work is organised through a state office in Hannover and several regional offices and project offices, including locations in Hannover, Nienburg, Lüneburg, Barnstorf and Göttingen. The association is active across Lower Saxony and also works in transnational projects with partners from Europe and the Global South. In its education work, people and institutions from the ecology movement, the peace movement and the One World movement cooperate. Further priorities include global and intercultural learning and gender-related education. The guiding goals of VNB education work are, on an equal footing, the promotion of individual self-realisation, political participation and social engagement. Three regional offices and the state office in Hannover coordinate cooperation with more than 200 education initiatives and conference centres across Lower Saxony; around 3,800 people, mostly volunteers, are active in this education network. Members include the Heimvolkshochschule Akademie Waldschlösschen and the Verband Entwicklungspolitik Niedersachsen. Beyond Lower Saxony, the VNB acts as a sending organisation for weltwärts, the international volunteer service of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Together with Bündnis 90/Die Grünen it is a founder of the Lower Saxony Heinrich Böll Foundation – Stiftung Leben und Umwelt. It cooperates with other state associations of independent alternative further education, for example the Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft für eine andere Weiterbildung NRW, the Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft Anderes Lernen in Rhineland-Palatinate and the Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft für politisch-kulturelle Bildung in Brandenburg within the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Andere Weiterbildung e.V. The VNB also produces multimedia travelling exhibitions that are lent out nationwide; a current example is "Menschen auf der Flucht" (People on the Run), created in cooperation with missio Aachen. Its programme includes seminars, training courses and events on topics such as antisemitism-critical education, diversity-conscious and discrimination-critical practice, transformative youth education against right-wing extremism, and inclusion. It also rents out seminar rooms in Hannover and Göttingen and publishes educational materials in analogue and digital form.

The Verein Niedersächsischer Bildungsinitiativen (VNB) was founded on 12 June 1983. From the outset it understood itself as the education organisation (Bildungswerk) of non-governmental organisations in Lower Saxony, bringing together people and institutions from the ecology movement, the peace movement and the One World movement. Its guiding goals were defined as the equal promotion of individual self-realisation, political participation and social engagement. In 1990 the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture recognised the VNB as a Landeseinrichtung der Erwachsenenbildung (state institution of adult education) under the Lower Saxony Adult Education Act. This recognition gave the association a formal role in the state's publicly supported adult education system. Over the following decades the VNB developed into a network structure. It grew into an association of around 50 member organisations, and its education network came to coordinate cooperation with more than 200 education initiatives and conference centres across Lower Saxony, in which around 3,800 people, mostly volunteers, are active. Three regional offices and the state office in Hannover manage this work. Members include the Heimvolkshochschule Akademie Waldschlösschen and the Verband Entwicklungspolitik Niedersachsen. The VNB also became active beyond Lower Saxony. It works as a sending organisation for weltwärts, the international volunteer service of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Together with Bündnis 90/Die Grünen it is a founder of the Lower Saxony Heinrich Böll Foundation – Stiftung Leben und Umwelt. It cooperates with other state associations of independent alternative further education, including the Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft für eine andere Weiterbildung NRW, the Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft Anderes Lernen in Rhineland-Palatinate and the Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft für politisch-kulturelle Bildung in Brandenburg, within the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Andere Weiterbildung e.V. In July 2019 the VNB signed the Initiative Transparente Zivilgesellschaft. Its programme has continued to address current social and political issues, including antisemitism-critical education, diversity-conscious and discrimination-critical practice, transformative youth education against right-wing extremism, inclusion, and solidarity with marginalised groups. It produces multimedia travelling exhibitions, such as "Menschen auf der Flucht" in cooperation with missio Aachen, and works in transnational projects with partners from Europe and the Global South on education for sustainable development, integration and inclusion of vulnerable groups, and new methods in adult education.

• 2019

  The VNB becomes a signatory of the Initiative Transparente Zivilgesellschaft.

• 1990

  Recognised by the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture as a Landeseinrichtung der Erwachsenenbildung under the Lower Saxony Adult Education Act.

• 1983

  The Verein Niedersächsischer Bildungsinitiativen is founded on 12 June 1983.

A certified, non-profit education and project provider and the education organisation of non-governmental organisations in Lower Saxony, combining individual self-realisation, political participation and social engagement.

• Antisemitismuskritische Bildungsarbeit training series

  A continuing education series combining knowledge transfer, self-reflection and collegial exchange, consisting of two two-day events and a preceding e-learning course, run within the project "Lernen aus der Geschichte – Gegenwart gestalten" in cooperation with AKADAS/Akademie für Antisemitismusprävention.

• T:REX – Transformative Jugendbildung gegen Rechtsextremismus

  A 2026 event programme for transformative youth education against right-wing extremism.

• Travelling exhibition "Menschen auf der Flucht"

  A multimedia travelling exhibition produced in cooperation with missio Aachen and lent out nationwide.

• weltwärts international volunteer service

  The VNB acts as a sending organisation for weltwärts, the international volunteer service of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

• Publication "Methoden. Machen. Möglichkeiten."

  A publication with impulses for diversity-conscious and discrimination-critical practice.

1. 1Startseite - Verein Niedersächsischer Bildungsinitiativen e.V.vnb.de
2. 2Über uns - Verein Niedersächsischer Bildungsinitiativen e.V.vnb.de
3. 3Kontakt - Verein Niedersächsischer Bildungsinitiativen e.V.vnb.de
4. 4Veranstaltungsdetails - Verein Niedersächsischer Bildungsinitiativen e.V.vnb.de
5. 5Verein Niedersächsischer Bildungsinitiativenwikidata.org
6. 6Verein Niedersächsischer Bildungsinitiativende.wikipedia.org