One in four children in Germany grows up in circumstances that limit their prospects of a successful educational journey. Through the programme ‘Kultur macht stark’, Culture Empowers: Alliances for Education’, the BMBFSFJ is helping to improve opportunities and promote greater educational equity. Since 2013, the programme has been funding extracurricular cultural education projects nationwide for children and young people who would otherwise have little access to such opportunities. Local Alliances for Education implement the projects on the ground, supported by programme partners active nationwide in the divisions of education, culture and social affairs.
The ‘Culture Makes You Strong’ programme gives rise to a wide variety of educational projects across all cultural sectors – ranging from everyday culture to digital gaming culture, literature, music and theatre, right through to the circus. Cultural education projects build self-confidence and strengthen character, foster creativity and social skills, open up new perspectives and lay important foundations for social participation and educational success.

DLR-PT as a competent partner for more educational opportunities

Since the launch of ‘Kultur macht stark’, Culture Empowers – now in its third funding phase – the DLR Projektträger has been advising and supporting the Ministry of Education throughout the entire programme cycle: from the development of the funding guidelines, through the selection of funded programme partners and the provision of technical and administrative support to them, to public relations, evaluation, networking and specialist communication. In addition, we have designed the programme’s own application and database system, KUMASTA.

This intensive support ensures quality within the complex funding structure. Drawing on our expertise, subject-matter knowledge and many years’ experience in funding management, we are able to provide the BMBFSFJ, as well as representatives from the specialist community and civil society, with well-founded and data-driven support and advice. As part of our public relations work, we have, amongst other things, designed the programme website and programme-specific brochures, films and newsletters, as well as coordinated external contractors. Furthermore, we produce information sheets and programme leaflets, as well as content for online communication, and coordinate collaboration with an external editorial agency. We have already designed and helped organise numerous events; in the current funding phase, for example, the kick-off conference ‘Kultur macht stark’: Working Together for Better Educational Opportunities’, which attracted over 200 participants and a large livestream audience, as well as three digital information sessions with over 1,000 attendees, which focused, amongst other things, on cultural education in all-day schools.

More than 58,000 ‘Kultur macht stark’ projects, involving over 1.6 million participants, have already taken place. The DLR-PT successfully supported the programme partners in mobilising and launching over 22,000 local, civil society-led alliances for education. At the same time, in collaboration with the federal states and the expert community, we have established a nationwide support structure for ‘Kultur macht stark’ to promote quality development, networking and the transfer of results. Finally, with a view to the sustainable and forward-looking development of the programme, DLR-PT coordinates the exchange of expertise and knowledge transfer between programme stakeholders, involving experts from both practice and academia through Working Groups and various discussion formats.