Wind
- Brückenwind is an association that since 2017 takes a critical look at volunteering and activist support work by white Europeans, especially for refugees and people in the asylum system, as well as in the context of so-called development cooperation.
- We are fundamentally convinced that volunteering offers a wide range of opportunities and is an important expression of human cohesion and solidarity. However, because we know from our own experience how quickly unequal access and privileges are reflected even in "well-intentioned" projects, we would like to draw attention to the dangers of possible dependency and power relations in volunteer work and in development cooperation.
- By critically monitoring volunteer work and the motivations, needs and consequences for all those involved, we aim to promote both a sense of responsibility and a critical reflection on one's own position in society - above all among (potential) volunteers and organisations that work with volunteers.
- We are currently working mostly through our Online Seminar and Workshops with volunteers who are mainly involved in projects with and for refugees at Europe's (external) borders as well as in the development cooperation. We believe that this form of volunteer work is a necessary commitment to civil society. At the same time, social power relations and inequalities are emerging here in particular, which we would like to critically analyse. Our content is also applicable to volunteering in many other contexts in Germany and other countries.
For Volunteers
Online support for volunteers
The Online Seminar wants to enable volunteers to critically and reflexively deal with their expectations and experience regarding their volunteering stay and provide crucial information, as well as valuable tips along the way. Through this online support, we want to help you to understand your own positioning as a volunteer and provide you with important orientation, information and suggestions.
Workshops
We offer workshops that critically engage with various aspects of international volunteering. In doing so, we examine volunteering in the context of (forced) migration and so-called development cooperation, addressing the related questions and challenges. Our Workshops aim to look at the structural aspects of power dynamics that are perpetuated intentionally or unintentionally in support work and volunteering.
Our thematic workshop modules can be flexibly combined and adapted to the needs of your organization or group:
In our workshops, we aim to foster open dialogue, self-reflection, and a deeper understanding of global interconnections and existing power relations in international solidarity and engagement — with the goal of helping to dismantle these hierarchies.
Most of our workshops are conducted online with individual organizations and groups. In addition, we regularly offer open in-person sessions in Berlin, which are open for individual registration. You can find the latest news on our website and Instagram, or subscribe to our Newsletter.
Our workshops thrive on mutual exchange. We value participants’ ideas and suggestions and continuously develop the content together. It is important to us that our workshops are accessible to everyone — we try to design our topics so that anyone can follow along, think critically, and take part in the discussion.
Would you like to book a workshop for your organization or group? Or are you simply interested in participating in one of our sessions? Feel free to get in touch at kontakt@brueckenwind.org
For further reading, listening and watching
Join us
You think it is important to critically engage with structural and social power relations?
You want to get politically and pedagogically involved and like to discuss social issues?
You want to contribute your energies, ideas and social visions to a team of volunteers?
Then feel free to contact us!
How do we work?
- Each of us invests different amounts of time and work into our association, depending on our current situation and capacities. However, a certain degree of continuous commitment is a matter of course for us.
- We live in many different cities across Germany and therefore work mainly online in different teams. But we also try to meet regularly for mutual exchange.
- English is currently our common language in the team which is why we work in English - but no knowledge of English does not have to be an exclusion criterion if you are interested to join us.
Become a member
- We are always happy to welcome new members from all parts of society!
- It is not important to us whether you have already dealt with international volunteering in depth or are simply interested in doing so together with us in the future!
- Anyone who enjoys working together in projects, events, educational programmes or social media can join us.
- If you would like to get involved with us, please email us at kontakt@brueckenwind.org. Write us a few words about yourself, your motivation why you want to get involved, and maybe even if you already have ideas about how you would like to contribute.
