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
Volunteers, activists, supporters and NGOs thrive for a more just society. In this important work and structures, colonial power dynamics like Racism are often reproduced without us recognizing them or not knowing how to counter them.
We offer workshops for people involved in refugee support or development cooperation to take the time in a non-judgemental space to discuss, reflect and learn from each other to find ways of truly working in solidarity with each other. To do that, we have different formats, in which we discuss different power dynamics in different depth. For whatever questions you have, feel free to reach out to us. In the end, we always individualize our Workshops to specific needs.
In all of our Workshops we focus on one or more of the following power dynamics that are often present in refugee support and development cooperation:
We normally give our workshops in English. If you are interested in another language, please feel free to reach out to us.
For groups and organizations
You are a political group or an organization made up of paid staff and/or non-paid volunteers and want to look at your own structures and ways of doing and thinking? According to your time capacities and needs we have two options:
2-3 h (online) Workshop
You want to get impulses to reflect on how different power dynamics influence your work, thoughts and behaviour? In the two to three hours we focus on one or two of the above-mentioned power dynamics. The workshops that can take place both online and in person has a mixture of short input, discussions over examples and time to reflect on our individual behaviour. After the Workshop you should leave with new questions and discussions to be continued.
One and a half days in person
In this Workshop we want to go further than looking at how the above-mentioned power dynamics influence our individual behaviour. We want to take the time to discuss how they influence the structures of your group or organization.
Together we individuate issues that are relevant in your group or organization and try to understand how they are connected to Racism, Eurocentrism, White Saviourism, Paternalism or Gender.
One option is to critically look at what you have done in the past, what you are doing now and start discussing how you want to continue in the future.
This workshop depends a lot on your needs, structures and questions. We moderate the space, ask questions and want to accompany you in your process of combating the power dynamics at place.
Open Workshops
We also offer open workshops for everyone who is interested in the topic. You don’t necessarily need to be engaged in any group, but maybe you have volunteered somewhere before, are interested in getting involved in the future or the topic is relevant in your work place? This workshop lives from the exchange of the different backgrounds of the participants, we learn from each other and the different contexts that we are coming from.
2 h online Workshop
In this workshop we focus on one of the power dynamics mentioned above and try to connect it to our own thoughts, feelings and actions. We want to honestly individuate our own problematic behaviour as a first step to change into an engagement in solidarity.
Two half day Workshop in person
During two days we reflect on how different power dynamics play a role in our engagement. We exchange, share experiences and thoughts. On the first day we focus on how the power dynamics influence our behaviour and thoughts. On the second day we try to think about ways of how to do differently and be active without reproducing harmful behaviour.
For pupils in lower and upper secondary school (90 min)
We also offer Workshops for pupils of Sek I and II. In these Workshops we look at the power dynamics in society and raise awareness that certain factors privilege some people over others. So no engagement is needed for participation. Instead, we open the space to find small things accessible for the youths to work towards a more just society.
Privilege and Discrimination: What shapes our Reality?
Gender, nationality, race, class, migration experience, culture, languages, age and other social factors – all these influence how we navigate society. In this workshop, we will explore how privilege and discrimination manifest as invisible threads that criss-cross and pull us in different directions. Can we take control of these threads ourselves?
The aim of the workshop is to raise awareness of privilege and discrimination and to explore how various aspects – such as migration experience or gender – shape our reality. The aim is to foster an understanding of how these different aspects intersect.
We offer this workshop in German.
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.
