The Federal Work Group of the Regional Center for Education, Integration and Democracy (RAA) leads a project dealing with all features of bigotry and hatred. Schools, child and youth services and districts get the opportunity to undergo self-evaluation in order to improve their policy of equality and recognition. The characteristic of the project: it does not simply help asses the various forms of bigotry and hatred but helps the participants focus on the strengthening of a culture of recognition and equality of all human beings.


The term "respect" is used as a synonym for recognition, approval, giving value, praise. Mutual respect is necessary for any type of coexistence, whether in the classroom or in society in general. When a member of a group is not respected by the others, this can easily turn into a total exclusion from the group. In psychology it is assumed that respect in the sense of recognition and acceptance influences the individual's sense of self-esteem. The philosopher Hegel emphasized that respect is necessary for a person’s self-confidence. In a later development of the social psychology of the Frankfurt School, Alex Honneth put respect at the center of this work. He worked out three interconnected forms of respect: emotional attention (love), legal and political respect, and solidarity (an orientation towards common values). Individual self-confidence, self-respect, and self-appreciation go along with those three forms of respect. According to the social scientist Wilhelm Heitmeyer respect is the most important source of a positive self-image. Respect gives you status and prestige. On the other hand, Heimeyer points out that people also create respect for themselves through violence, discrimination, and by disrespecting others. Clearly, this kind of respect is a great problem.

Experiencing equality in everyday life

Equality is not something that can be communicated at the purely cognitive level. It is much more effective to convey equality by making it a positive experience. The “Anerkennungsaudit” contributes to this: it enables people to experience equality in everyday life. The process begins at the current local conditions. It offers the participants an opportunity to analyze the situation in great detail and to make necessary changes. The word "Audit" is derived from the Latin “audire”, which means “to listen”. This is the core of the Audit: a group of people talks about a situation that concerns them all. Everyone listens to one another and comes to a common assessment of the current situation. A set of criteria simplifies this task. The criteria spells out what has to change in the given situation in order to improve it.

The project is realized by various regional RAA centers in Germany: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin and Brandenburg in cooperation with the Community Foundation of the region Barnim-Uckermark. The project focuses on the areas of Waren, Cologne / Wuppertal, Angermünde and Eberswalde.

Schwedt: Discussing the participation of children

Students of the Dreiklang High School in Schwedt (Brandenburg) agree that the range of optional subjects offered by the school is good. However, this doesn't mean that it couldn't improve. This is why the students take part in the project “Living Equality”. Cooperating with the school administration, they have decided to apply the “Audit” method to their school. Every two weeks, ten students meet to work out their Audit criteria. The initial aim is to discuss statements such as: “Children and young people have the right to participate, a right that cannot be denied under any circumstances”. The young students discuss heatedly, says Harald Podzuweit of the Office for Integration and Tolerance, provided by the RAA Brandenburg. He remarks that the discussion has made the students aware of everyday occurrences of bigotry in their school and give food for thought for possible changes.

Waren: Changing our district

Teachers, high school students, local agents, and the regional housing authority are applying the Audit method in Waren in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. A group of regulars analyzes the local situation and defines and implements the requested changes. One important factor is that the participants again and again have help from the outside in order to keep in mind why they wish to implement which changes, and which important institutions and people at the local level could support them in their activities. The participants emphasized that the Audit method is very helpful in effectively safeguarding the aims and in carrying out the changes agreed upon. One of the current aim is to re-open a local youth club.

Bernau: Getting children involved

In Bernau (Brandenburg), children, teenagers, and young adults from two local youth centers are working together and carrying out a large number of activities dealing with respect and equality. Educators and youths are applying the Audit method to their respective youth centers. After a number of conversations and workshops, the participants worked out several aims. The guiding principles and criteria of the Audit are being revised so that children can understand them, too. Another aim is to improve the cooperation between the youth centers themselves and with other clubs and institutions in Bernau.

Bergisches Land: Training coaches

The area Bergisches Land (North Rhine-Westphalia) has a long history of immigration, a history also evident in the fact that the interaction between different social and ethnic groups are taken for granted. It was in this context that the RAA in North Rhine-Westphalia and the program “Schools without Racism” decided to establish the Audit method as a new educational approach in the region. Project director Nicole Marjo Gerlach explains: “Despite the long history of immigration in the region, there are many schools with a need for practical “tools” to establish equality and respect – in order to create a peaceful environment and provide new chances for integration.” Her assessment is confirmed by the positive responses to the offer: since August 2007 fifteen schools have taken part in the “equality coach” training. The courses show the teachers how to perform the method in their school. In six of the participating schools the Audit will soon be applied by the students.

The testing of the Audit in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and in Brandenburg is made possible through XENOS, a special program of the Federal Ministry for Labor and Social Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs.


Berit Lusebrink, Jan Schwab

You want to make a change by supporting young and committed initiatives to stand against racism and neo-Nazism? Why not make a donation to the Amadeu Antonio Foundation?