BDP in english

BDP...? HUH? WHAT IS THAT?

The BDP (Association of German Scouts)

… is an open, independent and democratic youth association which has the essential aim of the social participation and self-determination of children and young people.

Since its foundation in 1948 as a traditional scout association, the BDP has expanded into a more progressive and socio-critical youth federation. We are still scouting, but in a more cultivated manner: scouting nature, society, cultures, history, on Internet along with many other aspects that children and young people can appreciate and acknowledge.

The BDP invents, fulfills and supports social, political and cultural engagement: we recognize the requirements, needs and interests of children and young people and represent them in order to develop social debates.

We are involved

… in a variety of projects. The BDP involves traveling, vacation camps, international youth-exchanges, exchange programs in the spheres of professional, educational and extramural trainings, education of multiplicators, childcares, kindergartens, children- and youth-groups, youth-centers, youth-cafés, alternative infoshops, gender-specific youth-work, after-school-cares, mobile play-buses, adventure playgrounds, education-projects, theater- and circus-projects, ambulant-care services, assisted living services, projects for people with disabilities and integration-projects.



In spite of the different aspects of activities in our projects, we all share common aims:

Intercultural Education

Intercultural and Antiracist Education assume an important place in our international youth-projects as well as in our daily work with children and young people. Intercultural Education advances an active consideration of social differences and sensitizes to a critical exposure and understanding of stereotypes and prejudices.

Civic Education

Civic Education means for us to assemble information about social contexts along with their historical backgrounds together with the children and young people. Its aim is to distinguish social coherences and to foster democratic structures. Civic and political education enables a critical view on power relations, hierarchies, social stakeholders and institutions.

Cultural and Aesthetic Education

Theater, circus, and culture projects stimulate the capability of creative expression and offer cultural participation to children and young people. Cultural and aesthetic education develops the social and artistic competences of each participant, regardless of their mental and/or physical conditions. In our organization, each person is offered support to realize their ideas and are encouraged to try out and discover their own talents.

Social Inclusion, Integration and Gender Mainstreaming

We are advocating a society in which everyone can participate equally without having to restrict oneself

to certain self-established ‚social norms‘. ‚Normal‘ today is the diversity of people, the diversity of their experiences and life-worlds. In opposite to the daily lived social injustices and discrimination, the BDP is committed to the political and social equality of all people; for example, the social equality of different genders, the diversity of people with different origins and social backgrounds, and the acceptance for people with and without mental and/or physical disabilities.

Ecological Education

A main point of the work of the BDP is the exploration of our world: Nature offers a manifold, adventurous and colorful playground for experiences. Together we discover nature and are committed to protect it. We

are working towards a society that not only discovers the treasures of nature, but also cares about them and preserves them. Ecological subjects are part of many conversations, which we discuss while we hike, hop, swim or bicycle around the world.