German Institutions in the Field of Culture and Development

The Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations promotes with the programme zivik international peace projects in crisis regions and advises both non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the Federal Foreign Office in this field of activity. The programme not only provides support to civil conflict resolution efforts but also contributes to strengthening networks between state and non-state actors.

The projects can be divided in the subject areas:

Dealing with the Past

Qualification Programmes

Protecting People

Promoting Dialogue

Peace Education

Peace Journalism

Currently the Institute of Foreign Cultural Relations looks after the following projects:

Civil peace work in Armenia "Let's see... Let's choose... Let's change..."

Wide network for more tolerance and mutual understanding in Israel "Kulanana Partnership Building Project"

"Schools for Peace and Democracy" in Colombia

Peaceful conflict transformation in DR Congo "Promoting the implication of women and youth in the mechanisms of conflict transformation in the Kalehe territory"

Workshops for memory and peace education in Lebanon

Joint search for solutions in the Philippines "Solutions against Red-Baiting"

Workshops about conflict transformation and peace education in Sri Lanka "Socially engaged religion for community co-existence"

Training measures to gain non-violent conflict resolution capacities in Timor-Leste "Networking for Peace"

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation makes a contribution to the European-Islamic Cultural Dialogue with the allocation of research fellowships for scientists from countries with predominant islamic population.

The German Academic Exchange Service offers scholarships for foreign students of the four semester continuing Master-Programme Peace and Conflict Studies and presents special mentoring programmes for students from abroad at German universities.

With the programme Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies (DIES) it supports higher education institutions in developing countries by organising activities in developing reform strategies.

The German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) communicates interdisciplinary management techniques and intercultural know-how in developing and transition countries. With its programmes it makes an active contribution to peacebuilding and crisis prevention.

The Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations promotes with the programme Integration and Media German minorities in Middle- and East Europe as well as in the CIS. The ifa supervises therefore several projects in the youth field, the media field as well as education and culture.

The DW-Academy as an international training institute of the Deutsche Welle supports with its programmes freedom of opinion worldwide. With its projects it is in the regions Africa, Asia, Latin America, Middle East and North Africa as well as in Europe and Central Asia locally represented.

In the media development the DW-Academy offers for journalists training courses in the fields radio, television and multimedia.

With its Culture and Development initiative, the Goethe Institute employs specific consulting and training programmes to promote institutions and stakeholders from culture, the media and society, in particular in countries involved in development cooperation. The programmes aim to provide professional qualifications, to advise and support the formation of regional networks and create cultural and social platforms.

The Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) devises and organises exhibitions of German contemporary art which are shown in foreign museums and galleries. The range of exhibitions in the ifa Galleries in Stuttgart and Berlin is focussing the 20th and 21st centuries. It comprehends the areas:

Fine Arts

Photography / Film

 Architecture 

Design

In line with the funding programme Artists' Contacts the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations supports working visits in and travel to Germany for contemporary artists from developing countries and countries in transition. German artists are also to be offered travel subsidies enabling them to make contacts in developing countries and countries in transition.

The Alexander Rave Foundation in the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations aims to promote further education and research in the fields of science, the arts and culture. The Rave Scholarships are awarded twice a year to curators, restorers, museum technicians and culture managers from countries in transition and developing countries allowing a training, a placement or a voluntary cooperation at a German non-commercial institution.

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) makes a contribution to Culture Exchange and Education Promotion with the allocation of sponsor programmes for scientists from abroad.

The Georg Forster Research Fellowship is addressed to postdoctoral researchers and experienced researchers of all disciplines from developing and threshold countries.

The Reimar Lüst Award is granted to humanities scholars and social scientists from abroad who, as multipliers in and through the field of academic studies, have made an exceptional contribution to the enduring promotion of bilateral relations between Germany and their own countries.

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) promotes musicians and artists with special funding programmes.

The DAAD Higher Education Cooperation Programmes for developing countries offers stipends for experts and management in the areas administration, industry, and education as well as cooperation with institutions of higher education to expand the spectrum of teaching and research.

With the programme German-Arab/Iranian Higher Education Dialogue the DAAD supports higher education partnership projects focusing the cultural dialogue with the Islamic world. Fundable are dialogue-oriented partnership projects between German institutions of higher education and its partners in Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa and Iran in all disciplines.

The German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) combines since January 2011 the missions and competences of the German Development Service (DED), the German Organisation for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the InWEnt – Capacity Building International; most of it’s activities are commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

GIZ operates in more than 130 countries worldwide and employs approximately 17,000 staff members worldwide, more than 60 % of whom are local personnel. In it’s work it takes account of political, economic, social and ecological dimensions as it supports it’s partners at local, regional, national and international level in negotiating solutions in the broader social context. 

With its Culture and Development initiative, the Goethe Institute employs specific consulting and training programmes to promote institutions and stakeholders from culture, the media and society, in particular in countries involved in development cooperation. The programmes aim to provide professional qualifications, to advise and support the formation of regional networks and create cultural and social platforms. Under the heading of The Arts it offers different projects in the field of Culture Exchange and Culture Promotion.

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) promotes culture preservation and cultural sensitive tourism with special funding programmes.

With the programme German-Arab/Iranian Higher Education Dialogue the DAAD supports higher education partnership projects focusing the cultural dialogue with the Islamic world. Fundable are dialogue-oriented partnership projects between German institutions of higher education and its partners in Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa and Iran in all disciplines.

The German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) combines since January 2011 the missions and competences of the German Development Service (DED), the German Organisation for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the InWEnt – Capacity Building International; most of it’s activities are commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

GIZ operates in more than 130 countries worldwide and employs approximately 17,000 staff members worldwide, more than 60 % of whom are local personnel. In it’s work it takes account of political, economic, social and ecological dimensions as it supports it’s partners at local, regional, national and international level in negotiating solutions in the broader social context. 

With its Culture and Development initiative, the Goethe Institute employs specific consulting and training programmes to promote institutions and stakeholders from culture, the media and society, in particular in countries involved in development cooperation. The programmes aim to provide professional qualifications, to advise and support the formation of regional networks and create cultural and social platforms.

The Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) is operating worldwide to provide information about foreign cultural policy.

The library of the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations is the only library all over the world that covers foreign cultural policy and international cultural relations and the connected and succeeding subjects. Apart from German-language publications, a selection of important international publications dealing with politico-cultural affairs are also available.

Its fields of collections embraces:

Cultural Diplomacy and International Cultural Relations

Intercultural Communication / Research on Exchanges

Cultural Area Studies

National Stereotypes

Migration and Minorities Research

German-Speaking Minorities Abroad

The ifa organises conferences about foreign cultural policy as well as art exchange.

The journal KULTURAUSTAUSCH, published by the ifa, is edited quarterly with the aim to show topical subjects of the international cultural relations from unusual points of view.

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) organises regularly colloquiums in Germany and abroad for research scholarship holders and research prize winners of the foundation. Via the Humboldt network it maintains contact with every single Humboldtian worldwide and promotes academic contacts between Humboldtians themselves.

The open access part of the Network Online database features a large proportion of the Foundation's more than 23,000 academics sponsored worldwide.

The Ambassador scientists of the Humboldt Foundation are Alumni working in an honorary capacity at universities and research institutions in their own countries, disseminating information about Germany as a research location and particularly about the Humboldt Foundation’s sponsorship programmes and international network.