WEMIN to share experience with German-Turkish Forum Stuttgart

The German-Turkish Forum in Stuttgart is one of Germany’s largest intercultural associations. Founded in 1999 as a cultural institution to foster communication and dialogue between Turkish migrants and their host society in Germany, the Forum quickly opened to many other migrant communities. The Forum was one of the first intercultural institutions to start working with female refugees as a special target group in Germany. Many of them once came to Germany to eventually return home again should their country allow them a life in peace. Most of them stayed in Germany for good – either for private and family reasons or because their country of origin is still a region of crisis.

The German-Turkish Forum offers working groups and cultural activities for migrant and refugee women. Some women are active as volunteers in the fields of language, culture, care, education or cultural heritage. WEMIN training materials have been used to better train and motivate migrant and refugee women to acquire German as a foreign language to better integrate into their new host society. WEMIN materials were piloted and discussed with migrant, refugee and host society women.

Some WEMIN training materials form work packages 3, 4 and 5 will be adapted to the special training needs of the German-Turkish Forum and other intercultural associations in Stuttgart and in Germany. This will ensure an integration of WEMIN materials into mainstream service provision, adult education and integration policy programs.

Appr. 45 % of all people in Stuttgart are migrants. Stuttgart is Germany’s city with the largest percentage of migrant population. The “Stuttgart way to integration” has received UNESCO awards and was declared global best practice in studies of the Bertelsmann Foundation.