Welt der Kinder

About us

The non-profit association WELT DER KINDER (Children's World) advocates a child-friendly society and the protection of children against violence and deprivation in family and social contexts, in national and international contexts, in the rich countries of the "North" and the poor countries of the "South ".

WORLD OF CHILDREN asks the following basic questions within and at the interfaces of cultures, social systems and economic prosperities in Austria and internationally:
• What does a child need for its development?
• What protects children, which resources, which risk factors affect their lives, which preventive, supportive measures are available?
• How do experiences of neglect, disturbance, and violence affect a child's life? (Analysis of the violence / deprivation suffered, methods of recognizing, grasping and coping with, effects of intercultural differences on the experience and interpretation of violence suffered)
• What languages do children have to express their experiences?
• How can children affected by violence and deprivation be supported in finding a healing path for their future life? (Treatment, support, integration, prevention of re-victimization)
• In which systems do children live and what are the consequences of the individually suffered suffering for the community and society?
• What rights do children have, how can the children's traditional rights to life, protection, development and participation be guaranteed?
• What responsibility can and must society take on, how is the infrastructure and work structure of the organizations working in the subject area to be optimally designed?

Our work is characterized by the concern to contribute to a child-friendly society in which the children themselves have their own voice: We proceed at different levels - from working with the children themselves to knowledge management and the exchange of experience at the level of multipliers and system partners .
• Development of child participation in Vorarlberg municipalities and interlinking with youth participation
• Children's rights seminars, children's conferences
• Support for the development of the children's own projects
• Community development projects
• International symposia on childhood and violence, childhood and society, networking seminars, advanced training on child participation, educational work in networks with system partners.

In order to have the broadest possible impact, and in order to achieve a growing lobby for children, we particularly encourage the content-related and personal exchange between members of national and international institutions and bodies that position themselves on this topic.
Particular attention is paid to the promotion of interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary and intercultural communication: the experience and knowledge of experts from different cultures and professions are brought into contact with one another and made accessible to a wider public, a forum is opened that allows organizations to network in In the sense of joint research, communication and further development.

In the light of these statements, our activities focus on six priority areas:
• Symposium Childhood and Trauma / Childhood and Society / Childhood, Youth and Society: The organization of the symposium on the above-mentioned topics and their further development in interdisciplinary and intercultural discourses.
• Exchange of information, personal exchange of experiences, scientific discourse within the framework of long-term partnerships, advanced training of specialists in the sense of achieving greater efficiency in recognizing, recording and coping with the effects of disruptive, destructive influences.
• Platform for a child-friendly society in Vorarlberg: basic work, child participation projects, parent education, specialist conferences “Living with children”, action weeks with children
• Educational work, public relations work, exhibition activities: raising the general public's awareness of the topics mentioned. e.g. Kids Guernica in Vorarlberg (2003)
• Processing of topics for audiovisual media: documentary film “Childhood and Violence” (2000 - 2006), film by / with children “Children's dreams - Visions for the present” (2005 - 2010)
• Participation in projects that work actively and therapeutically with violently traumatized children (cooperation with humanitarian organizations in the national and international area)

Carmen Feuchtner is on the board of the association and co-founder of World of Children

On request, we can offer other net participants advice, give a presentation, and provide up-to-date specialist information and contacts in the field of our work.