In Georgia, access to education and health is often difficult for people with disabilities. The number of government facilities is low and mainly geared to the needs of adults. The Centre of Free Pedagogy in Tbilisi supports children and adolescents in need of special care holistically in their development and enables them to participate fully in society.

The kindergarten “Pusteblume” (in English, dandelion clock) in Heckenbeck has been remodeled in 2020 to make it inclusive and accessible. The goal was for children with special needs to also be able to profit from the nature-focused care environment in this reform-educational preschool.

Every year in the autumn, pupils at Waldorf educational institutions invest a lot of creativity and commitment to benefit other, less well-equipped establishments worldwide and organise various donation campaigns. This year, the coronavirus pandemic poses special challenges for all those involved, which is why SAGST is doubling the money collected with a total matching fund of €50,000.

Over 31,000 young refugees are currently being looked after in children’s and youth welfare institutions. Traumatic experiences as refugees, as well as lack of knowledge, shame or culturally-based misunderstandings, often make their first steps in Germany difficult, also posing major challenges for the institutions responsible.

Homegrown produce and fresh air instead of supermarkets and pavement: in the Rhein-Neckar urban area, since 2019 city dwellers have had the means to satisfy their cravings for proximity to nature and their own garden beds. The Mannheim organization“Micro Agriculture” allows participants to plant and harvest vegetables on their own small parcel of farmland.

Lots to celebrate at Berlin’s “Straßenkinder” association: its “Digital Coaching – Not Only in Times of Crisis” project was awarded a special coronavirus-related prize at the 2020 Smart Hero Awards in late September. The “Digital Chancen” Foundation and Facebook give their Smart Hero Awards to projects in several categories that use social media for good causes. The special prizes worth € 7,500 each also honour outstanding commitment in our coronavirus era this year.