Research and evaluation
What makes intercultural education succeed? What are the traits of a successful exchange? How can educational support help ensure that a stay in the neighbouring country is particularly beneficial to young people?
Develop the exchange programmes
The FGYO has long dealt with these and other questions: Even 10 years after its establishment in 1963, the FGYO continued to develop its exchange programmes on the basis of scientific data. The findings from a host of different research projects are not only incorporated into the further development of programmes and methods but are also open to a broad public in established publications.
Calls for applications
Current calls for applications in the research area can be found in the ‘Call for Tenders’ category.
PANORAMA: Innovation lab with current topics
PANORAMA is a quarterly series by the research unit at the FGYO. In short publications and working from a Franco-German perspective, scholars focus on topics such as Europe, intercultural exchange, youth, mobility and Franco-German cooperation. In a theme-based podcast, journalist Cécile Boutelet interviews asks exciting questions of experts about matters at the cutting edge of our era. In addition to a podcast, the topics are presented in multimedia format with videos, graphics and texts.
Youth Study: What are the views of Generation Z in Germany and France?
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty, the FGYO commissioned the Kantar Public opinion-research institute to conduct a large-scale representative study. More than 3,000 people between the ages of 16 and 25 from Germany and France were queried about their expectations for the future. To learn what topics are a source of preoccupation for young people, their fears and concerns, consult the cross-border study of youth entitled ‘Zurück in die Zukunft: Erwartungen junger Menschen in Deutschland und Frankreich.’
The ‘FGYO School’ as a scientific basis for Franco-German exchanges
Understand – Explain – Recommend: These are the principles and the seal of approval of the educational work of the FGYO. This is only possible, however, through intensive evaluative monitoring of exchange projects and scientific appraisal of the findings.
The FGYO recognised this early on and founded the ‘FGYO School’ in the 1970s. Here, researchers from Germany, France and other countries work on studies, methods, theses and recommendations. By questioning, analysing and further developing FGYO programmes and methods, the researchers themselves gain intercultural experiences.
Publications: The research findings of the FGYO
We are pleased to share the knowledge from the ‘FGYO School’ with all interested parties. The working texts of the FGYO are available free of charge for download. You may also request a printed version at the e-mail address: forschung-evaluierung@dfjw.org.
In addition to this, there are specialist publications in German and French, which are published by Campus Verlag in the ‘Europäische Bibliothek interkultureller Studien’ series and by Waxmann Verlag, through which in 2012 the FGYO created a series entitled ‘Dialoge – Dialogues. Schriftenreihe des Deutsch-Französischen Jugendwerks’. The publications are published in French by Téraèdre (L’Harmattan).
Palais Schwerin – A building and its history
The FGYO’s Berlin office is located in Palais Schwerin in Berlin-Mitte. The building has an eventful and moving history of its own. Down through the years, the Palais served as a residence and housed a furniture store, a criminal court and a prison, a police headquarters and the Ministry of Culture. Time and again, the Franco-German connections that emerge are so exciting and interesting that the FGYO lets the Palais tell its story in a book of its own.
Developing new findings: Current and past research projects
The FGYO conducts research on a wide range of topics and seeks to gain new knowledge through application-related research. It aims to answer socio-political questions that touch young people’s lives and to monitor, evaluate and further develop the projects of the FGYO. Through what are often multi-year projects, tandem teams of Franco-German researchers explore effective concepts, exciting questions and the impact of the exchange programmes on participants.