Ressourcen
Ideengeber
KontaktgelegenheitenAbout us
We are die Initiative GemEinsamkeit. The term „GemEinsamkeit“ signifies that by attaching the prefix „Gem“ (indicating together) to Einsamkeit (Loneliness) to turn it into Connectedness (Gemeinsamkeit). We have identified Loneliness and social isolation as urgent problems of our society which may afflict anyone of any background
Our Task is to support emotional connectedness by giving those afflicted of loneliness a voice, pass on knowledge and present projects that foster meaningful connections inside communities. With our work we enhance the awareness for the impact of loneliness and social isolation and at the same time reduce the attached stigmatisation.
Finding paths out of Loneliness
There is very limited information available for helping foreigners (expats, migrants, refugees, … ) who feel lonely in Germany but do not speak German. Thus we prepared the following leaflet which hopefully helps to navigate the jungle a little bit.
Finding-Paths-EnglishThe file of Finding paths out of Loneliness is here.
Friendship course for kids 8-12
The loneliness of children is very close to our heart and thus we drafted a discussion resource for kids in Germany aged 8-12 to reflect on their friendships and how they go about them. As there are number of expats, migrants and refugees in Germany who do not speak German we also translated this into English.
FS-Course-Children-MainThe resource download is here.
Accompanying guide for Parents and Teachers
This resource can be administered both by teachers or afternoon school carers, but also parents directly. In order to get a feeling for the material and the topics prior to giving it to a child (after all, it is still very much draft mode only) we provide here and adult worded version of the material.
FS-Course-ParentsTeacher-SelfreflectionThe resource download is here.
What we intend
Our goal is to contribute to a society in which everyone feels valued, supported and connected. We do this via four levers:
1. Building a community
We create transparency in the german eco-system of actors working against loneliness and we support the interdisciplinary collaboration by the creation of a community.
2. Destigmatization
We support the nationwide collaboration in the destigmatisation of loneliness as a taboo topic in society.
3. Sensitisation
We tackle society with the entire society in view and make the perspective of lonely people to available and understandable to decision makers.
4. Exchange of experience
We collaborate with international agents and organisations and make promising approaches and interventions available in Germany.
How we organise ourselves
The Initiative GemEinsamkeit is a small team of engaged people who believe that everyone should deserve and experience belonging. We share the tasks as they arise and look forward to further team additions.
Oliver Berlin
Co-Initiator
Oliver thinks that loneliness concerns everyone in society. Thus he tackles the issue with his startup Little World connecting language learners with native speakers.
Elke Schilling
Co-Initiator
Loneliness can affect anyone in society, and hits elderly people particularly hard. Thus Elke has offered with her Initiative Silbernetz e.V. contact and information for elderly people afflicted bz loneliness. With this experience she also is active for the Initiative GemEinsamkeit.
Christian Langkamp
Project coordinator
Christian believes that new and old friendships between people is the key to the mitigation of loneliness and thus is engaged in the initiative.