"Young people get involved when they experience civic engagement as part of their everyday lives," Merkel said. "That's why they need role models - to inspire them to contribute. They also need trust in their own abilities to achieve their goals, along with opportunities for getting involved, opportunities that allow their voices to be heard. If these conditions are met, then young people can make a major contribution to society. By watching role models in order to become a role model oneself - that's what revitalizes the whole concept of civic engagement, as well as democracy it-self."
Liz Mohn, vice-chair of the Bertelsmann Stiftung Executive Board, presented Michael Maclay, chairman of the Citizenship Foundation, with this year's Carl Bertelsmann Prize. The British organization is dedicated to helping children and adolescents become active members in their community and has been a leader in the UK in the area of civic education for more than 20 years. In the past 3 years, more than 1.2 million students (at more than 20 percent of the country's secondary schools) have participated in the nonprofit foundation's programs.
Citizenship Foundation programs aimed at specific target groups have proven particularly effective: Go-Givers motivates elementary school students to take responsibility at an early age. Giving-Nation (G-Nation) offers secondary schools the infrastructure they need to enter into partnership with local and national nonprofit organizations. The foundation also uses its Youth Act program to introduce young people to the concept of community service and political participation outside of school.
Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Culture Helmut Rau accepted this year's special prize on behalf of the TOP SE program. According to the Bertelsmann Stiftung prize committee, TOP SE shows that it is possible to motivate schoolchildren to become socially involved in Germany as well. The program provides students at Baden-Württemberg's Realschulen -- secondary schools that gener-ally prepare students for a vocation or trade instead of university studies -- with opportunities for social engagement. In the 2004/2005 school year, the state introduced a new curriculum, which explicitly includes promotion of civic engagement as one of its goals. The state's 480 Realschulen have thus begun working together with nonprofit organizations; seventh- and eighth-year students, for example, have begun serving as volunteers in facilities for senior citizens, in environmental or-ganizations, in school medical response teams and as mentors.
"As our international research showed: Civic engagement is an effective learning tool, keeps you fit and reinforces democratic values," said Dr. Brigitte Mohn, member of the Bertelsmann Stiftung Executive Board, in her remarks at the award ceremony. "Through this initiative, we want to show policymakers at both the federal and state levels that possibilities exist for making the teaching of civic engagement a standard, systematic feature of the school curriculum." Mohn also called for creating new ways of recognizing civic engagement, for example by awarding special certificates, creating civic engagement internships or giving university credit for community service.
About the Bertelsmann Stiftung
The Bertelsmann Stiftung, headquartered in Gütersloh, Germany, is dedicated to serving the common good. It executes projects in its four core areas of education, business and social affairs, health, and international relations, and strives to promote peaceful coexistence among the world's diverse cultures. Through the ex-ample of its civic engagement, it wants to encourage other individuals and organizations to support their own communities as well. Founded in 1977 as a registered charity, the Bertelsmann Stiftung is majority share-holder of Bertelsmann AG. Structured as a private operating foundation, it is politically non-partisan and works independently of Bertelsmann AG.