The RAA Brandenburg are a nationally operating, independent support agency for education and social integration. The RAA Brandenburg develop educational programmes for disseminators involved in the democratic integration of various social groups. The objectives are to sensitise and to open society towards cultural, religious, and ethnic origin-related heterogeneity. In accordance with these goals the promotion of democracy as a life and social form, civic engagement as well as the dealing with right-wing extremism, racism, anti-Semitism and other inhuman ideologies fall within the range of responsibilities of the RAA Brandenburg.
Due to xenophobic violence and right-wing extremist offences in Brandenburg the work of the RAA Brandenburg was initiated in the year 1992, particularly on initiative of the Commissioner of Foreign Affairs of the State Brandenburg, Almuth Berger, the Ministry for Education, Youth and Sport, as well as the Freudenberg Foundation. In 1998 it was incorporated as an important cooperation partner in the government’s intervention concept “Tolerant Brandenburg”. The RAA Brandenburg are a member of the State’s Committee for Integration and the Action Alliance against Violence, Right-Wing Extremism and Xenophobia. The RAA Brandenburg work as a non-government organisation throughout the entire Federal State of Brandenburg. Since 2004 the offices of the Mobile Advisory Team (Mobiles Beratungsteam, abbr.: MBT) and the RAA branches constitute 6 Offices for Integration and Tolerance (Büros für Integration und Toleranz, abbr. BIT), which are regional support agencies for civil society and social institutions. The school-related activities, educational work with adolescents and adults for cosmopolitanism and tolerance as well as the support of the integration of immigrants form the core tasks of the RAA Brandenburg.
Since 2006 the RAA Brandenburg and the Brandenburg Institute for Community Consultation – demos (Brandenburgisches Institut für Gemeinwesenberatung) work conjointly within the scope of the association Democracy and Integration Brandenburg.
The activities of the RAA are intended to be a contribution to a society, in which the dignity of every person, independent of the place of birth, gender, language, ideology or religion, is respected. This requires a social climate where the social integration of citizens is a common process and not only seen as an obligation to be fulfilled by the migrants. Integration demands the efforts of all members of society and is directed towards the equal participation of migrants in all spheres of life.
The activities of the RAA Brandenburg primarily aim at the promotion of tolerance and democratic, non-racist attitudes as well as the promotion of a democratic participation of children, adolescents and adults within the society of Brandenburg.
The Federal Association (Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft, abbr.: BAG) of the RAA was founded in 1995 as a forum for all regional offices and associate projects within the country in order to search for common issues and solutions for current problems. Its priority objectives are the promotion of a nationwide transfer of experiences as well as the development of models and projects with a nationwide appeal.
The BAG of the RAA is managed by the directors of the RAA offices in the federal states, under the coordination of the RAA Berlin and the North Rhine-Westphalian RAA main office with the support of the Freudenberg Foundation.
More about the other RAA at:
www.bag-raa.de