Kulturcourier: Five free theater workshops for rural schools!

Kulturcourier: Five free theater workshops for rural schools!

Apparently there is a breath of fresh air in the cultural landscape of Lower Saxony. The Theater Pedagogical Center Hildesheim (TPZ) is starting an exciting project called “Kulturkurier: straight to you!”. Theater workshops are brought *north* to offer students in rural areas a creative opportunity to engage with art and culture. The goal: to enable all children and young people, regardless of their background, to participate in cultural education. Loud Hildesheim press Five workshops lasting four hours each will be raffled off.

But how does it all work? All types of schools from rural regions of Lower Saxony are welcome to participate. The application deadline is July 10, 2025. The workshops will ultimately take place in the respective classroom and be conducted by experienced theater educators who will adapt the content to the needs of the students. Topics such as social interaction, self-confidence and dramatic work with curriculum content are on the agenda. Here you also have the opportunity to suggest your own topics – according to the motto: “What are we interested in?”

Application and funding

What is the next step for interested schools? Simply fill out the online form on the TPZ website, asking for information about the type of school, grade level, desired date and topic interest. Five classes will then be notified by email starting August 15, 2025. If a school is not one of the lucky winners, there is also the possibility of receiving a grant for their desired workshop as long as the funding is available.

This project is funded as part of the “Some Butter for the Fishes” program of the Lower Saxony State Association for Cultural Youth Education (LKJ). The aim is to facilitate access to cultural education and how Lower Saxony emphasizes strengthening opportunities for participation.

Cultural education in rural areas

The project has a clear background: the German education system often reveals regional disparities, as the Participation Atlas Germany 2019 shows. Cities and structurally strong regions are often ahead, while rural areas are often neglected when it comes to cultural education. The state government recognizes this problem and aims to reduce access barriers with its cultural policy.

In addition, a large number of research projects, funded by the BMBF's “Cultural Education in Rural Areas” funding guideline, are investigating how cultural education can act as a lever for social participation and identity formation. Among other things, the framework conditions and social dimensions of cultural education are examined in order to enable both children and young people in these regions to have a voice and participation. The extensive use of artistic and musical activities is seen as crucial in order to actively promote social participation.

An ongoing research project, which is part of the “Empirical Educational Research” framework program, will also examine how the corona pandemic has influenced cultural education in rural areas. This makes it clear once again that the initiatives to promote cultural education are much more than just a trip to the theater - they are a step towards an integrative and diverse society.