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Planning meeting – steering group (Graz, September 2011)
The project started with a planning meeting of the formerly transnational control group in Graz. Everything fitted
together nicely: The participants soon developed a spirit of communality and heart-felt friendship, so it came as
no surprise that the project planning discussion was very productive. We were able to agree the priorities for the
first year (comparison/benchmarking, exchange of experiences) quickly: Content/concepts, quality, structure, co-
operation, goals, processes and legal basis.
Project meeting I (Berlin, November 2011)
At the first project meeting, almost every project participant met his/her counterparts for the first time. As had
happened at the meeting of the core steering group, a very cordial relationship between the participants developed
already when they introduced each other. For the two-day project meeting, the partners from Berlin had prepared
an agenda that offered their guests from Graz an intimate insight into Neuköllner Schulsozial with a good balance of
theoretical and practical inputs.
Sitting-in visits – at first in Graz, then in Berlin (March 2012)
An important part of the project were the two sitting-in visits - one in Graz and one in Berlin – for a total of for 6
school social workers. To gain an in-depth insight, it was prerequisite to experience the everyday work situation,
which was subsequently analysed: What is different? What is better? What is worth copying? How well does the
co-operation of the involved professions work at school? How are the core processes of school social work defined?
How are they implemented in practice? For further personal impressions, please visit
Project meeting II (Graz, April 2012)
The very informative visiting programme concentrated on providing a comprehensive insight into school social work
on site in Graz. In the discussions about differences and common aspects, the experiences of the sitting-in visits were
extremely important. At this stage, we agreed the content, the type and the scope of the documentation of Best
Practice Examples.
Half-time analysis – what’s next? (Berlin, August 2012)
At project half-time, the steering group met for a one-day concept meeting in Berlin. One objective was to review the
first year of the project, but above all a working concept was developed to consolidate the content in year two of the
project. It was decided that we would focus on the central operative and strategic processes.
Project meeting III (Berlin, November 2012)
The third project meeting brought together more than 20 participants of all project partners. The meeting – this
time in Berlin – had to go through an ambitious working and discussion agenda. Although some time was left for
practical insights into work on site (in the schools), this working meeting was dominated by intensive interdisciplinary
group work to jointly and mutually define core processes of school social work. On the strategic level, these core
processes are quality assurance/development, the appraisal of the needs, public relations, conflict management
and networking; on the operative level they are socio-pedagogical group work, individual support and advice, crisis
intervention, work with parents and community work.
Project meeting IV + wrap-up conference (Graz, April 2013)
The conference wrapped up the project and focused on the working approaches, the objectives of school social work
in Berlin and Graz, the comparison of the administrative structures, networking/co-operation of the protagonists,
financing models, quality parameters and quality standards in school social work. Apart from the presentation of
real-life examples from both regions, Prof. Karsten Speck’s presentation, in which he shared his personal ideas about
the key questions of the project (youth social work or mission to educate?), was certainly a highlight.
Apart from the wrap-up conference, the discussion about the core processes was also brought to its conclusion with
lots of determination.
Project Timetable – A Brief Overview
