support and events

Web conference "Men's Sheds": Online event on 4th December 2023, 2 p.m.

On December 4, 2023, the Men's Health Foundation will host an online conference on the topic: "Men's Sheds – Men's Sheds (Meeting Places) as an Alternative to Loneliness among elderly Men and as a Health-Promoting Measure". A men's shed is a dedicated and welcoming gathering place where men come together and engage in a variety of shared activities. Click here for the program of the event and registration.

Workshop "Masculinities Thought Further": 19th July 2023, 5 p.m., Bischof-Leiprecht-Zentrum, Stuttgart

Masculinities need to be thought through further. In their workshop, Martin Dinges and Reinhard Winter propose a new masculinity matrix for this purpose. The matrix is to be discussed, reviewed and expanded by interested participants. Registration until July 16th 2023. More information can be found here.

Quo vadis masculinity – toxic, sustainable or outdated?: Online event, 12th September 2023, 5:30 p.m.

Together with the director of the „Bundesforum Männer“, Dr. Dag Schölper, Björn Süfke (men's therapist and author) discusses the question of how men can be inspired for a gender-equitable society. Further information and registration here.

Interview: "Väter und Vereinbarkeit" (Fathers and compatibility)

Strengthening fathers in their role as fathers: That's the idea behind the new fathers' network at Covestro. More than sixty employees have now joined the employee network since its inception. Why is it so important to look at work-life balance from a father's perspective? Who benefits from it? And how have the demands on working fathers actually changed? We talked about this with Fabienne Mainz, Diversity and Inclusion Manager at Covestro in Germany, and with both founding members Murat Demirtas and Jürgen Schumacher. The interview can be found here.

Podcast: Echte Papas (Real dads)

This podcast is about fathers' desire to live family and parenting as equals. However, desire and reality often diverge for fathers. Why this is the case is discussed in this episode of the podcast. The podcast can be found here. 

11 Tips for Fathers: Info Flyer 

Being a father presents many challenges and questions, such as What does my child need? How do I raise my child well? Where can I get advice and help? In cooperation with AÇEV-Istanbul, the Väterzentrum e.V. Berlin has developed "11 Tips for Fathers". The Fathers' Center has based this on AÇEV's "9 golden tips" and expanded on them.
The flyer can be found here. 

Men alone at home: Diversity of fatherhood in ZDF documentaries

The ZDF documentary "Männer allein zu Haus" accompanies fathers Daniel Dölker and Gregor Haake as they care for their children and perform household tasks. The protagonists show how old role models can be questioned and personal priorities can be lived.
Click here for the report. 

Open meetings Karlsruhe

Karlsruhe offers several opportunities to network with other (expectant) fathers. For example, at the counseling meetings of Väteraufbruch für Karlsruhe e.V. or at the open meetings of Männerbüro Karlsruhe e.V. 

Ravenous fathers or super dads?

The classic image of the "father" is slowly and steadily changing. Never before has the role of dad been able to be filled in so many different ways as it is in our time. And more and more men are taking advantage of this opportunity. Do they see these opportunities as a challenge, an excessive demand or as a new freedom? The ZDFneo documentary takes a closer look at this topic, which can be found in the ZDF Mediathek.

Campaign for active fatherhood

This year's Father's Day campaign wants to know from fathers what has helped them to succeed in sharing family and work as partners. The plan is to collect video statements on the campaign site on May 26, 2022. The campaign and information on how to participate can be found here.

Vaterwelten

Vaterwelten is an online community for (expectant) fathers and offers discussion groups, courses and coaching. The offerings include discussion groups that enable exchange and reflection on one's own role as a father, as well as courses on acquiring skills for everyday family life, partnership and reconciling child & career. The goal of Vaterwelten is to accompany fathers on their way to an active father role, to provide orientation for equal parenthood and to enable exchange.

International Men's Health Week

International Men's Health Week takes place annually during the week of International Father's Day (every 3rd Sunday in June) - this year from June 13-19. To mark the occasion, the Men's Health Foundation has issued recommendations on how various institutions can take action to raise awareness of men's health issues and encourage men of all ages to live healthier lives. More information can be found here.

Men's Counseling

Socialnet.de offers free access to specialized information for the social and health care sector. In the website's online encyclopedia, a new article on the topic of "men's counseling" was published in December 2021, which provides a good overview of characteristics, starting points, special features and challenges, concepts as well as counseling fields. The contribution can be found here.

The Dad App: "Super Dad

Having a child, becoming a father, is very emotional and also stressful. That's why a mobile app called "Super Dad" was developed for the time before, during and after the birth. As a small support and source of information in the pocket for the young and expectant fathers. More information can be found here.

Role model campaign #starkeväterstarkeunternehmen

Young fathers need role models who show what work-life balance can look like, prove that career and family are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and that active fatherhood is a win-win solution for everyone. Over the next few months, a role model from the fathers' network will be presented every Wednesday. More information can be found here.

The dad online book club

The blog "Papa online" deals with the topic of being a father. In addition, four new books are presented here every month. This month there is literature for fathers who want to explain the world to their children even better. The blog can be found here.

Annual program 2022 of the Väternetzwerk

The Väternetzwerk has also put together an exciting and interesting program for 2022. The complete overview can be found here.

Campaign #männerfragen

When boys, men and fathers seek counseling and support services for themselves, they often do not know where and how to find them. Since 2019, the Bundesforum Männer has therefore been operating the website männerberatungsnetz.de. The counseling portal simplifies the search for help and counseling services specifically aimed at boys, men and fathers. The #männerfragen campaign has been drawing attention to the Männerberatungsnetz since spring 2021.

Further information can be found here.

Storytelling café Action "Respect, man. You're going to be a father!"

The Federal Forum for Men has taken part in this campaign to ensure that every man can become a father with a good feeling. "Aktion Väter" supports this with a short information brochure that briefly explains what one should know about becoming a father.

In the storytelling café itself, parents can share their experiences of pregnancy and birth. In the father storytelling café, fathers are given a safe space to talk about their experiences and learn from each other.

More information on the storytelling café action and the info brochure can be found here.

Structural change in the world of work

In April, the Future Symposium (Zukunftssymposium) met to debate what changes families would like to see in the face of challenges in the world of work. The Fathers' Network (Väternetzwerk) has summarized the results of the discussion and also makes recommendations for action for companies. Around 1,200 participants took part in regular online surveys over an 8-month period to give their views on the following areas of life: How is child bonding and partnership developing? What are the advantages and disadvantages of working from home? What is the employer's perspective on these questions? The results of the symposium and the surveys can be viewed here. 

Family guidebook - Men between fatherhood and gainful employment

On June 23, Carsten Vonnoh's parenting guidebook Up to Dad. Kinder entspannt begleiten und den eigenen Weg gehen. Vonnoh, who works in father counseling, shows how fathers can succeed in becoming equally involved in the upbringing of their children. From his coaching experience, the author reveals tips on how fathers can manage the balancing act between family, work and role models. More about the book can be found on the Beltz Verlag website.

Events of the Bundesforum

The calendar of events of the Bundesforum informs about current conferences, congresses and other events. The events are dedicated to topics such as fatherhood. The calendar of events is accessible here.

Väter ggmbh 

Here you can find some good tips to handle topics like business and family life as a father during the corona time. Offered are some interesting podcasts, articles and webinars.

CoronaMann - weekly forum for men

The Landesfachstelle Männerarbeit Sachsen offers support for men in this time and gives the opportunity to recieve counselling and interchange in a video-based forum. Here you can sign up for the forum. 

Men in time of Corona

The „bundesforum männer“ has created a summary of challenges, needs and support systems for men in these times. You can read more here.

Masculinity and empathy

The journalist Thomas Gesterkamp has allocated his speech about masculinity and empathy in Vienna: Boys are allowd to cry. You can download his speech here.

Movie tips for fathers

On the occasion of fathers‘ day, the „bundesforum männer“ has published several movie tips about topics like „fathers, fatherhood, men in diverse circumstances“. Here you can read more.

Männerberatungsnetz

The Bundesforum has founded a new platform to encourage men to search for help in crisis situations. More than 100 consultation offers about topics like education, worklife and care work can be found there. Here you can read more about the new platform and its offers.

The VÄTERNETZWERK

The project VÄTERNETZWERK wants to help fathers according the reconciling of work and family life. The programme offers presentations, workshops, webinars and father-child-events. They can also give advice to companies about a culture of reconsiling. You can find some more informations on their homepage.

Interview with Volker Baisch from Väter gGmbH

In this interview, Volker Baisch calyfies what a father-conscious-HR policy is about and where companies can start to focus on and organise such developments.

Movie about the topic "Erfolgsfaktor Familie", focussing offers for fathers

The company Sanofie Germany focused on the possibilities to create fathers-friendlier working conditions and founded an intragroup fathers-network. Employees as well as the company benefit from that model. In the movie, you can discover how the company puts it into practice.
For general information about the offers of the networkoffices "Erfolgsfaktor Familie" and for your free membership, you can visite the website of the Bundesministeriums für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend.