A celebration of early education
Let’s tell it like it is: we would have preferred to bring home another message from Berlin.
Now it has become this: At the award ceremony for the German Daycare Award on May 16, organizers and presenter Barbara Schöneberger made it quite exciting – a thriller to the very end. In the end, our local alliance “BinE – BNE für pädagogische Fachkräfte” (BinE – ESD for educational professionals), consisting of a forest kindergarten, a technical academy, a municipality and a district, did not make it to the five award winners. Nevertheless, we can celebrate. After all, we have gained a valuable experience – and also brought 1000 € back to Pielenhofen.

But above all, we came back rich in new ideas and very impressed: The motto of the award, “Good quality has many faces,” was evident everywhere among the 20 finalists: It was simply great to see the enthusiasm with which colleagues from all over Germany develop and implement exciting concepts for our children in their daycare centers. We definitely take our hats off to all the award winners and congratulate them warmly. What counts for us: Our work was seen and appreciated throughout Germany – not least by the Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Lisa Paus, who singled out the Pielenhofen alliance in her speech.

For this, we would like to thank all those who are actively involved in the alliance and all those who cheered with us until the last minute. We will continue, in the kindergarten and in the technical academy, to give our offspring the best possible education and to learn from each other every day. It doesn’t matter whether we win the cup or not – the main thing is to put our heart and soul into it!

What exactly is the award for in the “local alliance” category?
In general, the German Kita Award sets impulses for quality in early childhood education and recognizes the commitment of people who show day-to-day in daycare centers how good quality succeeds on site. The current nomination of our Waldkinder Regensburg refers to the outstanding alliance work in the field of ESD: Education for sustainable development is a focus of our work and is lived intensively: This includes the experience of nature and the environment, a pedagogy of diversity, but also participation and democratic education as well as cooperation and networking.

Since 2016, this has also included a cooperation with the local specialist academy for social pedagogy at the BSZ Regensburger Land. The aim is for trainees to become passionate about the topic of sustainability through the close networking of practice and school and to act as ambassadors in their future educational institution. In their first year of training, students complete a four-week internship in a forest kindergarten or in a natural environment educational institution. Furthermore, ESD projects take place in close cooperation with the students. For example, a large-scale wild bee project is currently being developed in the community of Pielenhofen. All educators, the children and parents of the forest kindergarten as well as specialists of the German Wildlife Foundation, experts in biology and environmental education, artists, etc. are involved. And, of course, the students of the academy: they design child-friendly activities and learning content on the topic, which can also be used by external institutions. After all, the core idea of our alliance is: Together we make children strong for the future.

The German Kita Award was awarded for the 6th time on May 16, 2023. The award is a joint initiative of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and the German Children and Youth Foundation in partnership with the Heinz and Heide Dürr Foundation, the ELTERN brand, the freiheit+ social lottery and the Didacta Association.

Further information about the German Kita Award can be found here:
www.deutscher-kita-preis.de

The 2023 award winners are presented here:
https://www.deutscher-kita-preis.de/preistraeger-2023www.deutscher-kita-preis.de/finalisten-2023