IJS e.V. develops and promotes individual offers for children, youths and young adults. In addition to its own projects, the association supports educational specialists, youth welfare organizations, initiatives and foundations by developing concepts and exchanging experiences.

Furthermore, IJS e.V. is keen to promote and spread the concept of Individualized Social Pedagogy in many different ways, e.g. through training courses, and the production of short animated explanatory films which illuminate various aspects of Individualized Social Pedagogy in theory and practice.

News

Projects in Southeast Asia

Since 2024, IJS e.V. has expanded its activities according to its guiding principle of “spreading the idea of Individualised social pedagogy”. The aim was and is to support children and young people in Southeast Asia. This is achieved in particular through individualised pedagocical approaches that aim to promote their personal and scholastic development in a sustainable manner. The focus is on measures to improve their general individual education and the development of educational opportunities, to ensure a healthy diet and to develop prospects for each individual child and youth in an often difficult social environment, with often traumatic biographical experiences.

Initial contacts with individuals were made years ago, and in 2024, promising partnerships were established with the following non-profit organisations in Thailand:

Child’s Dream Foundation, Chiang Mai
Founded in 2003, this foundation is dedicated to improve the living conditions of children and youths in the Mekong regions – particularly in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Northern Thailand. Child’s Dream builds schools, promotes health projects and awards scholarships to disadvantaged young people. Its work is characterised by a high degree of transparency, local roots and sustainable impact.

Volunteers Without Borders, Mae Aei, Chiang Mai Province
This organisation is committed to education, environmental awareness and the development of rural communities in Northern Thailand. In close cooperation with local schools and authorities, Volunteers Without Borders supports disadvantaged children and organises volunteer projects with schools in the surrounding areas. The charity also runs Thomas House, a project where up to 20 children, including those with multiple disabilities, are cared for and educated.

Yuvabadhana Foundation, Bangkok
The Yuvabadhana Foundation was founded in 1993 and focuses on promoting education and social integration for children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in Thailand. The foundation works closely with public schools and awards scholarships that enable young people to pursue scholastic or vocational training.

Food for Good
In addition to educational activities, the Yuvabadhana Foundation also offers the “Food for Good” nutrition programme. This programme focuses on providing access to nutritious meals and individual training for each child. Since ist foundation in 2014, “Food for Good” has changed the lives of 23,790 children in 252 schools in 61 provinces of Thailand.

Cooperation contracts have been concluded with all three organisations. The aim of these partnerships is to support existing projects and to introduce new educational initiatives, such as the development of individualised social pedagogy programmes tailored to local conditions in Thailand.

A team from IJS e.V. travelled to Thailand in December 2024 to strengthen the partnerships on site, establish new contacts with those responsible and develop a collaborative process of cooperation. In-depth insights into the project work were gained and trust was strengthened through direct contacts.

In addition to professional networking, the trip also served to analyse needs and develop communication structures.

Individualized Social Pedagogy – a real alternative

Children and young people sometimes suffer from family or social circumstances. They lack support and encouragement, reliable ties and role models. They become conspicuous and avoid the contact to adults. The youth welfare offices and public agencies offer a range of support services, but for some young people these traditional offers are not appropriate or they refuse to accept them. These young people are in danger of slipping out of the system and breaking out. At this point, Individualized Social Pedagoy has repeatedly shown itself to be a valuable alternative, as each care concept is geared to the needs of the young people, with a view to existing resources with high relationship continuity and resilience.

Projects

Day Active

An integration project

Since November 2017, IJS e.V. has established projects for children and young people with a migration background in a municipal building for refugee families.

Every weekday, these partly traumatized young people are worked with by a team of artists and social workers:
With music, art and play programs. Short excursions into the surrounding area are a part of the programme as well as homework help and needs-based support services for the participants and their families.

BeeBob Hilft e.V.

A child and youth care project in Cambodia

Since 2010, the Meerbusch-based association BeeBob Hilft e.V. has been supporting children in a small village on the banks of the Mekong River in northern Cambodia. They live on their property in two large houses with their house parents.

Before BeeBob was founded ten years ago, the children lived alone and without support in a hovel in the forest. They did not go to classes, had no running water and not enough food. IJS e.V. has been cooperating with BeeBob Hilft e.V. since 2021 and supports the project.

More about BeeBob Hilft e.V.

Partnerships

IJS e.V. has established a youth care organization in cooperation with phöinix e.V..: ensemble gGmbH. This organizaton is a charity and works in Germany and in countries of the European Community.

Ensemble-Logo_RGB

ensemble gGmbH, based in Germany and Luxembourg, offers young people support according to their needs. Most of the youths who lived in their family of origin or in regular youth welfare measures can no longer be reached by traditional offers. The main focus of the organization is on long-term stationary placements with specialized carers as well as follow-up measures after the care project.

In Australia, Individualized Social Pedagogy has long been an unknown form of youth care. Thanks to its international network, IJS e.V. was able to find partners in Australia who understood and internalised this specific basic attitude, in order to found the youth welfare organization PIC Ltd with it´s headquarter in New South Wales in 2016. IJS. e.V. provided the initial financing and contributed the know-how, advises and supports the organization on site, organizes training trips, work experience programs and workshops for the colleagues from Downunder in Germany.

© 2026 · I.J.S. e.V. • Impressum • Datenschutz