Through a diverse range of intercultural projects and events 14,4km aims to build bridges between North Africa/the Middle East and Europe. Through our work we offer international exchange and co-operation and promote collective learning and respectful cross-cultural encounters.

Projects

For this purpose, we organise various projects of our own and co-operate in those of others.

Current Projects

The successfull 14km Film and Discussion Series in Berlin will continue in 2016.

In September 2014 we were about to host 10 young Libyans who will visit Berlin for a study trip in the context of the Civil Initiatives Libya Project. They should meet many different German youth organisations and other interesting institutions and associations in order to exchange and work on the topic of “youth engagement”. Unfortunately this visit has been postponed indefinately due to the current sitation in Libya.

Past Projects

On March 19th we enjoyed the 2nd afterwork MENA network evening with an oud live performance at the restaurant Merhaba (Greifswalder Straße 4, Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg). The event brought together different kinds of people who deal with the North African/Middle Eastern region (in main profession or as volunteers) who had the opportunity to make contacts in a relaxed environment – accompanied by Evren Can Kaman and his oud.

During our project “ReliXchange – an inter-religious youth exchange between Germany and Egypt” 20 young participants from Egypt and Germany spent together one week each in Berlin and Cairo. In diverse creative workshops, discussions and guided tours in religious places they tackled the topics religion, society and tolerance. The encouter’s intensity, the participants’ motivation and enthusiams and the resulting friendships let those two weeks be a unique experience. Further informations and the participants blogs are available on the project website.

We proudly organised a symposium on the topic “Displacement // Migration // Development” in July 2014 which included a two-day panel series with various experts within the fields of migration and transmigration between North Africa and Europe. The final report can be found here (in German).

On June 30th, 2014, about 35 European and Arabian students came together in rooms of the DAFG – German-Arabic Friendship Society. They worked with Anja Gebel and Helena Burgrova by 14km on the topic “How to Build an NGO”.

In the end of June 2014 we organised a Street-Art-Workshop for teenage participants in Berlin to learn street art techniques and to discover the role of street art during the Arab protest movements.

Our event about the state of the media in Egypt (May 2014) was held shortly before the elections in Egypt: Four highly interesting experts discussed with the audience about conditions for critical media coverage.

The “Project Week Africa” through practical activities and stories, brought a closer understanding of Egyptian culture and society to the schoolchildren from Sancta Maria School in Berlin-Zehlendorf.

Through collaboration alongside experts from the Youth Migration Council we worked on facilitating a welcoming and respectful environment for young migrants entering Germany.

Film Events

We run regular film screenings in which we display movies about North African and Middle East countries or topics. The screenings are accompanied by Q&A sessions with special guests and members of the public. The sessions include engaging discussions about the movie itself as well as the social and political situation within the respective countries.

In addition to our Berlin film screenings, we also held a film evening in Kaufbeuren (Allgäu) concerning the Freedom Theatre in Jenin (Palestine).

Networking Events

14km also organises networking events in order to link up other organisations and actors for the sake of building bridges. We aim to provide a platform for individuals interested in North Africa/the Middle East from a variety of backgrounds, including academia, non-governmental organisations, social initiatives, political foundations, arts and culture, local authorities and trade and commerce.