Brussels, 3rd March 2022

Help for Ukrainian Waldorf schools and families in need
Actions include financial assistance for schools, emergency education for children and accommodation for displaced families

The chil­dren of Ukraine des­per­ate­ly need peace. The Euro­pean Coun­cil for Stein­er Wal­dorf Edu­ca­tion there­fore strong­ly con­demns all acts of war. But instead of being paral­ysed and help­less wit­ness­es of an unfold­ing human­i­tar­i­an cri­sis, many of our mem­bers would like to offer help to school com­mu­ni­ties and fam­i­lies in need.

As a Stein­er Wal­dorf schools organ­i­sa­tion with lim­it­ed capac­i­ty and resources, ECSWE focus­es its efforts on facil­i­tat­ing spe­cif­ic help for Ukrain­ian Wal­dorf schools and fam­i­lies. At the same time, we encour­age every­one to also explore oth­er ways in which you can pro­vide help to the Ukrain­ian people.

What is being done?

We joined forces with the Friends of Wal­dorf Edu­ca­tion and our mem­ber asso­ci­a­tions, sup­port­ing and facil­i­tat­ing the fol­low­ing actions of help to Ukrain­ian schools and fam­i­lies affect­ed by the war:

  • Fund­ing trans­port to the bor­ders, cov­er­ing teacher salaries dur­ing school clo­sure, rebuild­ing of schools, emer­gency ped­a­gogy, school meals and hygiene, etc.
  • As the needs of the Ukrain­ian schools evolve through­out and after the war, fund­ing pur­pos­es may be adapt­ed over time.

  • Pro­vid­ing emer­gency ped­a­gogy for chil­dren arriv­ing at the Ukrain­ian bor­ders, and in Ukraine once the sit­u­a­tion allows vol­un­teers to work there safely;
  • Pro­vid­ing train­ings in emer­gency ped­a­gogy so that as many teach­ers can get to work in the field;
  • This will be a deliv­ered to Ukrain­ian chil­dren for a sig­nif­i­cant time, even after the war ends.

  • In many Euro­pean coun­tries, Wal­dorf fam­i­lies are ready to open their homes for fam­i­lies in need of a sta­ble shelter;
  • These offers go along with a place  in the local Wal­dorf kinder­garten or school for the shel­tered Ukrain­ian children.

How to get help?

If you need any of the above list­ed help, consider:

  • Call­ing the Friends of Wal­dorf Edu­ca­tion on their ded­i­cat­ed hot­line +49–162-8953966
  • Find­ing a Ger­man host­ing fam­i­ly or school through the ded­i­cat­ed web­site here → 
  • Con­tact­ing us via email [email protected] for host­ing offers in oth­er Euro­pean countries

How to provide help?

If you would like to sup­port any of the above described activ­i­ties, consider:

  • Donat­ing to Friends of Wal­dorf Edu­ca­tion here →
  • List­ing accom­mo­da­tion or oth­er avail­able sup­port through: 
    • The Friends of Wal­dorf Edu­ca­tion online form here →
    • The Ger­man Wal­dorf School Association’s online form (only for Ger­many) here →
  • Sup­port­ing the valu­able work of oth­er inter­na­tion­al organ­i­sa­tions and ini­tia­tives in your coun­try or region.

A question? Please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Georg Jürgens