Our Vision and Mission
Our vision is a world in which young people can develop in the best possible way and have the opportunity to lead a self-determined life.
To achieve this, we anchor holistic personal development in educational institutions.
Through the experience of self-efficacy, young people discover what they are made of and equip themselves with the key skills of the 21st century. They gain the courage to reach for their personal stars and change our world for the better.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child forms the normative framework of our program, as well as our guiding principle “You can do more than you think!” (Kurt Hahn).
Why children's rights help to empower young people
Our goals until 2025
- 3,000 new participants every year, at least 50% of whom attend public lower secondary schools
- At least 75% of participants successfully complete their award
- At least 75% of participants gain self-confidence and feel more resilient than before
- All participants resolve to volunteer more than before, be regularly active in sports, develop their talents and regularly spend time in nature.
Impact of the Award
Our team in Germany
Our team consists out of people who are passionate about developing potential and equal opportunities and who want to contribute to the realization of UN children’s rights and the Sustainable Development Goals.
We have offices in Berlin, Leipzig and Osterburken.
Get to know our team
Our advisory board in Germany
Our advisory board advises and supports our team in the strategic direction of our association. In doing so, we take the Duke Award motto to heart: We can do more than we think!
Get to know our advisory board
Become a part of our team
You have various opportunities to contribute your wishes, thoughts and ideas to our association!
- Volunteering: People who would like to support the Award on a voluntary basis can apply to us.
- Association member: As an active Award Leader, you can join the association and help influence our strategic direction at our member meetings and have a direct impact on educational equality in Germany.
- Active: Award participants also have a direct path to our decision-making table – via the Youth Ambassador Program.
- Alumni: Award alumni can become members of the Alumni Association (more information to follow). You are also welcome to visit the Award Alumni Community on LinkedIn and add your Award to your CV.
- If you are currently looking for a career change and would like to apply to us, we are happy to receive unsolicited applications. You can also visit our job board, where we regularly publish job advertisements. We look forward to hearing from you!
The international Foundation
Our association is part of the international network The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation, which supports and assists national organizations in over 130 countries in implementing the Award.
We are also part of the alliance of the largest global youth movements “The Big Six” and cooperate with the UN and WHO in ongoing projects, among others.
The history of the Award
The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award was founded in 1956 by Prince Philip in collaboration with the German educationalist Kurt Hahn.
Like its “siblings” Round Square, Outward Bound and United World Colleges, the Duke Award is inextricably linked to its inventor Kurt Hahn (1886 – 1974). Although its direct roots can be found at Schule Schloss Salem, where the reform pedagogue worked as principal from its foundation in 1920 until his expulsion in 1933, they go back to the origins of pedagogy in Plato’s State and Pindar’s “Become who you are!”.
The program was founded in Great Britain by Hahn’s pupil, Prince Philip, whose title “Duke of Edinburgh” it still bears in its name today. Philip was a pupil at Salem and then at the “second Salem” Gordonstoun, which Hahn ran from 1934 to 1953.
In the early years, the aim was to make the time between leaving school at the age of around 15 and entering military service at around 18 meaningful and to give young men the opportunity to develop their personalities during this time.
An initial pilot project was rolled out to local education authorities, the Navy, Army and Royal Air Force, as well as a handful of independent schools and grammar schools across the UK. After the first year, 7,000 boys had started their Award and around 1,000 of them had achieved an Award. In fact, the pilot project proved so successful that projects were soon launched overseas, including for girls.
The Award continued to develop over the following decades. In 1980, the age limit was extended so that any young person between the ages of 14 and 24 could take part. At this time, the Award took on its current format with four program sections: Commitment, Talents, Fitness and Expeditions, and at the Gold level additionally the Gold Project.
In Germany, several organizations that were already working with the programme under the direct supervision of the International Foundation founded the sponsoring association in 1994/1995. In 1996, this association was recognized in Baden-Württemberg as an independent youth welfare organization and by the International Foundation as the German “program publisher”. One of the providers of the Award in Germany is Schule Schloss Salem, where it all began in 1920. The German association was headed by Klaus Vogel until its 25th anniversary in 2020.
