39th Internationaler Playbus Conference in the Ruhr Area

Changed childhood

The 39th International Playbus Conference takes place from 29 September to 3 October 2010 in the Ruhr area. This year´s motto is `Changed Childhood´.

Presentations

On Thursday and Friday morning, key note speeches will be given at the campus of the University of Essen. Professors Dr. Nikles, Dr. Sturzenhecker, Dr. Schmidt, Dr. Deinet und Dr. Mack will inform us about current research on changed childhood and share their conclusions for open youth work with us.

Workshops and Forums

During the conference, you will have the opportunity to participate in a wide array of workshops and forums on various subjects in connection with open child and youth work: experiential education, using fire, organized outdoor games, theatre, games stories and more. The workshops themselves represent aspects of a changed childhood, as they encompass traditional games, manual work, and dealing with elements, but also the changed use of space, like natural space in cities or Parkour, and the playful use of new media, such as mobile phones or a digital scavenger hunt.

Games Festivals

On 2 October (1pm - 5 pm), there will be five games festivals taking place at Bottrop, Dortmund, Essen, Herne and Oberhausen in cooperation with the respective communities. Under the motto `Discover the World Playing´, we want to make a lasting impression in the Ruhr area. Playbusses from all over Germany and neighbouring countries will start as a caravan from Essen and then spread out to the festival locations.

Social Events

On Wednesday evening, we would like to invite you to the welcome party at Jugendkombihaus Bottrop and to 30 years of computer games at `Treffpunkt Zocka-Eck´ (Remembers `Pong´ and `Pacman´?).
For Saturday evening, we have booked the ballroom at the `Essen Borbecker Dampfbierbrauerei´. We look forward to this final event and to DJ Balu, who many of you might remember from last year´s conference.

Arrival and Accommodation

Arrival is planned for Wednesday, 29 September. You will be staying at Chillten (fromer Ruhrstadt-Hostel) in Bottrop or at the Etap Hotel in Essen. The conference office will be open on Wednesday evening at the welcome party in Bottrop, and on Thursday and Friday at the university campus in Essen.

Welcome

Next to playbus teams, also professionals from adventure playgrounds, youth clubs, as well as playground guardians and school pedagogues are more than welcome to participate in the conference and to share their experience. It is also possible to book individual days of the conference.

Organization and Cooperation Partners

This year´s playbus conference will be hosted by `ABA Fachverband Offene Arbeit mit Kindern und Jugendlichen´ and is kindly supported by the Ministry for Family, Children, Youth, Culture and Sports of North Rhine-Westfalia. Of course, the `Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Spielmobile´ (Federal Playbus Association) will also be on board again.
We are happy to have the University Duisburg-Essen as key cooperation partner. Presentations, forums and workshops will be held at the university campus in Essen. The Faculty of Educational Sciences is actively involved in our conference. Professor Dr. Bruno W. Nikles (Institute for Social Work and Social Politics) as well as Professor Dr. Werner Schmidt (Institute for Sport and Exercise Science) are co-organisers of the conference.

Sponsors

We would like to give special thanks to the State of North Rhine-Westfalia for sponsoring our conference through the `Pact with Youth´ child and youth educational plan. In February 2010, the Ministry for Generations, Family, Women and Integration informed us in the name of its Minister Armin Lasche: `The International Playbus Conference pursues a very welcome approach to social and cultural education. The event fits in well with the cultural capital year of RUHR 2010 and the `Pact with Youth´ educational plan. Against this backdrop, Minister Laschet is pleased to support the project.´

Organisation Team

On the organisation team are: Stefan Melulis (RUHRWERKSTATT Oberhausen), Nadine Puylaert (City of Bottrop), Gerhard Knecht (BAG Spielmobile), Horst Oesterwind-Stiller (OELC-IT, ABA Fachverband), Rainer Deimel (ABA Fachverband) und Eva Hofmann (ABA Fachverband, BAG Spielmobile). Ms Eva Hofmann is responsible for the overall coordination of the conference, and can be contacted at: spielmobilkongress2010@ABA-Fachverband.org.