Exchange projects

Every year, over 2000 children and adolescents from various countries come together in the Children’s Village in Trogen to participate in Intercultural Exchange Projects. Here, very direct encounters take place, some of them with Swiss school classes. These projects encourage children and adolescents to reflect critically their own values and behavioural patterns and in doing so strengthen their personal identities. Exchange with other participants stimulates them to identify commonalities and differences between various cultures. They are confronted with prejudices and can discuss them amongst each other. This gives them the opportunity to see existing prejudices in a new light, think about them and hopefully overcome them. 

The ultimate aim of these projects is to encourage children and young people to talk to each other rather than to fight. Readiness for peace and tolerance for your neighbour are prerequisites for a world in which children can grow up freely and happily. 

East and South East European countries 

The Intercultural Exchange Projects are part of International Training Programmes and addressed to groups of children of the same age ranging between 10 and 17 years of age. Many children and adolescents from East and South East European countries come from socially disadvantaged families or have a difficult background. 

Children from the Chernobyl region come to the Children’s Village to enjoy a healthy environment and to temporarily protected from the effects of the reactor disaster.