Werder Bremen’s Henrik Oesau at the 12th EFDN Conference
Continuing this week with our introductions of the speakers at the 12th EFDN ‘#Morethanfootball’ Conference, we are delighted to announce that Henrik Oesau from SV Werder Bremen will be hosting one of the breakout sessions. Henrik has a bachelor degree in sports, health and prevention, a master degree in sports, organizational development and management and has worked for several years for non-profit organisations while working specifically with refugees in football since 2014. Since 2015 Henrik has been trying to use the power of football as a catalyst for social inclusion and social advancement at Werder Bremen. For that, he coordinates several projects for young refugees next to the Weser-Stadium and in different neighbourhoods of Bremen.
During this breakout session Henrik will present the “Willkommen im Fußball” programme founded in 2015 by the Deutsche Kinder- und Jugendstiftung (DKJS) and DFL Foundation while using the example of Werder Bremen. The programme is an alliance of 23 clubs from the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga with a focus on the process of integration of young refugees by emphasising different topics like sports offerings for refugee girls and women, educating young refugees for volunteering in grassroots football clubs and connecting refugees to the job market. Werder Bremen has been a member of “Willkommen im Fußball” since the beginning of the project in 2015 and its SPIELRAUM program will be used as an example to show the chances and limitations of “Willkommen im Fußball”. The SPIELRAUM program is delivered in five different neighbourhoods in Bremen and in addition Werder runs five different training offers for young refugees on the training facilities of the Club next to the Weser-Stadium in cooperation with Refugio, a Bremen-based trauma and therapy centre for refugees.
