✦ Fresh start 2026: The Padma Foundation opens a new chapter — and is looking for co-creators. Join us →
A new beginning

zuFrieden — at peace with yourself and with others.

The Padma Foundation for Children opens a new chapter. We believe: from the Now, something good can emerge — in every person and every encounter. For this we create resources and spaces.

And for this, we are looking for you.

I want to get involved Understand our idea

Padma — the lotus flower: it grows in the mud, yet no dirt ever clings to it. From this idea our foundation was established in 2003. A symbol that from the Now — whatever the circumstances — something good can emerge. We want to believe in that again.

🕰 Our past ✨ Our future
New questions of our society

Why now?

Four findings that will not let us go — and to which we seek answers together:

Body

We feel ourselves less. Standing upright, looking each other in the eye, breathing, eating well — the body as a compass is getting lost.

Success

Likes instead of achievement. Manipulated dopamine, up to 70 hours online per week — and without real experiences of success, confidence withers.

Role models

Division, conflict, war. Problems get patched up, not solved. Children grow up without seeing life done well.

Community

Let's sing and dance! Yet the dance floor is almost empty. Spaces with intention are missing: practising dialogue, encounters without camps.

That is why we are convinced: work with children and young people must fundamentally change — and we adults must become role models again. For problem-solving. For community. And yes: for fun.

zuFrieden — a person in the Now, coordinate system of past, future, inner and outer world

zuFrieden

Resources for making peace with yourself and finding your own vision.

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HAGLIT — many coordinate systems together form a circle

HAGLIT

Spaces for encounter from which good things emerge — dialogue instead of division.

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FamilienTag — building kit of play, sport, song, meditation, dance, counselling and a shared meal

FamilienTag

Our flagship: all formats in one day, for all generations. Pilot in Heilbronn.

Learn more →
Pillar 1

zuFrieden — at peace with yourself

Being zuFrieden does not mean everything is perfect.

It means: I know myself. I accept my Now — as the intersection of past and future, inner world and outer world. And I may believe that something good will emerge from this Now. That is why we capitalise the F: zuFrieden is the peace (Frieden) you make with yourself.

Knowledge of the world

What does humanity know about living well? Nourishing and caring for the body, relationships, home, effective organisations.

Your own patterns

Knowing your thoughts, feelings, patterns and beliefs — and the courage to make the unconscious visible.

Vision & intention

Developing a vision and letting it carry you; intuition as a source of motivation and energy.

Action

Doing instead of just visualising: small changes, better habits, good dialogue, dance, creativity.

Project 23: Together, over 23 days, we explore how to make our lives, our life as a group and perhaps even the world a little better.

Help build zuFrieden

We are building the zuFrieden resources right now — online and offline. You write, film, design, facilitate, or have your own experience with inner work? Then help out: with exercises and prompts for the 23 days, with video and audio, with group formats.

Write to us — we will develop it together

From I to We — keep scrolling

Your heart beats — a person in the Now

Your heart beats. You stand in the Now — at the intersection of past and future, inner world and outer world. That is your coordinate system.

Many glowing coordinate systems in the water

And every other person has their own. Each a unique being — uniquely shaped, uniquely valuable. How do we become a team together?

The coordinate systems together form the HAGLIT circle

By creating spaces in which everyone is free in the Now — and together we achieve a shared intention. That is HAGLIT.

Pillar 2

zuFrieden with others — HAGLIT

Creating spaces from which good things emerge.

Everywhere we experience division, hate and antagonism. We consciously set something against it: spaces for encounter in which people are equal in dignity, enjoy themselves together, are productive and pull in the same direction. Acceptance instead of tolerance. HAGLIT is our code for this — six letters, reassigned for each occasion:

HHaltung — attitudeSomething good can emerge.
AAkzeptanz — acceptancePeople are allowed to be.
GGleichwürdigkeit — equal dignityDifference does not change dignity.
LLeitplanken — guard railsFreedom needs fair forms.
IIntentionWe know why we come together.
TTakt — tactI am free — and I sense the room.

Idea workshop: five questions for the future

We put big questions into the room — and show first ideas. Explicitly as an invitation: think along, disagree, develop further.

Future question 1

The body is our shell and our anchor. How do we set it creatively in motion — so that the mind becomes freer too?

A first idea — AkzepTanz: Clear head. Free body. Open space. A dance space for arriving, letting go and feeling again. Not performance, but presence.

Future question 2

Today's debate spaces are marked by division: left versus right, poor versus rich, locals versus newcomers, men versus women. How do we manage to emphasise shared goals and exchange ideas in a solution-oriented way?

A first idea — the HAGLIT dialogue space: encounter with clear intention and fair guard rails. Not camp against camp, but people facing a shared problem — listening, understanding, building solutions.

Future question 3

How do we help people believe again in starting families and wanting children?

A first idea — Neue RomanTik: Love is possible — but not without awareness. A space for longing, attraction, honest encounter and timing. Romantic, but not naive: closeness needs awareness and boundaries.

Future question 4

How do we keep trends of gender division — "men versus women", toxic masculinity — from bearing fruit?

A first idea — DieBoys: "Go big. Not over the line." A community format for men who want to be wild, loyal and respectful. Friendship, social intelligence, tact — a positive counter-image to pickup culture and macho posturing.

Future question 5New

How do we make sure artificial intelligence gives people the right impulses — for their development and their life together?

A first idea — What Makes Us Human: Millions of people ask AI language models for advice every day — about relationships, family, life decisions. From our insights — how we lead ourselves to being zuFrieden, how we interact well in groups, how happy families and friendships succeed — we distil an open briefing for AI language models: what successful human being can mean. Created together, publicly available — so that technology strengthens human development instead of weakening it.

Bring your own space

These are first ideas — not finished products. We are looking for people who want to hold spaces: dancers and movement people, facilitators for dialogue formats, creatives for social media, people experienced in groups and community. And we are looking for answers to the five future questions. HAGLIT is the frame — you fill it.

Count me in
Pillar 3 · Our flagship

FamilienTag — an island of zuFriedenheit

From the mud grows the lotus flower: in community, something good can emerge. At the FamilienTag (family day), the zuFrieden resources and the HAGLIT spaces come together — one event for all generations.

There is plenty of consumption (theme parks, streaming — families as target group, not as subject) and plenty of ideology (politicised spaces, camps, algorithms). What is missing is a third thing: a place where everyone is welcome.

Make it tangible

Not explaining, not moralising — doing together. Encounter, movement, stillness, play, a shared meal.

Low threshold

No ticket, no fixed programme. Step in and join — young and old, locals and newcomers.

Non-partisan

No brand, no flag, no camps. Just family, time, space — an island for a few hours.

Modules (choice instead of programme): sport, posture, listening, meditation, singing, dancing, live music, dialogue, graffiti, therapy dogs, spirituality (non-denominational) and the shared meal — the strongest glue.

The method in three steps: clarify intention → agree on ground rules → enable encounter. Scalable in five sizes: from a garden (10–50) via street festival, school day and park up to a large festival (5,000–20,000).

Roadmap Heilbronn 2026

Be part of it from the start

We fund the 2026 Heilbronn pilots from our own resources — carried by local volunteers. This is exactly where you come in: we are looking for format hosts, helpers on the day, organisational talents, musicians and creatives, photographers and local partners. Want to request a FamilienTag for your street, school or celebration? Then write to us too.

I'm in — and I'll help shape what it becomes
The most important page

Get involved

This page is not a donation form. It is an invitation.

The Padma Foundation is being reimagined — and that only works together. We are not looking for spectators, but co-creators. What you can bring:

🎨

Creativity

Writing, video, design, music, social media — help make zuFrieden and HAGLIT tangible.

🤝

Presence & heart

Organise and pitch in at the FamilienTag pilots in Heilbronn — as host, facilitator or helping hand.

🧭

Experience

Education, psychology, coaching, organisational development — co-develop the content.

Just tell us what appeals to you — informally, no application needed. We will reply personally.

Your email program will open — the message goes to projekt@padma.net. No data is stored on this website.

Our foundation

Projects & impact

The new direction stands on a foundation: many years of concrete project work for children — internationally and in the Heilbronn region. Since 2003, with around €480,000 in funding.

Our milestones since 2003

  1. Denjong Pema Choeling AcademySikkim, Indien
  2. ABIX adventure playground HasenberglMunich, Germany
  3. Street work MunichMunich, Germany
  4. AmilalInner Mongolia, China
  5. Groupe Scolaire Atta OudieOuagadougou, Burkina Faso
  6. Help for CambodiaCambodia
  7. Danakosha AidTibet, China
  8. Walmberg nature learningReit im Winkl, Germany
  9. Active project with BMW & Red CrossWolfratshausen, Germany
  10. Project "11 Friends" with Diakonisches WerkHeilbronn, Germany
  11. Theatre education at KinderArcheHeilbronn, Germany
  12. Experience projects at Susanne Finkbeiner SchoolHeilbronn, Germany

Moments from more than 20 years

Schools, computer rooms, teacher training, adventures in nature — from Asia and Africa to Heilbronn. This history carries us, and we take its good spirit with us into the new chapter.

Schulkinder
Umarmung
Computerraum
Projektgruppe
Projektarbeit
Gruppenfoto
Theaterpädagogik
Naturfreizeit
Lagerfeuer
Coffee Break Podcast an der Susanne-Finkbeiner-Schule
Theaterpädagogik
Begegnung
Fest mit Fahnen
Kindergruppe
Spielplatz
Unterricht
Projektbau
Kindererholung
Lachende Kinder
Freiwilligen-Team
Vater und Sohn
Handmade

Words you can touch

Zukunft — aus Reis gelegt Liebe — aus Reis gelegt Bildung — aus Reis gelegt

These words — Zukunft (future), Liebe (love), Bildung (education) — were laid out in grains of rice for our first campaigns, by hand, grain by grain. They still remind us what this is about: creating things with your own hands instead of just scrolling. At the next FamilienTag we will lay new words. Which one would you lay?

Who we are

About us

The Padma Stiftung für Kinder is a non-profit foundation, established in Munich in 2003. We are administered by the Kinderfonds Stiftungszentrum at Haus des Stiftens, Munich. Funding to date: around €480,000.

Today we are small — and that is precisely our strength: whoever joins now shapes things from the ground up.

Our perspective: we want to grow and extend our statutory purposes from child and youth welfare to adult education and networking. Because children need adults who model how problem-solving, community and joy succeed.

Help shape the new chapter