The buddY e.V. association (based in Düsseldorf) promotes peer group education and thus a new, mutually respectful and mutually appreciative learning culture among children and young people through targeted programmes (here) in daycare centres and schools.

Based on several years of experience with the buddY project in the primary school sector, which focussed on training children to become so-called buddYs ("synonymous with people who live mutual responsibility") to promote social skills and responsibility, the follow-up project focuses on the transition from kindergarten to primary school. The aim of this second model project is to allow children from primary and elementary schools to actively and cooperatively shape their own transition through joint activities. The possibility of participation is the core idea of the project. Children should be able to experience themselves as experts and experience self-efficacy. As has been proven in relevant studies, the latter is causally linked to the development of resilience, which plays a decisive role in coping with the transition.

A total of eight co-operation networks from the Paderborn and Detmold education regions are taking part in this project. They each consist of a primary school and several day care centres and are supervised by buddY e.V..

The Department of Primary School Pedagogy and Early Education at Paderborn University is responsible for evaluating the programme with a focus on recording children's perspectives. Three networks are taking part in the qualitative evaluation. These include five day care centres and four primary schools.