Dr. Detelin Denchev

My name is Detelin Denchev, and I am a practicing cardiologist. In my work, I take time for each patient, seeing not only the illness but the whole person—their life, their social circle, their family, and their destiny. I don't just want to heal the diseased heart, but to help the person as a whole. I approach everyone with compassion and empathy. As part of my medical practice, I am also involved in projects promoting basic health and well-being.

I have meditated and practiced yoga daily for decades. All my life I have enjoyed reading, usually with a cup of good black tea, about philosophy, religion, ethnology, culture, and really just about everything else. I am particularly interested in Far Eastern philosophy and the worldviews found there, and the conclusions one can draw from them for oneself and for the world. I believe that these hold a true treasure trove of knowledge about who humanity is, how we think and act, and how we can use this knowledge to enhance our own well-being and that of the environment.

I want to use my many years of experience with people, especially those in painful life situations, and my awareness of how this can affect one's own psyche and daily life, sometimes with serious consequences, to contribute my part to reducing suffering in the world – however small or large it may be, always and consistently guided by the motive of empathic compassion.

Olesia and Yurii

We are Olesia Shcherbyna and Yurii Tereshchuk, a married couple from Ukraine. We combine an interdisciplinary professional background with extensive practical experience in the fields of integration, migration, and social project work at the European level.

I, Olesia, am an architect and artist with a particular interest in art history and creative learning. In my work, I develop and lead creative workshops and art-based formats that support people in challenging life situations in safely expressing and processing emotional burdens, stress, and experiences related to loss and migration.

Using visual and creative methods, I aim to support people in expressing and consciously reflecting on their emotions and experiences. I am convinced that this approach helps reduce anxiety, inner tension, and aggression, as well as promote self-awareness, self-esteem, and emotional stability, and strengthen personal resources. Through group-based art therapy, I also want to stimulate social interaction and communication and support the development of trust within diverse groups, as I believe these processes play a central role in successful integration and sustainable community building.

I, Yurii, am a lawyer with many years of experience working with institutional and administrative structures. In Ukraine, I worked in legal practice; currently, I work in Germany at a refugee shelter. There, I support people with migration experience with legal, administrative, and social issues, including liaising with local and Ukrainian authorities, banks, and other public and private institutions.

My work forms an important interface between refugees and existing systems and contributes to the practical implementation of integration measures at the local level.

With the outbreak of war in Ukraine, we found refuge in Germany. We successfully completed further training courses at the Education Center of the Lower Saxony Economy (BNW) and at the adult education center and began to actively participate in social and European projects.

As project participants, our focus is on the conception, implementation, and support of European integration and education projects, with a particular emphasis on women, children, and vulnerable groups. We are convinced that individual support and social responsibility are inextricably linked and that carefully designed social projects make a sustainable contribution to strengthening communities and addressing societal challenges.

Felix Günter

My name is Felix Günter. I am about to graduate as a high school teacher of sports and social studies in Leipzig. During my studies, I focused extensively on health and fitness, particularly within the subject of sports.

My focus has always been on learning about varied and creative training methods, as this helps motivate students to be more active, especially in the school setting. Furthermore, I'm not a big fan of monotonous training myself and quickly get bored when it's just about how many repetitions you can do or how many seconds you can hold an exercise. Instead, I prefer sports that offer a high degree of freedom and variation, thus promoting cognitive skills as well as physical fitness.

Movement models that also offer space for one's own creativity are of greater appeal to me and allow me, so to speak, to do something for my health and the health of my future students "on the side".

Lazar Lalev

My name is Lazar Lalev, a trained physician, and I am currently completing my specialist training in psychiatry and psychotherapy at Heidelberg University Hospital. I have a strong interest in researching and teaching the mind and its varying expression from person to person.

I have also participated in projects using various artistic methods for many years. Furthermore, I am a co-founder of a Heidelberg-based music collective and am involved in the planning, organization, and execution of events. I enjoy reading very much – mostly books on philosophy, psychology, world history, etc.

I view the human being holistically, as a connection between body and mind in constant, reciprocal contact with their environment, and I hold a humanistic view of humanity. I am convinced that goodness resides within every person and always strives to develop and express itself above all else. I have dedicated my work, leisure time, and life to contributing, from this perspective, to fostering greater joy, zest for life, and a deeper sense of meaning in life for myself and others by uniting all these interests and qualities, always thinking and acting with a sound scientific understanding and to the best of my knowledge and conscience.

Bruno Weschenfelder

My name is Bruno Weschenfelder, I am a trained ensemble director and currently a student at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music in Dresden. I also work as a musician and instrumental teacher in Dresden and the surrounding area. I specialize in ensemble direction and rhythmics.

The former aims to facilitate collaborative music-making and impart a basic understanding of creative, artistic, and collaborative processes. The latter, rhythmics or elementary music pedagogy, deals with experiencing music in a personal and interdisciplinary sense. Music and movement, music and visual arts, as well as music and performing arts are considered, performed together, and evaluated. As a member of KreaGeKo, I want to create spaces for personal expression, individualism, and mental freedom, as well as reinforce trust in democratic cooperation through the conscious experience of shared implementation and necessity. My role is to convey music as a social phenomenon and the associated interpersonal and personal skills, challenges, and solutions.

Bistra Choleva-Laleva

My name is Bistra Choleva-Laleva, and I hold a Master of Arts in Psycho-Social Practices. I have many years of experience as a social researcher and project manager for local and European projects in the fields of migration, social issues, and integration. I am also the co-founder of an acting and theatre company in Sofia – a space for free expression, creative research, and learning through art. In addition to my professional work, I am a happily married woman and a proud mother of two wonderful sons.

The main themes of my work relate to the exploration of best practices and the development and implementation of innovative models for learner engagement using integrative arts, as well as methods and techniques in the fields of culture and healthy living. I understand learning not merely as the transmission of knowledge, but as a holistic process that connects cognitive, emotional, and physical levels.

In all my activities, I focus on the use of creative methods of expression (sensory theatre, visual theatre, drama, and movement techniques), particularly in my work with vulnerable children and young people, migrants, and other groups threatened by social exclusion, especially in small communities and communities with limited access to cultural and educational resources. I understand these theatrical, dynamic forms of learning as pedagogical tools for making inner resources visible, strengthening self-efficacy, and enabling new, creative forms of dialogue. My aim is to create open spaces for participation, development, and human connection.

I am convinced that the profound power of art, culture and education can create an empathetic, interconnected and inclusive world in which people feel valued, empowered and connected in their diversity!