Zentrum für soziale Innovation

What Zentrum für soziale Innovation does

Zentrum für soziale Innovation (ZFSI) is the operating brand of umgedacht e.V., a non-profit association (eingetragener Verein) founded in 2020 in Hannover, Germany, with operational headquarters in Oldenburg and a regional office in Cottbus opened in October 2024. The organization’s flagship initiative, "Nein zur digit@len Gewalt," delivers full-day, six-hour peer-led prevention workshops to grades 5–7 in German schools, covering internet fundamentals, cybermobbing, online safety, hate speech, and digital self-protection. The methodology is built on a peer-to-peer model staffed by young, digitally fluent instructors who can autonomously lead sessions without teacher presence; the organization has reached 430+ classes and 10,000+ children cumulatively, with 89.7% teacher/social-worker satisfaction.

The product portfolio extends beyond the core workshop into "Kino für Alle" (free public film screenings with moderated discussions on democracy, racism, and rural life), "Demokratie Lokal" (out-of-school civic engagement formats), and "DigitaL Workshops" (beginner-friendly digital skills training in programming, social media management, and image editing). The underlying technology is the workshop curriculum and instructor pool rather than a software platform; there is no proprietary software, app, or AI component.

The business model is a hybrid non-profit revenue stack: individualized workshop fees paid by schools (often financed through Förderverein parent associations), regional grants and public funding (including the 2022 Landespräventionspreis Sachsen-Anhalt), and donations solicited via the website. Go-to-market is sales-led and event-driven, with direct outreach to schools, needs assessment, assistance with funding applications, and on-site delivery by a mobile team. Customer segments are German secondary schools (with a Schwerpunktregion in East Germany: Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia), plus parents of students as a secondary audience. The team is small at 7 employees, and geographic expansion is driven by regional funding availability rather than commercial sales.

Name

Zentrum für soziale Innovation

Legal name

umgedacht e.V.

Website

https://zfsi.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Zentrum für soziale Innovation (brand of umgedacht e.V.) is a German non-profit that delivers peer-led, full-day workshops to grades 5–7 on cyberbullying, hate speech, and digital safety, reaching 430+ classes and 10,000+ children across Germany with an East German focus.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Media Literacy & Prevention Education

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Cyberbullying Prevention, Reporting & Case Management (EDAFALAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Content Moderation, Safe Messaging & Classroom Communication Safety (EDAFALAE)

Keywords

• Media literacy education
• Cyberbullying prevention workshops
• Youth civic engagement
• Digital violence prevention
• School-based prevention programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Oldenburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Workshop fees: Schools pay for workshop implementation. Pricing is individualized based on number of classes and region. The organization helps schools secure external funding and grants to cover costs.
2. Donations: The organization accepts donations to support the project. Bank details are provided on the website for direct contributions.
3. Förderverein funding: Parent associations (Fördervereine) at schools provide financial support for workshops. The Pückler-Gymnasium Cottbus example shows Förderverein financing workshops and parent evenings.
4. Grants and awards: The organization has received the Landespräventionspreis Sachsen-Anhalt (2022) and operates with grant funding for regional expansion, including a new location in Cottbus.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Zentrum für soziale Innovation (ZFSI), operating as umgedacht e.V., delivers full-day, peer-led prevention workshops ("Nein zur digit@len Gewalt") for grades 5–7 on cybermobbing, hate speech, online safety and responsible media use. Complementary formats include "Kino für Alle" (free film screenings with moderated discussions), "Demokratie Lokal" (out-of-school civic engagement), and "DigitaL Workshops" (beginner digital skills training).

Product overview

The Zentrum für soziale Innovation (ZFSI, brand of umgedacht e.V.) offers a portfolio of non-profit educational projects centered on a flagship prevention workshop and complementary civic-engagement formats. The core offering is the "Nein zur digit@len Gewalt" workshop — a full-day, peer-led classroom program for grades 5–7 covering internet fundamentals, online hazards, self-protection, mobbing, and hate speech. This is supplemented by "Kino für Alle," a free community cinema initiative pairing film screenings with moderated discussions on social themes; "Demokratie Lokal," an out-of-school civic engagement format for youth in German cities; and "DigitaL Workshops," offering beginner-friendly digital skills training in programming, social media management, and image editing. Together these offerings form a cohesive media-literacy and democracy-education portfolio targeting children and youth across Germany.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Nein zur digit@len Gewalt Full-day (six class periods) peer-facilitated prevention workshops for students in grades 5–7, covering how the internet works, online dangers, digital self-protection, mobbing dynamics, hate speech, and role-play exercises. Delivered on-site at schools across Germany, with optional pre-briefings and post-workshop feedback sessions for teachers.
• Kino für Alle Free public cinema screenings of socially relevant films followed by moderated group discussions on themes such as democracy, racism, and rural life, offered to community audiences at various German locations.
• Demokratie Lokal Out-of-school project format in various German cities where children and youth exchange ideas on local civic engagement and learn about opportunities for participation.
• DigitaL Workshops Regularly offered digital workshops on topics of the digital world, including beginner programming, text processing, social media management, and image editing.

Quantifiable outcome

• 89.7% of teachers and school social workers rate the project as 'Very Good'
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• HateAid: German non-profit focused on supporting victims of digital hate speech and online violence, with adjacent prevention and educational programming targeting hate speech — overlapping with ZFSI's workshop themes.
• #ichbinhier: German volunteer counter-speech initiative addressing online hate and disinformation, with educational outreach that overlaps thematically with ZFSI's hate-speech and digital-respect workshop content.
• iRights.Lab: Berlin-based think tank and project office developing educational formats on youth digital rights, media competence, and online participation — overlapping subject matter with ZFSI's school programs.

Direct peers

• Internet-ABC: Non-profit providing internet safety and media literacy materials for German primary and secondary schools, with school-facing lesson content on online risks, comparable to ZFSI's curriculum.
• Juuuport: German youth-led online counseling and prevention platform against cyberbullying, closely aligned with ZFSI's 'Nein zur digit@len Gewalt' workshop topic and target group (schoolchildren affected by online harassment).
• Handysektor: State-supported media-literacy initiative providing classroom materials and workshops on safe mobile/smartphone use for youth, directly comparable in audience and topic to ZFSI's digital safety workshops.
• Digitale Helden: German non-profit running peer-to-peer digital citizenship and online safety programs in schools, with a similar youth-mentor delivery model targeting safe internet use among schoolchildren. Direct overlap in target audience (German schools) and methodology (peer-led prevention).

Broad incumbents

• Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Multimedia (FSM): Established German self-regulation body for digital media that runs youth-protection and media-literacy initiatives for schools, representing a larger, federally connected incumbent in the same education-and-trust space.
• klicksafe: EU-co-funded German awareness campaign on internet safety that produces school-ready materials on cyberbullying, hate speech, and media competence — a much larger incumbent with overlapping curriculum content and school audience.

Others

• Amadeu Antonio Stiftung: German foundation funding civic-education and anti-hate-speech projects, including school programs. Indirectly comparable as an ecosystem player funding comparable work to ZFSI's prevention portfolio.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zfsi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zentrum für soziale Innovation