Pioneers of Education

Bernhard Hanel is founder and artistic director of KuKuk und KuKuk Kultur e.V. He creates spaces for free play all over the world and is an ambassador for the protection of a good childhood. His cordial nature is infectious and stirring.

KuKuk develops, plans and builds unique experience, play and outdoor spaces for people of all ages throughout Europe. Complex and dynamic structures invite you to climb, hang, hop, balance and train motor skills, agility, strength, endurance and coordination. They enable various sensory perceptions and offer occasions for communication. KuKuk wants to promote the independent and direct experience of reality as well as the spontaneous and holistic contact with the (natural) environment. Behind the name KuKuk culture stands a very specific concern: to create protected spaces for children so that they can unfold in free play and perceive the world with all their senses. The playgrounds are built with volunteers worldwide, primarily with young people.