Press releases

The next event in the "Families in focus" series: In March, the topic will be "Equal parenthood". On Thursday, March 20, from 5 to 7 p.m., all interested parties are cordially invited to attend the lecture "Fathers (and mothers) reinvent yourselves - a plea for equal parenthood" by psychologist and men's counselor Björn Süfke and to get into conversation with each other. The lecture - organized by the Family Service of RWTH Aachen University - will take place at the Centre Charlemagne, Katschhof 1, 52062 Aachen. Please register by sending an email to claudia.musso@gsb.rwth-aachen.de.

To the lecture
The issue of reconciliation has long since reached fathers - and that's a good thing! Not only do fathers increasingly want to play an active role in their children's upbringing, they are also increasingly doing so - only to immediately come up against the problem of reconciliation. But just as it is not enough for mothers to simply fight for time off work (and everything will be fine), it is not enough for fathers to apply for two months of parental leave and otherwise leave everything in the old structures, especially the old thought structures. Rather, everyone - mothers and fathers alike - must recognize those social and, above all, psychological factors and processes that cause parents to fall back into old stereotypes time and again and thus make it difficult to achieve a truly satisfying combination of work and family. Especially as there is no other area of society in which men experience such restrictions and devaluation, indeed such a lack of acceptance, as in the area of fatherhood. And this despite the fact that this is where the course is set - for functioning parenthood, for mentally healthy sons and daughters and certainly also for a satisfying male life. So, dear fathers (and also: dear mothers), there is only one thing to do: we need to talk!

About the author
Björn Süfke, born in 1972 and active as a men's counselor for over a quarter of a century, has written a non-fiction book entitled "Männer. Invent. You. Neu.", he addressed the crisis of modern fatherhood in depth. In his collection of stories "Papa, Du hast ja Haare auf der Glatze!", the father of three shows in a humorous way that being a father is the greatest adventure in a man's life. His presentation combines social and psychological analysis with pointed family stories and is thus a fiery plea to all fathers to reinvent themselves with their very own fatherhood. Because a dad can replace many things - but nothing can replace a dad.

Ten copies of the book "Männer" (Men) by Björn Süfke will be raffled off among the participants during the event.

Families in focus
Further dates, topics and content will be added regularly and published on www.aachen.de/familienfokus. The lecture series is open to all families and single parents. All events are free of charge.

"Families in Focus" is a series of events organized by the "Family-Friendly City of Science" working group (AG) to address family issues in lectures and provide concrete solutions and tips for families.

The "Family-Friendly City of Science"working group
The working group was founded several years ago to identify challenges facing families - not only, but also in the area of universities - through regular exchange and to work on solutions. In addition to the City of Aachen, the working group includes Familiäre Tagesbetreuung e. V., Aachen University of Applied Sciences, the Haus für Familien der evangelischen Familienbildung Aachen, the Catholic Association for Girls' and Women's Social Work IN VIA Aachen e. V., the Aachen location of the Catholic University of Applied Sciences North Rhine-Westphalia, Studierendenwerk Aachen, the Equal Opportunities Office and Family Service of RWTH Aachen University and the Family Service Office of Aachen University Hospital.