A tour d'horizon of Germany: The 4th Diplomatenkolleg has come to an end

Around 90 invited guests attended the ceremony at the German Council on Foreign Relations at which the participants were presented with their programme certificates. Prof. Hanns-Dietrich Schmidt, head of RUHR 2010’s international relations division and Vice-President of Folkwang University, gave a talk on the background and history of the European Capital of Culture initiative as well as its contemporary significance in fostering European integration and understanding. In an interview with Stefan Niemann, head of current and international

affairs at the German broadcasting network NDR, the participants took stock of their Diplomatenkolleg year. The impressions they had gained were as broad-ranging as the ten-month programme itself. Asked what stood out for her most vividly, Serbian participant Branislava Perin Jaric singled out the visit to the planetarium of Carl Zeiss Jena, a cutting-edge technology company. Julia Ilyina from the Belarus embassy was particularly struck by the car-sharing project participants were introduced to in Freiburg. For Qing Lu from the Chinese embassy the Zeche Zollverein and brown coal mine in Profen were among the highlights of her year with the Diplomatenkolleg. “I am fascinated by the way Germany deals with post-industrial sites” Lu replied to Niemann’s question, referring to the renaturation of opencast mining areas. Toyly Atayev from Turkmenistan was surprised to see how much importance people in Germany attached to environmental protection in their daily lives and how seriously companies operating in Germany took their ecological responsibilities.

For ten months twelve diplomats posted to Germany from Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the Czech Republic and Ukraine had the opportunity to broaden their professional horizons with the Diplomatenkolleg. In a series of expert talks, fact-finding visits and cultural events participants were given insights into many aspects of German life and culture of particular relevance to their work. The Diplomatenkolleg is an initiative of the Federal Foreign Office, the Robert Bosch Foundation and the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). As an innovative further-training initiative, the Diplomatenkolleg complements the Federal Foreign Office's Training for International Diplomats, the Robert Bosch Foundation’s international scholarship programmes and the foreign policy network of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). The 5th Diplomatenkolleg will begin in October 2009. For further information please contact Ms. Senta Höfer, senta.hoefer@diplo.de, 030 1817 4838 or Ms Anna Quirin, anna.quirin@diplo.de., 030 1817-1914.