“The multilingualism of our immigrants is a valuable asset”

The programme began with a visit to the Robert Bosch Foundation, a partner of the Diplomatenkolleg, where the group was briefed on the Foundation’s history, objectives and operating principles. In a discussion with Dr Wolfgang Schuster, the mayor of Stuttgart, and Gari Pavkovic, the head of the city’s integration department, the young diplomats learned what makes for successful integration policy in a city where 40% of the inhabitants have a migration background. According to Pavkovic, “the multilingualism of our immigrants is a valuable asset” for a city like Stuttgart, which is strongly export-oriented.

In talks at the State Ministry and the Freiburg Regional Commissioner’s Office the group discussed examples of successful cross-border cooperation. The visits to Daimler AG and the Mercedes-Benz museum gave participants insights into the car industry’s remarkable history but also the problems currently faced by the whole sector.

Other programme highlights included a visit to the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, a guided tour of the Sustainable Model District Vauban in Freiburg, a working lunch with the mayor of Lahr and entrepreneur Dr Martin Herrenknecht as well as a visit to Dr Herrenknecht’s company in Schwanau.

The Diplomatenkolleg is a joint initiative of the Federal Foreign Office and the Robert Bosch Foundation organized with support from the German Council on Foreign Relations. Its aim is to offer advanced professional training to young diplomats from Central and Eastern Europe, the southern Caucasus, Central Asia and China who are accredited in Germany.

For more information please contact Ms Senta Höfer, senta.hoefer@diplo.de, 030 1817 4838 or Ms Anna Quirin, anna.quirin@diplo.de., 030 1817-1914.