Our group gathered on a fair July 24^th afternoon. The event kicked off with a speech by Programme Head Carl Beierkuhlein, emphasizing how the extreme floods in Germany and the pandemic are related to climate change. As we continue to see connections between events like these, it becomes even clearer how global changes are compounding to aggravate negative effects for all. The Global Change Ecology Master Programme, with its interdisciplinary nature, is uniquely positioned to address these changes at the interface of environment, ecology, and society. Now more than ever, committed individuals from all over the world and their work are essential to solving these current and future ecological problems. In a way, the Fête serves not only as a celebration of the GCE programme and its people, but also as a reaffirmation of this mission.

The Summer Fête is also a great opportunity for exchange between current GCE students and GCE alumni, who can shed a light on what they are doing, tips for the best outcome in the programme, and career prospects. Fortunately, some alumni were able to join us this year. Moreover, this gathering marked the presence of three generations of GCE coordinators: Volker Audorff (the first coordinator), Stephanie Thomas (current coordinator), and Anja Jaeschke (former-coordinator). Unfortunately, Sylvia Sprödhuber, current coordinator alongside Stephanie, was absent.

A lot of effort is invested in the making of the Summer Fête (Cheers to the Student Board for organising it!). This year, we dove into Mexican culture with the Piñata Workshop, which was led by GCE 2020 Diana Pineda before the date of the Summer Fête. The final piñatas were then filled with sweets and brought to the event. Blindfolded students and professors took turns trying to hit them in an attempt to release all the goodies. It was an interactive moment that provided good laughs and plenty of fun (as well as candy!) to everyone. In order to level our Latin game up, we followed up this activity by learning some salsa moves with dance teacher Dewi Krijger and GCEs Diana, Gabriela, and Elena Wiese.

And who thought that GCE students only thrive in academics? Think again! The get together also made it possible for students to perform, and we got beautiful presentations from GCE 2020 students Elena Wiese and Mira Rodrian, who sang and played the guitar. Songs with important messages about the planet — and of course a couple of pop hits — made the atmosphere at the Fête even more cosy, as everyone enjoyed the music and sang along with the girls.

International cuisine is another highlight of the Fête. Everyone volunteered to contribute a dish, and many took the opportunity to share a piece of their culture by bringing a dish from their home country for all to try. Additionally, the event also offered a barbecue with vegetarian and vegan options, in order to be inclusive for all.

Sustainability, culture, good food, dances, and great people made this long-awaited GCE Summer Fête special. The opportunity to engage in intercultural exchange with old friends and new, all connected via a shared desire to better the world, was the gold of the Fête. As the end of the event approached, everyone pitched in to clean up, exchanging smiles at the acts of contribution and the satisfaction of making the 2021 GCE Summer Fête one to remember.

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Perspective change

“We create new cultures based on our relationships with people. We should not treat people based on what we have heard about them” said Emmanuel Adeleke, GCE student from Nigeria, summarizing the workshop. Previously, the two trainers from “Working Between Cultures” had used some practical exercises and games to teach nearly 30 GCE students how cultural misunderstandings can arise and how intercultural cooperation works best. The coaches recalled that people often have prejudices against people from countries they do not know. For example, a European viewpoint may misunderstand the continent of Africa as something culturally homogeneous without seeing the diversity between and within the African countries.

The students also shared their own experiences. One student said that in some African countries, non-greetings are perceived as impolite, even in the presence of strangers. Yet, in Germany this act may not convey impoliteness. To overcome such misunderstandings, the trainers recommended communicating more with other people to become more sensitive to the situations of others. However, one should not only focus on the differences, as often wrongly done, but also on the similarities.

Every person is different

The coaches also pointed out that individuals differ within a country. In addition to culture, every person is influenced by many other factors, such as their past and current circumstances. The workshop made it clear how important it is to understand yourself and your counterparts correctly and to recognize that your own ideas and rules are not a universal law. All sides benefit when diversity is recognized, understood, and used.
Thanks to its high level of interactivity, the workshop contributed to strengthening the relationships between GCE students from three cohorts and to discovering many previously unknown commonalities.

This text was written for the Elite Network Bavaria.
English editing kindly done by Taylor Blair

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