Learning and networking from each other, questioning each other, providing new inputs & having a lot of fun
With these goals in mind, we, as the Education Working Group, planned the preparations for the first seminar weekend of the Together on Earth - weltwärts Alumni e.V. (ToE). On April 22, the time had finally come and with 17 participants we spent an exciting, very instructive, inspiring and fun weekend in the Haus Hoher Hagen near Göttingen. The seminar was planned as a multiplier training and should serve the content-related further education and deepening, as well as the critical questioning of those who are already working as speakers or still have this step ahead of them.
On Friday evening we started after arriving with a query of expectations and wishes for the weekend and a fun getting to know the other participants. The ice was quickly broken and partly funny and profound questions were discussed with constantly changing interlocutors. Together the evening ended with one or the other round of table football and interesting conversations.
The following days were characterized by a variety between intensive seminar content and joint activities, which should stimulate the exchange between the participants as well as the discussion about joint projects and exciting topics. In addition to cooking meals together, walks were made in the forest around haus Hoher Hagen and the participants learned to show boundaries during the spontaneous self-defense course.
Thematically, the seminar was broadly based, 5 major topics can be mentioned
Development education work
In her workshop, Vio looked at practical tips and inputs on development education work using the example of current postcolonial contexts. She used her many years of experience in the design and implementation of workshops in this field to make the event interactive and according to the interests of the participants. Due to the already existing previous knowledge of the seminar group, the workshop dealt more specifically with questions of power-critical and racism-sensitive workshop design.
"The workshop gave us the opportunity to find answers to our questions in an open exchange. How do I deal with white fragility, how do I ensure a space in which BIPoC also feels comfortable? Together we were able to develop solutions and gain new knowledge about our workshop design in conversation with the other participants."
– Ivie
Political extremism
With Justus, we were able to win an expert for our seminar event, who deals in particular with the New Right in an international context and its use of theoretical approaches also used in the left spectrum in the seminar context. After an introduction to the foundations and historical development of the New Right, the focus was on the changed media appearance of the New Right in social media. The partly existing subliminality and subtlety in the appearance of the groups under consideration made it clear once again why dealing with this range of topics is extremely relevant. Using the examples, we also looked at the reaction of the New Right to international events and the interconnectivity of the currents beyond national borders.
Raising awareness of multipliers
In addition to the seminar content, the form of mediation and the creation of a safe space for the participants played a significant role in the successful implementation of the seminar event. As part of our seminar event, Ivie provided exciting insights into the field of discrimination-sensitive workshop design and presented us with various examples of implementation, some of which have arisen from her own work. In addition to the fundamental question of how seminars can be designed to be diversity-sensitive and critical of racism, a special focus was on the change of perspective for participants not affected by discrimination and how the design of workshops has an influence on this. Ivie shared a variety of sources for further research and gave the participants space to discuss and familiarize themselves with various sources.
Fabian introduced us with his workshop in the prevention of sexual violence in the seminar context or working with children. The participants were sensitized to border crossings and shown possibilities for action to prevent sexualized violence.
"'All my friends get a slap on the buttocks, slap on the buttocks, slap on the buttocks... ́
– Luise
As it quickly turned out, this is common in many athlete-coach relationships. Fabian's workshop helped me to reflect on my own environment, dealing with nudity, proximity and border crossings with hard facts and very simple exercises for the perception of closeness and distance. Information on contact persons, signs of sexual violence and references to counselling centres give me a stronger security, especially for working with young people."
Further development and improvement of your own workshop design
The aim of the educational weekend was in particular to further educate the participants as speakers in global learning. Starting with the design of workshops and an introduction to the available materials, the seminar offered a colorful potpourri of information. With Lea, we were able to win a speaker who has a lot of experience in the preparation and implementation of seminars in the context of development education work and was happy to share them with us. Lea and Lucas' experiences and their elaborated seminar concepts were then the basis for the creative exchange of ideas divided into groups according to the experience of the participants. Previously less experienced participants were given help for the conception and implementation of seminar events. After a short input, experienced participants were given the space to discuss their own experiences as well as do's and don'ts of seminar design and they were given the opportunity to present their own seminar concepts and get feedback from the group.
Reflection and feedback
The conclusion of the content part of the event was the reflection and the feedback. The participants shared their impressions and experiences of the weekend. In particular, the quality and variety of the seminar contents as well as a convincing combination of knowledge and methods as well as elements of leisure activities were emphasized. We are happy to comply with the frequently mentioned wish for another educational weekend next year, as we consider the goals we have set in this year's first edition to be achieved and are convinced that more participants can be won for the topic in the future and that there are still many thematic areas that we could not address this year.
We as AG Bildung say thank you! First of all to all participants, thank you for the fantastic weekend that it has only become by each and every one of you! Thanks to all speakers for the very valuable content input and critical questions that have inspired the questioning of one's own thoughts and actions. Thanks to Engagement Global and the funds of the BMZ for the promotion of this weekend, without this support we, as a small association, would not have been able to carry out the weekend in this scope and thematic diversity.
Funded by Engagement Global with funds from the 
Together on Earth - weltwärts Alumni e.V. is solely responsible for the content of this publication; the positions presented here do not reflect the position of Engagement Global gGmbH or the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.