Erdmute Schimpf

The project study course in organic agriculture at the time, with its diverse forms of learning and performance, had a lasting impact on my learning and my attitude in work meetings. In retrospect, I see the project study course as a wonderful preparation for working life, to jointly take responsibility for the results of a project group and to deal directly with the respective issue. The same applies to the not always smooth discussions about module designs or the tough struggle of how to formulate feedback on content that was rarely presented in an uncharitable manner. The fact that even reserved people can present results in front of a large audience and that talkers can sometimes write minutes in silence were still the easier learning experiences.

Even in my day-to-day work in Brussels for a European environmental umbrella organization, I still use many of the moderation and learning methods from my time in Witzenhausen. Friends of the Earth Europe had a multi-year project on School of Sustainability, which focused on learning from environmental activists. As we did in Witzenhausen in the 1990s, we strive for a participatory methodology for our workshops and conferences.

In 2020, with its endless video conferences, it takes some creativity how, for example, a strategy meeting with 40 participants can be designed in such a way that results and analyses are developed as participatively as possible. How can a round of introductions be designed so that people actually start talking to each other? Instead of long presentations, we use digital Post-Its to group and capture responses. To enable direct exchange, there are digital coffee breaks in small groups.

And in the best Witzenhausen tradition, the evaluation can't be without a little hand and heart, when volunteers are needed for a digital fruit basket harvest and are then asked to write an answer on a piece of paper after all the digital. One co-organizer commented during the preparation time that Friends of the Earth Europe had very high expectations of the methods for the whole meeting.

The conviction that everyone can and should contribute something to the outcome is something I learned in my studies. As well as the joy of critically examining new trends and the self-confidence that a good process emerges from diverse perspectives and arguments. On the other hand, I acquired key qualifications and tools for the agricultural policy debates in Brussels outside and after my studies.

Now, when today's students from Witzenhausen go on an agricultural policy field trip to Brussels, I am always happy to hear about their impressions and share a tiny glimpse of my experiences from the capital of the EU.