Topics and Perspectives Defined for the 2026 Education Year

The Education Commission is made up of elected representatives of the scholars, KAAD President P. Dr Hans Langendörfer SJ and Secretary General Dr Nora Kalbarczyk, the heads of the regional departments and the spiritual advisors P. Prof. Dr Thomas Eggensperger OP and P. Prof. Dr Ulrich Engel OP. The discussions centred on proposed topics that were developed in advance within the five continental groups.

The joint decision now provides the basis for the content of the coming educational year. The planned seminars reflect the diversity of global challenges. The scholars from Africa, for example, want to discuss the question of how development cooperation can be rethought and linked to greater autonomy. The scholars from Asia will focus on climate justice and indigenous knowledge, while in the Latin American context the challenges of "being a woman and believing" will take centre stage. The sponsorship recipients from the Middle East will focus on the protection of cultural heritage in conflict zones as part of the regional seminar, while the Eastern European regional seminar will look at the conditions of academic mobility in times of crisis.

The general seminars also address relevant issues for the future: The effects of violence and its concealment as well as Catholic social ethical perspectives on climate and ecology will be addressed; questions will be asked about how economic activity can be aligned with the common good and how the media and politics influence each other. Questions of cultural identity will be explored using the history of beer brewing in Germany as an example. 

In addition to the existing virtual formats "Connected in Conversation" and "Culture, Religion and Development", the programme will be supplemented by digital workshop series on mental health, preparing for reintegration after a study visit to Germany and doctoral supervision. Among other things, the programme will focus on the German supervision system, the rights of doctoral students and typical conflict situations in an intercultural context. Spiritual days in Beuron, a planned trip to Taizé and the 2026 annual academy entitled "Self-portraits and demarcations: In search of belonging in a crisis-ridden world" complete the annual programme.

A defining moment of the conference was the round table discussion on the current situation of international students in Germany. The participants impressively described the extent to which structural hurdles are a burden on their everyday student life. The lack of affordable housing, overwhelming bureaucratic procedures, limited access to support services and experiences of racial discrimination not only make arriving in Germany more difficult, but also jeopardise the progression of their studies. The extent to which social insecurity and anti-migrant discourses affect everyday life and academic participation became particularly clear. The Education Commission sees this feedback not as a marginal issue, but as a mandate for action in education policy. It makes the concrete realities of the lives of international scholars the starting point for the further development of the KAAD education programme.