Diversity Drives Innovation

Remagen. Campus Remagen of the Koblenz University of Applied Sciences turned into a meeting point for students and teachers from all over the world from 3-5 November. Dr. Laurent Borgmann, Head of the Languages/International Affairs Department in Remagen, has been organising the seminar on intercultural topics, now entitled “Embracing Cultural Diversity” for 21 years. This year, 44 participants from 16 nations met for interactive workshops on the campus in Remagen.

“It was a meeting among friends in Remagen. We were supported by guests of our partner universities, who have participated in such seminars on several occasions," explains Selsela Arya, research assistant in the field of languages/internationals and main organizer of the seminar. Students and teachers from Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, China, Denmark, England, Georgia, India, Iraq, Jordan, Congo, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Turkey, Ukraine and Germany worked together on ideas around the topics of diversity and innovation. The now popular exchange format, in which guest lecturers from Albania, Australia, England and India actively contributed ideas again, also inspired the students.

“Diversity boosts creativity and enables innovation. Thus, on all days of the seminar, you could see how the international guests in the small groups really added different perspectives and cultures and thus opened doors to unexpected and innovative ideas," summarizes Sebastian Berg, a student of the economics and social sciences faculty. In the context of the seminar, the students examined how different life perspectives can decisively increase creativity and innovative strength. An example of this is the inspiring idea of the so-called “frugal innovation”, a kind of “flickschusterei” that originated in India and Dr. Victor Anandkumar, a guest lecturer at the Indian partner university in Puducherry, was presented together with Natalia Obikhod from Ukraine. Those present experienced the art of transforming ordinary everyday objects into energy-efficient and environmentally friendly masterpieces. For example, poor people in hot climate regions receive affordable refrigerators without electricity through the use of humid clay.

“An important element of the event is that theoretical basics are repeatedly illustrated by examples, group discussions and simulations. This conveys why globally oriented ideas can provide answers to complex problems and how diversity in the workplace promotes innovation,” says Natalia Obikhod, a language/international employee. For the workshop, former ERASMUS+ exchange students were also recruited who gained a foothold in Remagen in the Rhineland after their semester abroad. In their workshop Creativity for Innovation, Ketevan Barbakadze from Georgia vividly showed the students that creativity is by no means an innate talent, but rather a muscle that can be successfully trained. Some students ventured on stage in their own interactive workshops. Krishna Kothamasu from India taught different meditation routines. Through the integration of breathing techniques into everyday work, one’s own openness to innovative ideas is to be promoted. For the participants, it became clear how to benefit from customs and traditions from other parts of the world. Of course, the social gathering was not neglected either. During the breaks and the networking sessions, the participants found time to exchange ideas with each other and make new contacts. Some students and teachers have even taken their first steps to plan their next international experience with the new contacts. Since the weekend seminar, Natalia Obikhod has been planning to attend the international conference on sustainable tourism in Tirana, Albania, which will take place in December 2023.