From the end of November our colleague Christopher Haarbeck will be taking paternity leave – it will be a special moment since he is the first of our employees to leave us for a longer period of time. We wish him all the best for the months ahead are looking forward to his return in May 2014. The rest of the team will divide the additional tasks between them.
Having released our first CD containing simulation game materials and introductions to the European Union’s institutions, here comes a new CD with a simulation game (German and English) about the impending European elections! If you have been looking for an innovative and creative way of working on the topic of European elections with your pupils, you’ve come to the right place! If you are interested, please email a.schneider@planpolitik.de
After a long “drought period” we were finally able to go back to working academically – which, by the way, was not so easy…we were invited to two international conferences ion simulation games as a method in order to present the methods advantages from our perspective as “practitioners”. Both papers will be published next year. Should you be interested in reading them before then, do not hesitate to contact us.
Neulich auf einer Veranstaltung in Bonn hatten wir die Ehre, mit Kurt Beck, dem neuen Vorstand der Friedrich Ebert Stiftung und Ex-Ministerpräsidenten von Rheinland-Pfalz, sowie 90 Schülerinnen und Schülern über soziale Gerechtigkeit zu diskutieren. Es entwickelte sich eine richtig gute, lebhafte und offene Diskussion, in der sich Kurt Beck immer wieder auf kritische Nachfragen der Teilnehmenden einließ. Anschließend zeigte er sich angenehm überrascht, wie politisch die Diskussionen gewesen seien.
Just a few weeks ago, we announced a job vacancy for a web developer in this very newsletter. Since then, “planpolitik digital” has morphed from just an idea into a full-blown project – we’ve been working on its implementation since the beginning of October. As a result our team has expanded considerably, with Lars Harzem as web developer and Alex Wildhagen as designer. This is completely new territory for us, and all the more exciting for it. Accordingly, the team have been working with great enthusiasm. We’ll keep you posted! Should you have any questions about the project, feel free to contact project manager Konstantin Kaiser at kaiser@planpolitik.de
A small but definitive change to our logo (see www.planpolitik.ch) has marked the official opening of our first branch outside Germany. Where if not in Switzerland? After returning to her beautiful homeland, planpolitik employee of many years Martina Herrmann is offering simulation games and workshops for Swiss education institutions on behalf of planpolitik. We wish her the best of luck! And for anyone who would like to suggest possible clients and partners: drop Martina a line at hermann@planpolitik.ch
Another first – for the first time, planpolitik is a partner in a Europe-wide EU-funded project. It’s project-managed by the NGO “Dinamo” from Portugal. The project is called EDC for All – Qualifying and Mainstreaming Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC) within Europe“. Our main task will be to develop an innovative game on “Democracy And Citizenship” as well as adapting and translating both a Europe-wide Charter on EDC and a manual for its use into German. Plus we’ll be travelling to Portugal at least four times over the next two years.