Bosch Alumni Network - Driving Change

The special “encounter
culture” makes this setting
a so-called impact
place. One feels at home from the very
beginning. In this way, the campus of the
Helga Breuninger Foundation is more
than an event location for the 9th edition
of the BoschAlumniForum. The format
was developed by the association MitOst
and has been carried out in cooperation
with the International Alumni Center (iac
Berlin) since 2017. Beyond the special
location, the participatory design of the
three-day program, which provides formats
for exchange and open spaces for
reflection, also plays an important role in
en abling network members to effectively
work together.
Every edition of the Forum is dedicated to
a current societal topic. This year everything
centers on the question of how we
want to work in the future. “I studied political
science and am among the lucky people
who were able to turn their hobby
into a job,” says Alexandra, Policy Officer
for Issues concerning the Federal Government
and the Federal States in the Scientific
Authority in Hamburg. Before the start
of her career, she never thought she would
be able to turn her passion for politics into
a living. On this June weekend, she is
Impact places
Just like the iac Berlin Community
Space ( p.44), Paretz is among
the network of impact places which
is being developed worldwide, where
participants are treated as guests
and the unique atmosphere fosters
transformation processes. The Bosch-
AlumniForum took place there for the
second time. More than 40 former fellows
of the Robert Bosch Stiftung from
14 different programs and 7 different
countries participated.
therefore eager to talk about the purpose
of work with other alumni.
The working world is in upheaval: since people
feel more and more alienated from work,
disorders like burnout and depression
have been on the rise. In order to experience
work in a meaningful way against this
complex background, scientist Dr. Friedericke
Hardering presents concepts of new
work in her keynote speech on Saturday
morning. For instance, there‘s the model
of “mixed work,” according to which our
entire work should consist of one quarter
each of gainful, self-subsistence, community
and personal work.
After this theoretical, discursive introduction
to the concept of work, the alumni
spend the afternoon in small groups, trying
out new types of work: they develop
an entrepreneurial model according to the
principle of self-organization, which is
based on group intelligence and dispersed
leadership. They learn how to program a
mini computer and use the method of systemic
consensus to improve group decisionmaking
processes.
In a Pro Action Café on Sunday, the alumni
have the opportunity to discuss their own
ideas and to find new partners.
“Here cooperation prevails in stead
of competition. People want to
create something together and
drive it forward,”
is how Alexandra describes the atmosphere.
A fair number of projects have come
about from it, such as local meet-ups in
Vienna and in the Rhineland, a peer-to-peer
counselling for women or a conceptional
design for a social insurance for solofreelancers.
In the weeks and months
ahead, the alumni will be implementing
these and many more ideas.
The ideas gathered at
the Pro Action Café are
then discussed in the
plenary meeting.
Photo: Nina Linkel
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