As well as developing concrete ideas for project work, a further focus was to introduce participants to the goals and concerns of local development cooperation. Participants were provided with more detailed information on the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The scholarship holders thus gained an impression of the challenges and opportunities that might present themselves in a municipal partnership. Moreover, they gained a keener understanding of the role that they themselves would play in this setting during their three- to six-month internships in municipalities in Germany and abroad.
Overall the network meeting was rated very positively by all participants. They saw the opportunities for sharing ideas, the insights into international municipal development cooperation, and the fresh ideas for day-to-day work in projects as very worthwhile. For example, one participant emphasised that she has now gained a better understanding of communication within the municipal partnerships. Others agreed that they would be leaving the network meeting as friends, and would like to meet up again in the near future.
