Alumni
IAF Alumni
Once IAF always IAF - connected in friendship
Have you ever been to Germany? Yes, in Gummersbach! Anyone who asks this question anywhere in the world and gets this answer can be quite sure: I am talking to a former IAF participant. But it is not only the location of the academy that the participants remember: it is abut all the encounters with like-minded people from different countries and distant continents; first-hand information about life in hitherto foreign countries; the realisation that many problems are similar after all, and the joy of being able to exchange ideas openly and freely and to develop them further. And: that after one or two weeks you go home again in the certainty that you have friends all over the world who are then also happy when you visit them, should you come to their country.
The connection does not break, not least through the lively exchange in social media groups even years after a seminar visit and recently also through additional educational offers for alumni online. Seminars and workshops that follow on from the face-to-face seminars and bring together different "cohorts" are one of the formats. In-depth discussions on liberal and/or current political topics with interesting guests on Thursdays as part of the "Zoomersbach Zursday" series are another.
The events organised exclusively for alumni over and above the regular seminar offers are children of the Corona caused restrictions, will be maintained beyond these and will certainly have further siblings in the future. Together, our alumni, friends, colleagues and partners can better achieve their goals - the network that has grown over the IAF will help them to do so.
Just so useful to have a sharing of ideas across the globe - a short input into a busy week / month that reminds us why we do what we do.