On the occasion of the change of the branch office management in Hanoi, the DAAD invited to an alumni meeting in Hanoi on 19/20 May under the title “Sustainability in Higher Education”. Around 200 alumni/ae and partners from Vietnam and the neighbouring countries of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar accepted the invitation, including DAAD President Prof. Mukherjee and former Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam and DAAD alumnus Prof. Nguyen Thien Nhan, the Deputy Minister of Education and Training and DAAD alumnus Assoc. Prof. Hoang Minh Son, the German Ambassador to Hanoi Dr. Guido Hildner, the President of the HTWG Konstanz Prof. Sabine Rein as well as several university presidents and rectors from Vietnamese universities. Felix Wagenfeld, the new head of the DAAD in Hanoi, also travelled to Vietnam.

The alumni meeting was an opportunity for the head of the DAAD in Hanoi, Stefan Hase-Bergen, to officially bid farewell to the alumni/ae and partners in Vietnam. The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) took this opportunity to thank and award the DAAD director, who is leaving after six years, for his work. Vice Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son presented him with the medal on behalf of the MoET in “recognition for the construction and development of Vietnam’s education”. This award is above all also to be understood as recognition for the DAAD’s many years of work in Vietnam.

For Felix Wagenfeld, the meeting offered the opportunity to personally introduce himself to all participants, as he will be heading the DAAD Regional Office in Hanoi from 1 November 2023. He was able to meet many important DAAD partners in person.

The meeting was also an occasion to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the DAAD branch office in Hanoi, which was founded in 2003 at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology. Among other things, Mr Viet Do-Minh, a staff member from the very beginning, led the participants through the past 20 years of the DAAD in Hanoi in an illustrated lecture.

After all the festivities at the beginning of the meeting, the participants then turned their attention to the actual topic. Prof. Han-Peter Benedikt from the HNE Eberswalde began with an introductory lecture pointing out the limits to growth in view of the looming climate catastrophe. This is a controversial thesis in an economically emerging country like Vietnam, a country that is very much affected by climate change, and it was discussed intensively accordingly. Other lectures followed, some of them very exciting, which illuminated the topic from different perspectives, including the lecture by Prof. Mukherjee, who spoke about “Sustainability in International Exchange and Cooperation”.

Speakers from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar also reported on the (sustainable) development of their universities or on current research on sustainability.

For many alumni/ae, the meeting was a welcome opportunity to meet again and for further networking, which could also be promoted at a large dinner.

(Stefan Hase-Bergen)