The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy
Internship report: Jessica Sama Student Number: S2959089
Study: MA International Relations and International Organizations Organization: Institute for Cultural Diplomacy
Location: Berlin
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Table of Contents:
Introduction ... 2
Why I chose this internship ... 2
Expectations and Learning Goals ... 3
The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy ... 4
How I found an accommodation in Berlin ... 5
Placement period ... 5
Organization of panel discussions at the ICD Academy: linking my studies to the placement ... 6
Writing articles about Cultural Diplomacy and other relevant political issues ... 8
Last month as Team Leader: new future possibilities ... 9
My contribution and ICD opportunities ... 9
Lack of a proper supervision... 10
Conclusion ... 11
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Introduction
From May 2, 2016 till August 31, 2016 I was an intern at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) based in Berlin. Berlin is the capital of Germany and the heart of Germany's political and diplomatic actions, nevertheless, of several international organizations and Ngos which are located there. The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy's aims are those of creating a bridge between cultures, in order to avoid conflicts and civilizations' clashes. In fact, the current political situation worldwide emphasizes the growing need for a greater cultural dialogue, understanding and trust. Therefore, the work of the Institute is indeed focus on raising awareness and give support for activities that promote global peace, stability and prosperity.
The Institute was founded in 1999 and its headquarters are located in Germany and USA. In this placement report, I will review my experience at ICD. I will first describe why I chose this particular internship and how I prepared myself for it, enlightening my expectations and my learning goals. Then, I will clarify the work of the Institute, offering a short description of its main activities. After, I will describe my tasks at the Institute, providing a complete overview of my placement, which includes their supervision, my working attitude, and my own learning process.
Finally, I will provide a brief reflection as to what extent my expectations were not completely fulfilled, as well as an analysis of the difficulties and problems that I faced. In the last chapter, I will evaluate my overall experience, trying to also provide helpful information for future interns, who also want to undertake an internship period at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy.
Why I chose this internship
As Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, president of the ICD Advisory Board and former Prime Minister of Spain, affirmed: "The main task of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy is peace. It is dialogue. It is the relationship between peoples, cultures and civilizations."1
When I first received the e-mail from the Institute asking me to undertake an interview with them, I didn't have a clear image of what Cultural Diplomacy actually was. So, I started searching for it, and I began to discover this brand new diplomatic world, that takes culture as a prominent tool against war. I was completely fascinated by it, and after having read some research papers and watched some panel discussions about the issue, I realized that indeed culture can serve as a useful and effective tool for avoiding conflict everywhere; it is in fact avoiding cross-cultural misunderstandings that we can overcome cultural clashes which can further escalate.
Cultural Diplomacy is part of the so-called public diplomacy, based on economics, politics and, indeed, culture.2
1 www.culturaldiplomacy.org
3 What has fascinated me the most is that it owns a substantial difference that makes it unique: cultural diplomacy can be carried out also by non-governmental organizations and non-profit ones (as for instance the ICD), not only by institutions and corporations. This provides to it a different moral position: the lack of profit (financial or geopolitical), attaches a peaceful and important moral function to the organizations working in the field of Cultural Diplomacy.
When I was searching on Internet more details, I realized that one of the leading Institutions in the field was actually the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy. In fact, it looked as the most active and the most relevant organization in promoting the spread of this unique tool. Moreover, it had various important supporters in the political and diplomatic field all over the world (several ministers, presidents etc..) who were openly and actively endorsing its actions. Therefore, my curiosity started to rise and I began asking myself: how can we transform culture in a more widespread tool for reaching an effective dialogue beyond diversity? How can we protect and promote our cultural heritage, despite the sharp increase in cultural clashes even within Europe? In the light of my findings, I thought that an internship at the ICD would have surely helped me to get a broader and clearer view about the topic, and why not, maybe providing me a new career path in this important and underestimate field.
Last but not least, thanks to this internship, I would have had the chance to return to one of my favourite city in Europe: Berlin. I have been there several times for studying German, and I had such great memories, that I could not believe I had again the opportunity to live there. The city's unique multicultural spirit and the endless possibilities that it offers, made it for me the best place for undertaking this new exiting adventure towards my future.
Expectations and Learning Goals
Besides all the required things to do as housing, flights etc... I also wanted to prepare me for the internship itself. As I mentioned before, I did not have a broad spectrum of knowledge about Cultural Diplomacy as a soft power tool, therefore, I tried to learn more about the subject before my arrival. Moreover, prior to my departure to Berlin, I had also created a number of personal learning objectives. First of all, during my Master course in Groningen, I had realized that I strongly needed to enhance my English writing skills as well as strengthen my oral ones; I thought that a place like ICD, with lots of students from all over the world, would have been the perfect place for achieving my goals. Plus, given that they would have provided me the possibility to organize conferences and panel discussions, I could have surely improved my
communications skills and organizational abilities. My goals were:
4 - improve my networking skills: gain experience in international organizations and the work of Ngos; develop myself in a professional way. Expand my professional network.
- deepen my knowledge about Cultural Diplomacy and other soft power tools
These goals seemed to me realistic enough for being achieved, and, I was looking forward to do so. Therefore, my expectations before starting the placement were positive and hopeful. The tasks that my host organization was usually given to interns sounded exciting and challenging, and many of them were also connected to my curriculum and my previous studies. Moreover, the Skype conversation that I had with the host organization was friendly and promising.
The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy
As I mentioned before, one of the Institute’s primary goal is to encourage the use of Cultural Diplomacy throughout the world. The Institute's aims and principles are the recognition of cultural diversity and the respect of it, enhancing the global intercultural dialogue, justice, equality, the protection of international human rights and global peace and stability.3 As the President and member of the ICD advisory board Fausto Pocar has enlightened: “The ICD´s ultimate goal is to promote global peace and stability by strengthening and supporting intercultural relations at all levels".4
The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy is a nongovernmental organization that promotes, through the organization of conferences on hot topics (from the economy to human rights, from tourism to minorities, up to genocide), a peaceful exchange between cultures of different countries and continents, based on the mutual sharing of traditions, music and art. Cultural Diplomacy uses culture as a bridgehead to undermine stereotypes and shorten distances between civilizations. In order to achieve these goals, the Institute often holds international conferences, symposiums and panel discussions to spread the message of mutual understanding.5
After having worked in this field for several months, I came to realize that undoubtedly, understanding the traditional musical genre of a country, or each different natural and artistic side, can help you feel closer to the “foreigner”, more than only by reading newspapers or watching videos on Internet.
As a result, over the past decade, the ICD has become an independent cultural exchange organizations, hosting several meetings with the aim of facilitating the interaction among individuals coming from all cultural, academic and professional backgrounds.
As I said before, the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy conducts its major projects in partnership with global organizations, national governments, international corporations and leading academic institutions, in order to actually develop and promote the field of Cultural Diplomacy. Each project has the minimum length of
3 http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/index.php?en_abouticd
4 http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/index.php?en_abouticd
5 10 years, is open to the public, and is conducted internationally, taking place in different major cities and regions around the world.6
How I found an accommodation in Berlin
I arrived in Berlin on May 1st. Before leaving Italy, I had tried to find an accommodation for having a place to stay once there. So, for the whole month of April, I contacted people through Facebook, Airbnb and other websites (WG-Gesucht was the most useful one).
Fortunately, I found through Facebook a girl who was giving her room for a week in a really nice neighbourhood in Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg.
I contacted her, and when I arrived to the city, I had a place to stay. I was sure that seven days would have been enough for finding a nice place, so I was not worried at that time. However, I soon realized that things in Berlin had changed a lot since my last visit three years ago. Not only, it was more difficult to find a room, but also the price range had increased (200-400 to 300-600 euro). In total, I have sent about 80 emails, and after seven days, I was again at the starting point. The competition was really fierce and demand far
exceeded supply (at least in the central areas, where I want to remain). I met many people who were looking for a long-term room in the last 2 months, without being able to find the right place.
While I was searching for a flat, I stayed at one of my colleagues’ place; It was really stressful to finish working at 5 and then go searching for a place for hours and hours, but eventually, 2 weeks later, after having seen more than 10 houses, I found a really wonderful room close to Mauerpark; quite far from my workplace, but situated in a calm and nice area. Nowadays in Berlin, you will hardly find the home of your dreams at the first attempt; they will always be too small, too expensive, too dark, too much out of town or simply the owners will just choose someone else. Therefore, my advice for future interns who are going to Berlin is to try in any way to find a long-term room before arriving there, for avoiding stress and anxiety.
Placement period
After the conclusion of my four months’ internship period, I can easily state that I have managed to achieve and outperform several career and personal goals, which I had set out for myself before starting this experience.
First of all, I have understood that as a student of international relations I can really make a difference in improving diplomatic and peaceful relationships among countries in the world; thanks to my involvement in the work of the Institute, I came to realize that there are several easy ways which any human being,
government or organization can use for promoting peace worldwide.
6 For instance, we can use cultural interchange as a tool that prevents disputes, that helps to collaborate and to strengthen relations with one another. For example, we can enrich ourselves while travelling, that, as the ICD states on its website, can transform us in real “cultural ambassadors”.
In my opinion, in the light of all the patriotic and xenophobic feelings that we are experiencing among citizens worldwide, we strongly need organizations, such as the ICD, which operate for encouraging people, coming from international bodies and governments, to cooperate and to build relations between each other.
Therefore, I was very happy of having the chance to operate and gain experience in this important field. One of the thing which I have appreciate the most has been that of being able to finally put in practice what I learned during my academic path. In fact, before starting this job experience, I have never had the
possibility of converting my knowledge into practice. Many topics, such as security and gender studies, that I studied during my Master degree at the University of Groningen, have been very helpful during the work at the ICD. Moreover, I have further developed several strategic personal skills, such as learning how to effectively research, how to organize the workload and how to manage time under specific deadlines. Nonetheless, this experience has given me the opportunity of improving my career prospects; If before I was discouraged about my future job possibilities in a Ngo, now, I really believe that an experience in such a large and well interconnected institution will have a positive influence on my future professional path. Before this experience, I have only had part-time jobs without any relevant link with what I was studying. The fact that this internship was a full time one, five days a week in the field of my studies, has represented to me a great step towards the accomplishment of my career’s goals, and it is one of the most important highlights of this experience.
Likewise, it gave me the chance to interact within a multicultural group, which was such a phenomenal personal experience, that I will always remember it, because I have not only worked for bringing different cultures closer, but I have been able to bring also me closer to the others, and overcome many cultural clashes.
Organization of panel discussions at the ICD Academy: linking my studies to the
placement
7 it was really helpful and important for me, and I will never forget how I was able to conduct the discussion, raise important questions and research sensitive issues.
During my placement, I had also the chance to meet very important people in the diplomatic field, such as ambassadors, delegates, members of Asian and African Parliaments. This has for sure helped me to create my own professional network. Moreover, I had the possibility to interview some of them, a thing that I will never forget.
For instance, I had the chance to interview the MP Ali Soubaneh Atteyeh, President of the Legislation Commission and of the General Administration of the African Parliamentary Union, The Hon. Yasar Yakis, former Foreign Minister of Turkey, the Hon. Rashed Al Balooshi, CEO of the Abu Dhabi Stoke Exchange, the Hon. Hassan Diab Former Minister of Education of Lebanon and Idriss Benarafa Editor-in-Chief of The Moroccan Times.
- Here are my interviews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2chzhE7DyE&list=PLiGDGkY72HQbw H1zfFUBPcXphXq_V7zsg&index=46 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgV1DFaYIl8&list=PLiGDGkY72HQbwH 1zfFUBPcXphXq_V7zsg&index=47 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3wSEKtiBjA&list=PLiGDGkY72HQbwH1 zfFUBPcXphXq_V7zsg&index=53 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t6pM6OS0r4&list=PLiGDGkY72HQbwH 1zfFUBPcXphXq_V7zsg&index=56
Through these interviews, I managed to do my own research, and consequently, to improve my thesis' writing process. Finally, directors showed specific interest for my skills and gave me motivation to develop my own project presented during the conference, especially about gender equality in the Arab world, one of the best learning experience that I had.
8 This experience was quite challenging as I had little background in it and no experience in organizing such big events, but at the end, it made me proud of myself. In fact, by the time the conference started, I became more comfortable and skilled.
I was given, along with other three interns, the task of doing all the interviews with the speakers of the conference, to raise some relevant questions during the discussions, and sometimes to present the Institute to the hosts invited. In the light of this, I can affirm that eventually I enjoyed being challenged, because I discovered what I can do and how much I can expect from myself. Moreover, this experience strongly increased my team skills, because for organizing this conference we all interns had to work and behave like a team.
Sometimes, this proved to be challenging, because of the difficulty of making a common work among more than twenty people, all coming from different places in the world. However, eventually, the difficulties have force me to raise my limits and discover new abilities that I could not even know before. I became more organized, creative and collaborative. I learned how to behave in a team and how to overcome difficulties without raising conflicts, in order to reach a successful common result.
Writing articles about Cultural Diplomacy and other relevant political issues
Throughout all my internship experience, except for the last month, one of my primary activity was writing articles for the two online magazines that the Institute owns for raising awareness about the importance of using cultural exchange for overcome disputes and conflicts.One magazine was mainly about diplomatic, cultural and political events happening in Berlin. The other was about cultural diplomacy’s news and activities happening all over the world. I really enjoyed also this part of my internship, and I noticed that over the course of the placement period, my writing and research skills improved, along with the capacity of finding the right news for the daily different topic the director was assigning to us. I gained further knowledge about diplomatic and political issues, and seeing my article and my opinions published has represented a great accomplishment for me. Moreover, I had strict deadlines to respect, so I had to ensure that all my duties got done in time.
Researching has also given me the possibility to refresh my German skills, as many times, especially for the events happening in Berlin, I had to search further details in German; this was helpful for the language’s aspect and gave me the possibility to obtain more responsibilities. I also learned how to create a healthy competitivity within a group. In fact, not all the articles could be published, and sometimes a work that you thought was great at the end was not what the director or the team leaders were searching.
Moreover, I improved my computer skills, as for example I had to use Excel or PowerPoint daily. -Is it possible to find some of my articles here:
9 http://www.cd-n.org/index.php?is-a-new-femokratie-coming http://www.cd-n.org/index.php?e-government-at-the-top-of-the-agenda-of-the-germannordic-parliamentary-friendship-group http://www.cd-n.org/index.php?is-mein-kampf-worth-reading http://www.berlinglobal.org/index.php?how-techno-unified-post-wall-berlin
Last month as Team Leader: new future possibilities
One of the most challenging, and at the same time, satisfying moments during my internship was having the chance to continue working there for another month as team leader of the team where I was working during the first three months.
At the beginning, I found this to be too much challenging for me, and I felt I was not enough prepared for that role. Fortunately, I tried to think that It would have been I great opportunity for developing good leadership, relational and organizational skills. Moreover, it represented a good chance in terms of finding a future employment. So, I accepted the position.
I was coordinating the Europe Team, but I had to cooperate with all the other teams in order to organize important events. Considering that interns at ICD all came from different countries, just to name a few Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, France, Canada etc... divided in specific groups, sometimes it was difficult to coordinate all the work. However, besides all the difficulties at the beginning, I can say that I am very happy to have had the chance of leading a team. In fact, it has not only improved my organizational skills but it has also gave me the unique opportunity to interact with my colleagues at a personal level; I had to help some interns in enhancing their writing skills, when they were required to write articles; I had to help them to overcome the first difficulties like finding their own role within the team, how to collaborate etc... Therefore, I can say that becoming a team leader has helped me to develop new skills, and especially, it has provided me professional abilities that will surely be crucial in the future. Thanks to this final experience, my public speaking skills improved massively; In fact, as team leader I had to attend meeting also in front of all the interns. At the beginning, I found it very difficult, as I had always struggled with speaking in front of so many people. However, the more I spoke at these meeting, the more confident I became, and at the end, I grew much self-assured in myself.
All these new achievements have made the best part of my internship along with the amazing people I met.
My contribution and ICD opportunities
10 For me, this represented a great feature of the placement, plus, a good opportunity of doing something relevant in my field of study.
Immediately, I was strong willed to obtain an interview with the Italian ambassador to Germany, but unfortunately, I came to realize from my team leader that usually Italian representatives do not grant press conferences.
Consequently, I started to call the various embassies in Berlin, trying to schedule a possible interview. Of course, it was not easy, as I had to continually phone them, send them emails and look professional. Moreover, I had to figure out all the logistical aspects needed to ensure an appointment, as sort out time, date and setting. Plus, I had to coordinate all the people needed, such as securing a photographer, a camera and a camera man for a specific day. Thanks to this opportunity, I came to realize how much I was confident with myself, with my communication and organizing skills. Furthermore, I discovered how determined I am in achieving my goals. Sometimes, I was disappointed when people did not reply to me or decline my invitation, but at the end, I managed to stay calm and solve all the problems.
Another event that I remember as one of the best experiences in which I could give my contribution was the conference before the Brexit referendum. A very interesting experience, where I had the chance to obtain a full insight into the issue making relevant questions to the hosts invited. Another great chance to improve my knowledge on themes on which I did not have a broad spectrum of knowledge was the conference about the peace process within the Balkans. As I had little knowledge on the issue, before the event took place, I tried to gain more insights about it. Consequently, I was able to contribute to the discussion raising relevant questions to the experts invited.
Another great input I could give to the Institute was the fact of being able to find important political and diplomatic events happening all around Berlin, where I could go, take notes and pictures, and then writing articles for the two ICD’s online magazines. For instance, one of the most significant was the Asian- Pacific Week held in Berlin from May 23rd to June 3rd. For an entire week, I took part to the various events planned, and then I wrote pertinent articles about the most relevant themes faced there.
Lack of a proper supervision
11 However, at the end of June, and especially at the end of July, many team leader left, and the situation rapidly changed. For the new ones, there was not a clear and structured situation and many times we, interns, had to guide them. During the summer, a lot of new interns arrived, so we grew so much in number that was quite impossible to control everything and everybody. Anyway, I was working there in the past 2 month and a half so I already had a clear image of what I had to do.
Moreover, I need to state that the lack of supervision in the last period forced me to become more autonomous and self-conscious; I realized that I have a strong will of working for achieving my personal goals without being controlled and forced all the time.
Conclusion
- Personal evaluation and tips for other students
Personally, I am very happy to have had the opportunity to do this internship at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy. Besides the overall lack of a proper supervision, this placement gave me so many great chances to obtain new skills and to grow, that I don’t regret having worked there.
I also gained new important skills, such as being able to communicate in public, being able to organize important events, and nonetheless, to have the capacity of working in a big and heterogeneous team. I met so many interesting people from all over the world, who are now my friends. I have so many great
memories with them that I will never forget this experience. Moreover, I discovered that I really enjoy working in the diplomatic field, and it is likely something that I will take on again after my graduation. Even if before this experience, I was more focus on gaining skills in the commercial area, now I can affirm that in the future I will take also in consideration the diplomatic and political area.
Concerning the placement, I need to say that it is up to you what to learn from this experience. It can be useful depending on your attitude towards it, and on what you are capable of making out of it. Many people there are actually gathering valuable skills, such as know how to research topics, organize important events, as well as learn more about foreign cultures and about the field of Cultural Diplomacy. It is very much a situation where you can make out of it what you want; people who put in a lot of efforts often receive satisfaction out of their work. However, without a proper supervision, most of them find it difficult to stick to the working hours and to the duties they need to accomplish. As I said before, I must say that for me was an opportunity to discover how much I can be a proficient and valuable worker, even without a proper supervision, and this made me realize how mature I am. I am proud of what I have done, and what I accomplished there, and therefore, I feel I would recommend an internship at ICD only to students that trust themselves and their working attitude.
