Stiftung Mercator

More and more young people nowadays are choosing to spend a period of time abroad while still at school or university, which is a good thing too given that foreign travel fosters individual development and plays a major role in forming character. What is more, it is of central importance for young people to acquire an understanding of foreign countries and cultures in order for the foundations to be laid for people to live together in peace, harmony and democracy worldwide. This is one of the reasons why we have decided to devote this edition of 51° to the theme of “International Exchange”.

Stiftung Mercator has long been committed to providing young people and upcoming managers with an opportunity to experience other values, attitudes and ways of life. Within the framework of our strategy “Mercator 2013: Inspiring Ideas. Achieving Objectives”, we launched Mercator Exchange in 2010, a new umbrella organization for all of Stiftung Mercator’s exchange programmes that is specifically oriented towards our focal regions of Europe, China and Turkey. Under this single roof, the programmes will be strategically expanded and further developed. Our goal is to offer as many people as possible the chance to travel to each other’s countries, gain an impression of local life, learn about the country’s culture and make new friends.

In this edition of 51° we will introduce you to some of our programmes, report on the meeting of Mercator fellows in Israel and Palestine and, of course, also give the young people themselves an opportunity to have their say. In the opening interview, State Secretary (Retired) Klaus Scharioth, the German ambassador in Washington until last June and the new director of the Mercator Fellowship, talks about his own experiences abroad and explains which goals the Fellowship is pursuing and where he sees the biggest global challenges in the future. Our thanks goes to the outgoing director Heimo Richter for his outstanding commitment and excellent work. He will continue to belong to the Mercator Community.

Furthermore, US foundations expert Kenneth Prewitt will be talking about the socio-political role played by private foundations and explaining the scope they have to achieve impact. We will also be presenting our new Language Through Art project to you and reporting on the charitable organization Phineo. We will take a look back at this year’s Mercator Lecture, within the framework of which we launched a forward-looking collaboration with Sabanci University in Turkey. In April we decided to invest around nine million euros in German/European-Turkish relations over the next few years. In Sabanci University we have now found a strategic partner who will provide us with crucial support in this context.