The “German Spring Festival” organized by the German Embassy in Tallinn, Estonia, is an annual highlight of German-Estonian cooperation in the fields of art, culture, economics and science. This year, Brandenburg was a partner of the festival. The GFZ used this special opportunity to extend its scientific links with Estonia. From 6-8 May 2024, the Scientific Director and Spokesperson of the Executive Board, Prof. Susanne Buiter, and the Head of the “Projects and International Affairs” Department, Dr. Ludwig Stroink, were therefore in the northernmost of the three Baltic states. The program included visits to the Tallinn University of Technology and the University of Tartu. The highlight was a German-Estonian panel discussion on “Global Change Research - Perspectives from Estonia and Germany” at the residence of the German ambassador, Annette Klein.

“Building on existing scientific cooperations with Estonian universities, we were able to establish further valuable contacts during our visit. We want to expand these in the future,” stated Prof. Buiter during the panel discussion. The event took place in close cooperation with the “Ministry of Finance and Europe of the State of Brandenburg (MdFE)”, which was represented by its Head of Department “European Affairs”, Reiner Kneifel-Haverkamp.