ALUMNI 2009/2010

Radek is the head of Marketing and Communication for Energie AG Wasser, a subsidiary company of Energie AG, the leading Upper Austrian infrastructure group both nationally and abroad. He studied at the Pedagogical Faculty of the University of South Bohemia. In 2009, he obtained a MBA degree from the Czech Management Institute in Prague and the Faculty of Management ESMA in Barcelona. Since 2000, he has been assisting the launch of the World ENERGY GLOBE Award for Sustainability, currently the most prominent and prestigious environmental award. He applied to the CGYPP to deepen his understanding of the relationships between the Czech Republic and the German-speaking countries, because as F. Kafka said: “Paths to the future are never like paths in front of us. They become paths only after we have started the journey.”

Ute is a speech writer within the Saxon State Ministry of Social Affairs and Consumer Protection. She studied Sociology and Cultural Sciences and earned her doctorate in the field of Interdisciplinary Technology Studies. By joining the CGYPP, she wants to learn more about innovation processes in both countries, in particular those concerning the social sector. In her experience innovation predominantly means technical innovations. In this usage, there is no place for social questions, the good of the community or a humane society. That is why she is interested in social innovations made bottom up and in the power of people to create a strong community under difficult conditions.

Martin works as a free-lance project manager for various Czech NGOs in the field of culture, arts or education and social work. He is also creative manager, production executive and theatre director of the theatre company ‘Depressed Children Long for Money’, an established Czech cultural organization working with progressive concepts of theatre. He also collaborates with the famous Czech alternative theatre The Goose on a String. He studied the ‘Social History of the 19th and 20th Centuries’ at the Charles University in Prague, is currently a fellow of social history. He is very interested in fund-raising, cultural animation, cultural management and the cooperation of cultural organizations with differing profiles and cooperation of cultural and non-cultural organizations.

Stephan is the Managing Director of the Institut für Angewandte Geschichte (Institute for Applied History). The NGO realizes, advises and funds cross-national history projects in Central and Eastern Europe. Additionally, he works as a travel guide on educational trips to the Czech Republic and Poland. He studied Cultural Sciences (with a focus on Central European history) in Frankfurt (Oder), Cracow and Brno. Within the CGYPP, he wanted to get a deeper insight into the social and economic situations in both countries.

Jan works in Czech radio as a journalist, specialized in Middle Eastern affairs but also covering more general questions regarding Asian politics, Judaism, Jewish-Christian relations, Arabs, Islam, terrorism, coexistence of cultures and many other topics. He is a political scientist by training (Universities in Prague and York, UK), with strong interests in Jewish Studies (Stockholm) and the Middle East (Jerusalem). His interest in participating in the CGYPP was motivated by his wish to reinvigorate his contacts with Germany, to learn more about German society and to meet new people from the Czech Republic’s largest neighboring country.

Armin works for the German publishing house Financial Gates, a subsidiary of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH. He is the Managing Editor of the business quarterly FINANCE Emerging Europe, a magazine dedicated to business and financial topics in CEE, Russia and the CIS. He received a M.A. degree in Political Economy of Post-Communist Transition from the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest and has since developed a strong personal affection for the region. Hence, he applied for the CGYPP for both professional and personal reasons and is looking forward to meeting interesting people from both Germany and the Czech Republic who want to foster intra-European cooperation.

Jan currently works as a communications consultant for Studio Z, a contract publishing agency in Prague, writing and editing content for various client magazines. Through his voluntary work for a non-profit organization Dolní Povltaví (Lower Vltava Valley), he is using his wealth of technological know-how to help explore ways in which new technologies can be deployed to advance the economical development of the region. He is also involved with Oživení (Revival), a local governance organization based in Prague. He started his professional career as a reporter at the Czech business daily, Hospodářské noviny. He also worked for T-Mobile, a leading Czech mobile network operator, as the in-house editor of customer and business publications.

Nina worked until end of July 2010 as a policy officer within the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of Brandenburg. From August 2010 on, she holds a new job at the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres in Berlin. Here she is responsible for the promotion of young scientists, and international cooperations. She studied Sociology at the Freie Universität Berlin and holds a Master’s degree in European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges. She is enthusiastic about the European project and ntercultural exchange, and curious to find out more about the Czech-German relations. The theme of CGYPP 2009/2010 was especially interesting for her as innovation and development are decisive topics within the field of science and research.

Lukáš works within the Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic where he deals with multilateral relations in the area of environment protection. He graduated in History at the Silesian University of Opava and then spent two years in London, where he worked and studied English. He applied for the CGYPP, because he was especially interested in the role of innovation and development in policies related to environment and was keen to gain an insight into the German innovation and development sector.

Felix works at the headquarters of the NABU-Foundation Nationales Naturerbe (German Foundation for the Protection of Nature). His tasks mainly involve finding nominees for an honorary office and the administration of real estate owned by the foundation. He studied Geo-Ecology and Tax Law in Germany and Spain. He is also very interested in environmental policy, the running and merging of the European countries over the last 20 years and the chances and possibilities we have for a common future.

Tereza works as a media specialist with Collegium Bohemicum, a non-profit cultural, research and educational organization dealing with Czech-German relations. She helps to prepare the very first permanent exhibition about the history of Czech Germans. She obtained a Bc. Degree in Journalism at Charles University in Prague and has contributed to several newspapers (currently MF Dnes, Právo). Her goal was to learn more about how the media can awaken an interest in young Czechs and Germans for their common history. She is a passionate traveler and reader, lives in Prague and spends much of her time in Berlin.

Christof works as a business analyst for the Berlin office of the risk and security consultancy, Control Risks. He is mainly responsible for research and the provision of services in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He holds a Master’s degree in Eastern European Studies from the Freie Universität of Berlin and a B.A. in International Business and Management. His studies focused on the Economics of Transformation and Economics of Resources. He is an avid supporter of European integration and is convinced that exchanges between individuals are the key for strong and profound alliances. In this spirit, he was happy to become part of CGYPP and have the chance to cooperate with like-minded people.