Welcoming remarks were given by Kathrin Moosdorf, Senator for Environment, Climate, and Science; Dr. Mandy Boehnke, Vice President for International Affairs, Academic Qualification, and Diversity at the University of Bremen; and Dr. Astrid Buschmann-G?bels, Deputy Director of the SZHB. The speakers emphasized the valuable contribution of the SZHB to language education, academic mobility, and the intercultural opening of Bremen as a site of higher education. Senator Kathrin Moosdorf remarked: "The Language Center of the Universities in the State of Bremen plays a central role in internationalization. It is not just a place where languages are taught. Here, language is understood as something that opens up access to the world and to knowledge, that invites respectful coexistence and leads to international networking and mobility. Globally networked universities strengthen research, make teaching more attractive and are good for students and researchers from all over the world. This also increases Bremen's importance as a research hub.

The musical accompaniment for the evening was provided by the duo Yaku, consisting of two students from the University of the Arts. An engaging panel discussion (moderated by Kate Stollmann and Astrid Buschmann-G?bels) with experts from the field of language teaching and learning provided insights into the topic “Language learning in higher education contexts – past, present, and future.”

Panelists

• Dr. Maike Engelhardt, Chair of the Working Group of Language Centers
• Jeremy Hookway, English lecturer at the SZHB at Bremen University of Applied Sciences
• Prof. Dr. em. Karin Kleppin, member of the SZHB's scientific advisory board
• Dr. B?rbel Kühn, former managing director of the SZHB

Pictures of the evening can be viewed here.

Thank you to all the guests who celebrated the 30th anniversary of the SZHB with us! We look back with pride on three successful decades of language work and look forward to many more years of cooperation – for a multilingual and cosmopolitan Bremen.