Intercultural Project
Connecting Culture, Empowering Sustainability
Intercultural Exchange Story
More than 7,000 kilometers separate the Hans-Ehrenberg School in Bielefeld from the Collège Henri Vieter in Yaoundé. Yet, through a video conference, the students of the geography elective course got a glimpse into a Cameroonian classroom, while the Cameroonian German learners got to see a German classroom. They waved at each other and asked questions: How many hours of school do you have per week? How do you get to school? How many siblings do you have?
While some were surprised that students in Cameroon spend 45 hours a week at school and that many go to school by taxi, others were amazed by the small family sizes in Germany and the fact that students in Germany do not wear school uniforms.
The German students noticed that the school in Cameroon was very large and that every student had a computer in front of them. The Cameroonian students, on the other hand, were struck by how fast the German students spoke.
The virtual exchange project in Germany was led by Lisa Mauritz (Research Associate and PhD candidate on virtual exchange in the field of German as a Foreign Language at Bielefeld University, and consultant for anti-racist education at vielfalt bewusst leben) in cooperation with teacher Laurenz Steinmeier. In Cameroon, the project was coordinated by Liliane Diffo (German teacher and chairperson of LiSy Creative Education Cameroon) in collaboration with teacher Solange Doumbe.
For five weeks, in February and March 2025, the two groups got to know each other virtually and exchanged ideas in German via WhatsApp videos, audios, and photos on the topic of sustainability – a topic that concerns us all and can only be addressed through global cooperation. From the WhatsApp audios, seven podcast episodes were created at the end of the project, each focusing on one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In these episodes, the students discussed the roles that the topics of poverty (SDG 1), hunger (SDG 2), health (SDG 3), gender inequality (SDG 5), reduced inequalities (SDG 10), sustainable consumption (SDG 12), and climate action (SDG 13) play in their countries and daily lives — what worries them and what gives them hope. In the end, both groups reflected on what they had learned from the virtual exchange project.
Throughout the project, the students engaged deeply with global challenges and reflected on their own responsibilities by working with texts about the different SDGs from https://17ziele.de/ and by exchanging their own thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
The results of the exchange can be listened to on YouTube and Spotify:
Key Objectives
- ✅ Foster intercultural dialogue between students in Germany and Cameroon.
- ✅ Explore global interdependencies through specific SDGs.
- ✅ Develop digital, linguistic, and collaborative skills.
- ✅ Inspire participants to reflect on their impact and take action for sustainability.
What We Do
- ✅ Weekly virtual exchanges via Zoom, WhatsApp, and Padlet.
- ✅ Group discussions and activities on topics like climate action, gender equality, and responsible consumption.
- ✅ Joint creation of a podcast to share insights and ideas with a global audience.
Key Themes
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Key Themes: The project centers on seven Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
- ✅ SDG 1: No Poverty
- ✅ SDG 2: Zero Hunger
- ✅ SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
- ✅ SDG 5: Gender Equality
- ✅ SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
- ✅ SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
- ✅ SDG 13: Climate Action
Expected Impact
- ✅ Strengthened intercultural understanding between Cameroonian and German students and teachers, fostering global citizenship.
- ✅ Enriched teaching and learning through exchange of pedagogical practices, cultural insights and language skills.
- ✅ Expanded networks of collaboration between schools, institutions and communities in Cameroon and Germany.
- ✅ Enhanced motivation of learners by exposure to new cultural contexts and real-life global connections.
- ✅ Increased capacity of educators to integrate intercultural and multilingual content into curricula, improving relevance and engagement.
Get involved
- ✅ Sponsor exchange activities or virtual collaboration sessions between partner schools in Cameroon and Germany.
- ✅ Donate resources for intercultural workshops: laptops, cameras, materials for virtual exchanges, translation tools.
- ✅ Volunteer as a guest in intercultural sessions—share your culture, language or professional experience with participants.
- ✅ Provide funding or in-kind support for logistics: travel grants, cultural materials, translation/interpretation services.
- ✅ Promote and share the project through your networks: help raise visibility, recruit partners and participants, amplify impact.