On 9 February, the time had finally come again: more than 100 economic geographers who graduated from Leibniz University Hannover met for the biannual alumni meeting at Leibniz Haus in Hannover's old town. After the last alumni meeting took place in the summer due to the coronavirus, the 14th Day of Economic Geography was held in February as usual. It was as usual - and yet very different. As always, there was a lot of networking, smiling reunions, plenty of food and drink and good old friendships were refreshed. In contrast, the programme was very different and much shorter. The newly elected (2022), significantly younger board successfully modified the format of the official part of the meeting. Firstly, the new Chairwoman, Juliane Bielinski, introduced the event and reported on developments in the WiGeoH association, the host for the evening, and the events of the past few months. She then called institute professors Rolf Sternberg and Ingo Liefner to the stage for a panel discussion. In a humorous atmosphere, they talked about the latest news at the institute, the main areas of research and teaching on the Master's programme. The crowning final was the awarding of prizes to the best Master's graduates of the last one and a half years. Board members Janina Hümer and Olaf Arndt honoured Lennart Grün and Maximilian Hoos, who both completed their Master's degree with an overall grade of 1.3. Both were given the opportunity to report on the topic of their Master's thesis and their current professional situation. Congratulations and all the best for their future careers, also from the WiGeoH!
Afterwards, all participants had the opportunity to round off the evening together with delicious food and various drinks. No matter who you spoke to during the evening, everyone spoke of a very successful alumni meeting. Many participants will see each other again at the other events planned by the association this year (e.g. the WiGeoH Salon in June) or at the 3rd WiGeo Evening in the Pferdestall (in 2025), before everyone meets again at the next alumni reunion in 2026. We are already looking forward to it!
For information on the WiGeoH events
Rolf Sternberg for the WiGeoH board