Information about STUBE-BW

STUBE is a development-oriented education programme for students from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Students from Germany and other European countries, who are interested in developmental issues and in people from other continents are also cordially welcomed. STUBE offers seminars on a variety of interesting topics, which supplement the core studies and are related to global issues and specific situations in the home countries of the participants. The STUBE-BW seminars are cross-cultural and practice-oriented. STUBE-BW is open for students of all disciplines, religious beliefs and cultures. STUBE-BW facilitates exchange and networking among the participants as well as helps them in establishing contact to active NGOs and other organizations. STUBE-BW imparts global learning. Global learning aims at uncovering and understanding global interconnections and mutual dependencies between the countries of the North and the South.

Why the need for STUBE?

STUBE believes, that students, who leave home for studies in Germany are the key players for future change in their countries. In order to achieve this, students need to be equipped with development-oriented knowledge and get to know global, development-related issues as well as contrive solution approaches.

STUBE programme helps students acquire the required skills and knowledge, in order for them to become competent professionals and managers in their home countries. It enables them to integrate the global context in their future decision-making taking into account the specific developmental needs of their countries.

STUBE-BW programme offers:

 STUBE’s range of offers is characterized by the following:

Development education, awareness-building and qualification
In the STUBE seminars students receive information about important developmental topics and discuss a variety of related issues. That is how they are being sensitized and qualified in regard to global questions and opportunities for development in their home countries.

Exchange between students from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe
There is plenty of time for an exchange during STUBE seminars. Students not only swap knowledge about global issues and specific situations in their home countries, but also information about life and studies in Germany.

Cross-cultural, interfaith and multidisciplinary orientation
Students from 15 countries from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe attend STUBE seminars on an average. They study most varied subjects, come from various cultural backgrounds and belong to different faiths. That makes STUBE seminars per se cross-cultural and interfaith. Conceptual exchange is deliberately kept on a multidisciplinary level.

Networking
Many participants of STUBE seminars keep in touch after the seminars and continue networking within their peer groups. They use these networks to support each other in regard to studies, career choices or social commitment. They also maintain close contact to the representatives of civil societies.

Students‘ participation
We make sure that the STUBE seminars are as participative as possible. We discuss a lot in working groups, engage in role plays and other participative methods alongside expert presentations. There is an annual planning workshop, where students can make proposals for seminar topics for the coming year and hence help define the seminar programme. We also invite qualified students to assist seminar facilitators and/or make their contribution to the seminar as an expert speaker.

Interdisciplinarity and cooperation with other institutions and organizations
STUBE cooperates with many civil society organizations for the seminars and other activities. The participants can thus get in touch with these organizations and expand their networks.

Extension of professional studies at the university
University studies in Germany are generally aligned to the needs of an industrialized country and are only partly compliant with job requirements in the countries of the South. In the STUBE seminars we are dealing with development-related questions and supplement thus the professional studies from a practice-oriented perspective.

Focus on practical application and linking of theory and practice
The content of STUBE seminars is practice-oriented and we always strive to find out, how we can translate ideas into action. We are trying to support the students, who are looking for ways of transposing their theoretical studies into practically meaningful solutions for their home countries by means of interlinking theory and practice.

Support during return preparations
STUBE offers seminars for return preparations, as well as financial support for an internship (BPSA) in the home country, which would facilitate a smooth return. Students can thus lay the foundations for a future professional integration at home.

Contact, exchange, feeling of security and „a home away from home“(„STUBE is like my family in Germany“)
Many students develop lasting friendships during STUBE seminars. They support and help each other out. STUBE-BW gives many students from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe a feeling of security and a kind of home as well as a forum for the exchange of ideas and interests.

Commitment for home country by means of knowledge transfer 
We support students, who want to tell others about their home country and encourage their active engagement in Germany.

STUBE Baden-Württemberg

STUBE Baden-Württemberg was founded in 1983. Meanwhile there are 11 STUBEs in Germany and a national STUBE-network. STUBE advisors meet regularly for an exchange. The funding organization of STUBE-BW is the Protestant Church in Baden and Württemberg. STUBE-BW is funded by Protestant Churches in Baden and Württemberg, Brot für die Welt, Diözese Rottenburg-Stuttgart as well as by the ministry of state of the land Baden-Württemberg.