It’s my second week in Berlin and I have seen lots of wonderful new things, including the massive flea market on Boxhagener Platz, the beach at the lake, and lots of street art and fun cafes around Kreuzberg. I am continually impressed by the energy of the city: it has a tremendously “cool” feel, and their music scene is so so good.

There was a slow start to the work-week, with Passover and a handful of remote days (my supervisor was in Munich), but as soon as I was in the office, my work started up quite pleasantly. I got added to Microsoft Teams and took the time to familiarize myself with a myriad of channels, projects, and papers. I got a good feel for the company’s primary mission and guiding principles, seeking sustainable solutions to a variety of issues and developing clear, evidence-based pathways through which those solutions can be implemented.

After this initial introduction, I was given my first assignment: to research issues in sustainable development and write an article highlighting case studies which address the issue with measurable results. After doing some research on a wide wide variety of topics, I settled on youth participation in government as my topic, in line with the UN’s Sustainable development goal to “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”.

As a young person myself, I thought I could provide a good perspective on the topic, and I found there are a number of cities and governments that have taken all kinds of interesting steps to include and empower young people in the act of governance, from youth councils and participatory budgeting to reverse mentorship programs.

Since we’ve just started, I am currently only working on the article, but I will be involved in many more things very soon, as the firm is currently working on a larger project to decarbonize the cement sector, a major pollutant. It’s a smaller company, so I’m very excited to be a part of many different parts and see how everything runs, since I am graduating next year and I am hoping to figure out what it is I want to do and where my skills can be a good fit.

Outside the realm of assignment, I’ve had a good time broadly with the company. Everyone has been very sweet to me, and I’ve had the chance to practice my Russian because we have a very multi-cultural staff. My co-intern Myriam has been especially great company and a great resource, sharing her thoughts and ideas, and helping me navigate the office.

All in all, I am very excited to put my name out there when the article gets published later this week, and I’m excited to develop my skills professionally over the course of the internship! More to come next week.