Energy Storage Faculty Consortium Project - Washington D.C. Day 1

We launched our German Learning exchange with a day of orientation activities organized by the Heinrich Boell Foundation in Washington, DC.  We began by meeting with Bastian Hermisson,Executive Director of the Heinrich Boell Foundation,who shared background on the German system of governance, the German federal system, and some of the unique aspects of various German States.  We then met with Knut Panknin, Program Officer of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, who provided a detailed look at the German educational system.  This examination helped us to understand how the dual schule and apprenticeship programs provide German students with both academic and practical workplace based education.  The day concluded with a presentation by Nora Loehle on the German Energiewende, and we were treated to an expert’s inside view from the perspective of someone who has lived and worked through the past two decades of the German energy transition. The day’s orientation and discussion provided a rich context for the ensuing trip abroad, and we departed for the airport even more eager for what awaits us overseas.