This is an excerpt of an article written by Molly Moylan Brown of the American Women’s Club of Berlin (AWC Berlin) on 6 Degrees Berlin. Read the full article.

The Institute for Canadian Citizenship, a national non-profit charity, held a thought-provoking conference, 6 Degrees Berlin, on November 12, 2018. The conference, attended by a number of AWC members, took place at the Barenboim-Said Academy in the landmark Frank Gehry-designed concert hall.

6 Degrees Berlin brought together thinkers, doers, executives, artists, politicians, and civil society leaders for a conversation about the current state of affairs in the world of migration, to plot a more humane and effective way forward. 6 Degrees examined the political, social, moral, and infrastructure challenges created by the displacement of more than 68 million people annually, to identify new approaches, to challenge our assumptions, and to create space for transformative ideas of belonging and inclusion. Berlin is now the third city outside of Canada to host this conference, part of 6 Degrees’ growing mission to extend its conversation on citizenship and inclusion to an international stage.

John Ralston Saul, a leading Canadian writer, political philosopher, and public intellectual, expressed the urgent need to develop a new discourse that helps us learn how to live actively as citizens and develop “comfort with complexity.” He maintains this will promote the creative re-imagining of programs and mechanisms that provide a clear and holistic way to integrate newcomers into the polity.

Read the rest of the article.