We are happy to announce our New Silk Road visionaries, experts, thinkers and doers!
Michele Acciaro joined the Hapag-Lloyd Center for Shipping and Global Logistics (CSGL) at the Kühne Logistics University (KLU) in Hamburg in 2013. In his function, he focuses on container transport, ports, terminals, and shipping at the intersection of transport economics, supply chain operations, sustainability, public policy and management science. Between 2016 and 2018 he was also Head of the Logistics Department. Before joining the KLU, Michele was Senior Researcher – Green Shipping in the Research and Innovation department of Det Norske Veritas AS (DNV) in Høvik, Norway. From 2004 to 2010, he was deputy director and researcher at the Erasmus University Rotterdam Center for Maritime Economics and Logistics (MEL)/Erasmus SmartPort.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
6th November
Workshop | Logistics and Supply Chains along the New Silk Road(s)
Mr Bartsch studied sinology, economics, politics and journalism in Hamburg, Beijing and London. From 2003 to 2013, he worked as East Asia correspondent for various German language newspapers, reporting about China, Japan as South and North Korea. In 2013, he joined the Bertelsmann Stiftung, where he heads the Asia program and focusses on political and economic developments in China and their impact on Germany and Europe.
Topic at TLS 2020 –
6th November
Panel Discussion | Challenges and Opportunities along the New Silk Roads - European Thoughts
Dr Julika Baumann Montecinos graduated in Intercultural Business and Cultural Studies from the University of Passau, including various stays in China, India, the Dominican Republic and Brazil, and did her PhD at the University of Hohenheim’s Department of Business Ethics. She pursued a career in the automotive industry before joining LEIZ in 2014. In her research and teaching, she focuses on a relational view on cultural diversity, on the relevance of cultural factors for economic performance, on transcultural leadership, and on CSR in a global context.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
6th November
Workshop | Leadership and Transculturality
Pawel Behrendt is currently writing his PhD at the Faculty of Political Science of the Universityof Vienna. His major areas of interest include the foreign and defence policy of Japan and China, international relations and security in East Asia and conflicts in Asia. In addition, Mr Behrendt is the author of the books "Chińczycy grają w go"(“The Chinese play go”)and “Korzenie niemieckich sukcesów w Azji”(“The roots of German successes in Asia”), as well as several articles on history and security issues in Asia published in Poland and abroad.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
6th November
Workshop | Geopolitical Consequences of the New Silk Road(s)
Dr Brand pursued a career in the aviation industry before taking his D.Phil. at the University of Oxford (St. John’s College). He joined Zeppelin University in 2012 and was appointed Managing Director of the LEIZ in 2015. Lennart Brand serves on the Oxford University Alumni Board and the Academic Board (DACH) of SAP SE. He (co-)represents Zeppelin University at the global G20 network of private universities which places a strong emphasis on liberal-arts education worldwide. A literary historian by trade, his research interests focus on German literature of the early 20th century, in particular Ernst Jünger and Karl Kraus.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
6th November
Moderation panel discussion | Challenges and Opportunities along the New Silk Roads - European Thoughts
Working for UNITAR, Mr Julian Caletti is an aspiring international civil servant from Germany who is based in Geneva since 2013. Prior to his current post, he worked for three years at the Information Service of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG).
Mr Caletti holds a master’s degree in international affairs from the Graduate Institute Geneva and a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from the University College Maastricht. He spent a total of four years working, studying and travelling in Latin America and China and is fluent in German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Mandarin Chinese.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
5th November
Workshop Discussion | Cultural Diversity along the New Silk Road – Success Factors for Cooperation
Jochen Dieckmann, born in 1959, has been working as a truck driver with destinations such as Turkey or socialist Eastern Bloc countries since the age of 18. At the end of the eighties he retrained as a journalist and worked for several years for "Hessischer Rundfunk". Since then, he has worked alternately in journalism/PR and in the logistics industry. In 2011 his book "Geschlafen wird am Monatsende" ("Sleeping at the end of the month") about the everyday life of a truck driver will be published. In 2019 he drove his car along the Silk Road via China to Cambodia and in 2020 he will publish the book "Ferner Osten auf der Überholspur" ("Far East in the fast lane") about this.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
6th November
Intermezzo | Experiences from along the New Silk Road(s)
Tobias Grünfelder is a doctoral student at Zeppelin University’s Leadership Excellence Institute Zeppelin | LEIZ, a transcultural competence trainer and a magician. In collaboration with the Goethe Institute, he has visited various countries as a "magical ambassador" to promote cultural exchange and the German language. His motto is: "The real magic happens in interactions - so let's make this world magical together and rethink the world we share".
Topic at TLS 2020 -
5th November/6th November
Intermezzo | A Magical Approach to the New Silk Road(s)
Workshop | Leadership and Transculturality
Katja Hellkoetter is a creative strategist, a facilitator and management professional with 20 years of China-Europe cooperation experience at the interface of business, culture and society. Before she founded CONSTELLATIONS in 2009 in Shanghai, a consulting agency dedicated to “Learning, Leading and Collaborating for Sustainable Futures” she acted in various positions within Sino-German Relations: Starting as environmental marketing manager/Delegation of German Industry & Commerce Shanghai (1999), followed by roles as Representative of the City of Hamburg in Shanghai, as China Strategy Advisor for the Goethe-Institut, content editor for the "Europe-China Cultural Compass" (EUNIC) or as Business & Society workshop leader of the German Chamber of Commerce Shanghai. Katja co-curated numerous purpose driven programs, inc. "CITYMAKERS China-Europe & Transcultural Network for Livable Cities" (Bosch Foundation) or “The More Than a Market-Initiative" (Bertelsmann Foundation). Katja studied China and International Management Studies (University of Applied Science Bremen, Sichuan University). Learning Theories & Practices, having trained with the Presencing Institute @MIT (since 2007) .Now based in Berlin Katja is also a co-host of C*SPACE – creative space for ideas & encounters across borders.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
5th November/6th November
Moderation and
Workshop Discussion | Cultural Diversity along the New Silk Road – Success Factors for Cooperation
Yu Jie is an artist, innovator and founder of Swich, an education consulting company that aims to provide a bridge between Switzerland and China. Since she left her home country in 2008 to broaden her horizon, she received two bachelor degrees in art and one master degree in innovation and product business development in the Geneva area, Switzerland.
She has work experience in the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and consulted several United Nations agencies. She also cooperated with private sector companies like Logitech. Her art project about the marginalized in Switzerland’s society won the first prize of the 2015 humanitarian art award by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Topic at TLS 2020 -
5th November
Workshop Discussion | Cultural Diversity along the New Silk Road – Success Factors for Cooperation
Dr Jonathan Keir is a writer from Auckland, New Zealand. After finishing his doctoral studies at the University of Tübingen in 2014, he worked with Hans Küng’s Projekt Weltethos for several years before joining the Karl Schlecht Foundation in Stuttgart, Germany as a Project Coordinator. He has recently returned to the Karl Schlecht Foundation after two years as a researcher at Peking University’s Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
5th November
Keynote | Historical and Cultural-Philosophical Perspectives on the New Silk Road(s)
Katharina Koerth is a freelance journalist and alumna of Zeppelin University. Since founding a student debating club in her first semester in 2013, she has gained extensive experience in event moderation. On stage Katharina enjoys creating space for her guests’ expertise, open discussions as well as audience participation. After graduating from Zeppelin University with a B.A. in Sociology, Politics and Economics in 2018, she worked as a news and business journalist for Spiegel.de, one of Germany’s big online newspapers. In 2020 she co-authored a scientific article published in the SAGE journal "Media, War & Conflict" that examined how German TV shows framed the Ukraine crisis. Having lived in France, England, Poland and Japan, Katharina is curious about cultural exchange and transculturality. She is currently based in Munich.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
5th and 6th November
Moderation
Mr Li Ma obtained his Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis and has taught at Tsinghua University, Washington University in St. Louis and Yonsei University in Korea. His studies range from negotiation and conflict management to participative management, especially in international contexts. He has published numerous articles focusing on Chinese cross-cultural knowledge.
Topic at TLS 2020 –
5th November
Keynote | The Belt and Road Initiative - A Negotiation Researcher's Perspective
Jacob Mardell's research at MERICS focuses on China’s economic statecraft and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). He has conducted field research on BRI projects in Eurasia and is interested in EU-China competition and cooperation in third countries and global perceptions of China. He holds a Master’s degree in Chinese Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and spent a year studying Chinese at Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics in Hangzhou.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
5th November
Keynote | Facts and Fiction - The Concept and the Reality of the Belt and Road Initiative
Professor Dr Klaus Mühlhahn, born in 1963 in Constance, Germany, has been President of Zeppelin University since June 1, 2020 and holds the Chair of Modern Chinese Studies. Professor Mühlhahn had previously been Vice President for Research, Promotion of Young Researchers, Knowledge Transfer and Spin-offs at Freie Universität (FU) Berlin since 2018, and, in a first term from 2014 to 2018, Vice President for International Affairs. He is considered one of the most renowned sinologists in Germany. After studying sinology and gaining his doctorate at the FU Berlin, his academic career initially took him to the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, as a Visiting Fellow from 2002 to 2004. From 2004 to 2007 he was Professor of Contemporary Chinese and Asian History at the Institute of History at the University of Turku, Finland, and from 2007 to 2010 Professor of History and Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Indiana University Bloomington, USA. In the same year Prof. Mühlhahn returned to the FU Berlin as Professor of Chinese History and Culture. In 2019 his work "Making China Modern - From the Great Qing to Xi Jinping" was published by Harvard University Press.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
5th November
Introduction | New Silk Roads - New Perspectives for Europe?
Harald F. Müller is an artist who works with photographic images and colour concepts. He places picture objects with wall paintings in the room and combines colour spaces and sculptures with architecture. He designs his projects mostly for public spaces, public buildings, museums, schools and universities. In 2016 Harald F. Müller moved into his ‘stratozero’ (stratozero.net), where he works with other artists, architects, scientists and students and opens this workspace for interdisciplinary exchange.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
5th and 6th November
Briefing | Arts & Tech
Workshop | Let us sail together! - an Artistic Approach to the New Silk Road(s)
As Junior Professor at the University of Tübingen, Matthias Niedenführ focuses on business ethics in China and the Chinese diaspora, civil society development in China, national identity construction, political economy of communication and regional economic integration and institutional economics in East Asia. For his current empirical research on so-called Confucian Entrepreneurship he gained access to leading Chinese companies recognized in China domestically for an innovative management style based on traditional Confucian notions. Since 2016 Mr Niedenführ is also Vice President of the China Centre Tübingen and concentrates on the dialogue about contemporary China and the Chinese diaspora.
Topic at TLS 2020 –
5th November
Workshop Discussion | Cultural Diversity along the New Silk Road – Success Factors for Cooperation
Polyceni Ntavarinou is Research Coordinator and Research Fellow at the Institute of International Economic Relations in Athens. Ntavarinou's research focuses on China's investment strategy in Greece and foreign policy on infrastructure in Kazakhstan. She studied International Relations from a European perspective at the University of Durham.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
6th November
Panel Discussion | Challenges and Opportunities along the New Silk Roads - European Thoughts
Workshop | Chinese Investment in Greece
Tobias Ostermaier, President Rolls-Royce Power Systems Greater China since January 2018, is responsible for the execution and further development of the company’s overarching Greater China growth strategy. Greater China is already today one of the most important markets for Rolls-Royce business unit Power Systems, and the importance will further increase in the future. He is convinced that a stronger ‘local for local’ approach is essential to be successful in this region. Tobias Ostermaier previously held the position of Vice President Corporate Strategy at Rolls-Royce Power Systems, where he was heading strategic projects on corporate level and coordinating group wide strategy and M&A processes. Born in 1981, Tobias Ostermaier has a master’s degree in Business Engineering from Mannheim University in Germany.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
6th November
Keynote | Transcultural Leadership and the New Silk Road(s) in Business Practice
Panel Discussion | Challenges and Opportunities along the New Silk Roads - European Thoughts
Patrycja Pendrakowska is a founder of the Michael Boym Institute of Asian and Global Studies in Warsaw (instytutboyma.org) and PhD Candidate at the University of Warsaw. In the Boym Institute she is specializing in Chinese policy as well as its impact on neighbouring countries. She graduated from Sinology, Philosophy, Sociology and Financial Law at the University of Warsaw. Currently, her academic work focuses on finalizing a dissertation on Hegel’s reception in China. She works and lives in Berlin.
Topic at TLS 2020 –
6th November
Panel Discussion | Challenges and Opportunities along the New Silk Roads - European Thoughts
In August 2020, Paul Röck was assigned Director for Governmental Sales and License Business at Rolls-Royce business unit Power Systems. Before this, Paul Röck had worked two and a half years in Shanghai, China, as Director of Engineering and R&D at Rolls-Royce Power Systems Greater China, with the goal to transfer and build up local engineering capabilities as well as to localize Rolls-Royce’s MTU products for the Chinese market.
Paul Röck was born in 1982 in Cieszyn, Poland, and migrated to Germany at the age of 6 years. Paul Röck gained a Dipl. Ing. (BA) at the University of Cooperative Education in Ravensburg. He started his career at MTU Friedrichshafen in 2006 and in parallel continued to study at the University in Weingarten, Germany, where he graduated as MBA for “International Business Management”.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
6th November
Panel Discussion | Challenges and Opportunities along the New Silk Roads - European Thoughts
Andreas Schell has been holding the position of President of the Rolls-Royce business unit Power Systems, Chief Executive Officer of Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG and Chairman of the Board of Directors of its subsidiary MTU in Friedrichshafen since 1 January 2017. He came to Rolls-Royce from United Technologies Corporation (UTC) Aerospace Systems in the United States, where he was Vice President Digital Strategy, having previously held the position of President of the Actuation & Propeller Systems business unit and President of the Electric Systems. Born in 1969, Andreas Schell has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Clausthal University of Technology in Germany and an executive MBA from Michigan State University in the United States. He is committed to cutting-edge technology, technical innovation and is passionate about professional management responsibility. Embracing change in a global business environment that is constantly changing is absolutely essential, in Andreas Schell’s view, if companies wish to remain competitive.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
5th November
Welcome Address | Welcome to the Transcultural Leadership Summit
Peter Stentzler serves in the German Federal Foreign Office’s China Division. He works as Desk Officer for economic relations with China.
Mr. Stentzler holds an undergraduate degree in European Studies (Maastricht University), an MSc in Philosophy and Public Policy (London School of Economics and Political Science) and an MA in Public Policy and Social Change (Collegio Carlo Alberto). In a previous assignment at the Federal Foreign Office he worked on international cyber policy.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
6th November
Keynote | The EU-Asia Connectivity Strategy - Europe's Answer to the Belt and Road Initiative?
Dr Graf Strachwitz is a political scientist and historian, Ph.D. and has been the director of the Maecenata Institute, an independent research and policy centre in Berlin since 1997, and the Executive Director of the Maecenata Foundation since 2010. The Maecenata Foundation is a think tank that focusses on international civil society and philanthropy issues.
Previous posts included serving at World Headquarters of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in Rome and as regional director of the Order of Malta Relief Service in Bavaria. Dr Graf Strachwitz was Vice-President of German Caritas, member of the German Federal Parliament Commission on Civic Action and the board of the Fondazione Cariplo, Milan, and chaired the European Policy Working Group of Europa Nostra. He has approximately 600 publications to his name, teaches regularly at universities, and lectures at home and abroad.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
6th November
Workshop | Civil Society along the New Silk Road(s)
Prof. Josef Wieland holds the Chair of Institutional Economics, Organisational Governance, Integrity Management and Transcultural Leadership and is the Director of the Leadership Excellence Institute Zeppelin | LEIZ. An expert in the field of compliance and business ethics for more than 20 years, he initiated the Forum Compliance & Integrity (FCI) and chairs the Advisory Board of the German Network of Business Ethics (DNWE). He is a member of, inter alia, the national CSR Forum, the jury for the German government’s CSR Award, and the Advisory Council for Sustainability of the government of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. Josef Wieland developed the theory of Relational Economics, and he is the founder and academic director of the “Transcultural Caravan”. Since 2017, Josef Wieland has been Vice-President (Research) of Zeppelin University.
Topic at TLS 2020 -
5th November
Keynote | The Concept of Transculturality Applied to the New Silk Road