Listening Closely: HSB Students Step Into the Heart of Huchting’s Neighborhood Stories

A multi Institutional Collaboration

As part of their module with Dr. Mayank Kumar Golpelwar, On June 3, 2026, the International Studies in Business and Engineering (ISWI) group took part in an interactive encounter format titled “Bitte setzen! – Ich will, dass du siehst, was ich sehe” (“Please Take a Seat! — I Want You to See What I See”). Hosted alongside the Kulturladen Huchting and the Bremer Rat für Teilhabe und Diversität (Bremen Council for Community Participation & Diversity), the event was part of the region's State Weeks for Diversity and Participation. The day focused on challenging stereotypes, practicing deep active empathy, and looking at local community life through a fresh intercultural lens.

The Icebreaker Bus Ride

The experiential learning started before the group even arrived. Meeting next to the historic Roland statue in the city center, students were intentionally paired up with peers they did not know well to encourage immediate interaction.

During the collective bus ride out to the Bürger- und Sozialzentrum Huchting (BUS), a regional trivia quiz helped break the ice in an engaging way. Students guessed local facts—from neighborhood graffiti trends to famous sports personalities originating from Huchting—with small flags celebrating “Menschlichkeit” (humanity) in different world languages handed out as prizes to set a collaborative tone.

Face-to-Face with Lived Experiences

At the community center, the traditional lecture format was replaced by local narratives. Welcomed by Vera from the Kulturladen Huchting and a member of the Bremen City Council, the students sat in informal chair circles that rotated continuously to ensure a varied exchange of perspectives.

The core of the session featured real audio and video clips of Huchting residents sharing candid, personal stories about their lives, identity, and what community means to them. After each story, the small groups tackled open, reflective prompts:

• “When have you felt like you didn’t belong?”
• “What would have to happen for you to emigrate?”
• “What worries you before you fall asleep?”

Bringing Abstract Theory to Life

For the students, the evening brought abstract classroom concepts to life. Intercultural frameworks like the Culture Shock Model—which describes the emotional stages of entering unfamiliar environments—suddenly applied to neighborhoods right inside their own university city. The personal accounts illustrated how the experience of being a social outsider is not limited to international migration, but can happen anywhere.

The group walked away with powerful shared insights:

• Empathy Takes Active Effort: The cohort widely agreed that true intercultural sensitivity is a skill that must be practiced. It requires listening without judgment and actively engaging with different backgrounds to genuinely understand them.
• Navigating New Spaces: Listening to residents describe the difficulty of entering established social circles resonated deeply with students preparing for upcoming internships abroad. It highlighted the natural phases of disorientation and the patience needed to build connections in new environments.
• Gratitude and Fresh Perspectives: Reflecting together on universal human anxieties, hopes, and questions about acceptance prompted profound self-reflection, shifting attention away from initial assumptions and toward a more compassionate, grounded view of the world.

By stepping directly into the shoes of others, HSB (Hochschule Bremen)’s future industrial engineers and business managers returned equipped with practical perspective-taking skills that they can immediately apply to navigate unfamiliar social environments, resolve cross-cultural conflicts, and lead diverse teams in their upcoming international internships and global careers.

Photo of the ISWI group in Huchting: Zinar Cengiz