On the new black flyers, animal eyes stare at the viewer – some cold and piercing, others warm and friendly. The Munich adult education center is already approaching its goal with the first eye contact: In the new spring and summer program, it wants to bring animals closer to people.
There is not always such a focus. “Actually, we do that in the fall, but we want to hold back a little this year,” says Susanne May, program director of the adult education center. Usually, the offer revolves around language courses, professional development and cultural and political courses. All of this can still be found, you just put one on top now.
There are around 250 offers under the motto “companions in fate – of people and animals”. Whether you want to have the Egyptian animal gods explained to you in the museum, want to paint cows or discuss ethical questions about insects in food – almost everyone should find their topic. Families in particular can look forward to it.
For young and old there is the opportunity to visit police dogs and farms. Excursions to the city’s animal kingdom with bird shows and beaver safaris are particularly emphasized by the elementary school administration. Most of it takes place outside.
Online classes aren’t going away entirely
The idea for the main topic comes from the Corona lockdown last year. According to May, the spread of the corona virus to humans provided the impetus, but the extinction of species also put the issue on the public agenda. But Corona has had a lasting effect in another respect: Some lectures are now held online in spring and summer, either completely or partially.
The new restaurant mainly serves pinsa dishes.
(Photo: Lorenz Mehrlich)
At the same time, people are being approached again, says Martin Ecker, management director of the adult education center. It is planned to open a location at Ratzingerplatz in Obersendling in autumn of this year and then to be present in the trade fair city of Riem in the coming year. At the main location on Einsteinstrasse, the focus is again on encounters and a new restaurant has been established. The name says it all: The “Pinsa Einstein 28” restaurant mainly serves pinsa – a light variant of pizza – and Italian specialties.
With all the innovations, the core program of around 9000 events is not left behind, but there are also developments. The language offer of around 50 foreign languages - from Bosnian to Sanskrit and, since last year, Ukrainian – is supplemented by a “Ramersdorf Language Week”, in which individual lessons are also to take place. There is also a wide range of arts and culture programs, and of course current conflicts are addressed. Political panel discussions deal with the turning point and look into Putin’s psyche, while the corona pandemic in the area of health has not yet been fully discussed.
The adult education center starts the summer with well-established and new courses. But if you prefer to discover your inner being instead of Corona and Russia, you can take part in the photo competition “The animal in me”. You can win a seminar weekend at Lake Starnberg, vouchers and zoo tickets.