September 28th, 2023
Goethe-Institut Charts the Course for Comprehensive Transformation
On 28 September, the Goethe-Institut Head Office in Munich announced a global transformation package, which was developed in close cooperation with the German Foreign Office. The transformation responds to changing geo-political and financial circumstances. As part of this package, the Goethe-Institut Washington DC will close at the end of 2026. By allocating resources more efficiently, this decision will enable us to strengthen our close cooperation with partners across the country in both education and culture. From 2027 onward, we will remain present via our branches in Boston, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles as well as via our numerous network partners in the US. We especially look forward to a stronger and more visible presence in Texas and the Midwest.
The Board of Trustees of the Goethe-Institut ratified a comprehensive transformation of the global organisation. The foundation for this is a concept for the future developed by the Executive Board of the Goethe-Institut as part of a strategic dialogue with the German Federal Foreign Office. The reorientation is taking place against the backdrop of significant changes in the geo-strategic and financial situation. The aim is to increase the scope of action for the Goethe-Institut’s cultural, language and information work that it performs around the world. Digitalisation and activities pertaining to skilled labour immigration will also continue to be expanded. In addition, the Goethe-Institut is set to strengthen its engagement in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, the South Pacific and in the Central United States. This strategic realignment cannot be achieved without cuts being made to the existing network elsewhere: The closure of locations, job cuts and measures aimed at increasing efficiency will lead to the necessary savings. In doing so, Germany’s largest intermediary organisation should remain strong in its commitment to global partnerships over the long term.
“In the face of growing populism and nationalism, illiberal efforts and refugee movements, the work of the Goethe-Institut is more important than ever. It enables people all over the world to discover our country and our language. It strengthens the spirit of exchange between societies, and creates networks and free spaces in which we can develop holistic responses to global challenges,” explained the President of the Goethe-Institut, Prof. Dr Carola Lentz. “Through the transformation that has now been initiated, the Goethe-Institut is securing its long-term scope for action in the face of new political challenges and the prospect of less financial leeway.”
“It is right and important that the Goethe-Institut is now taking the reigns of this reform in hand, thereby strengthening its ability to act. Subsequently, we can better address the goals we want to achieve with our cultural and education policy in the current times, including an enhanced process of exchange with the societies of Eastern Europe or the pre-integration of skilled workers in countries of the Global South,” explained Ralf Beste, Head of Culture and Society at Germany’s Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt).
The resolutions of the Board of Trustees were preceded by a decision from the Budget Committee of the Federal Parliament releasing the part of the Goethe-Institut’s 2023 budget – amounting to EUR 14 million – that had been withheld. The funding was coupled with the submission of a concept for the future development of the Goethe-Institut as part of a package of measures.
“Over a period of several months of intensive work, we developed the transformation concept now adopted as part of a strategic dialogue with the Federal Foreign Office,” says Johannes Ebert, Secretary General of the Goethe-Institut. “Our primary objective is to create new room for manoeuvre, especially in times of financial challenges. Only then can we strengthen our core tasks that incorporate cultural, language and information work, and generate new impetus in the realm of international cooperation. Therefore, we will distribute resources differently, strengthen digital offerings, dismantle existing structures and establish new presences. With all these efforts, stable funding in the years to come is essential.”
The aim of the changes initiated by the Executive Board is to lower the proportion of fixed expenditure in the overall budget and thereby to release funds for the operational cultural, linguistic and information work at a global level.
An important element of the transformation decided by the Board of Trustees is the medium-term establishment and expansion of the Goethe-Institut’s presences – such as cultural contact points. Among other things, the Goethe-Institut’s presence in the Caucasus is to be enhanced. The intention is also to set up another presence in Poland, alongside the Goethe-Instituts in Warsaw and Cracow. The Goethe-Institut will continue to involve itself more closely in the Republic of Moldova and in the South Pacific. In the USA, too, the work that has already begun in the heart of the country by a presence in Texas and the mid-West.
Part of the transformation agenda includes making the range of language courses, exams and funding programmes more digital and more effective. The activities of the Goethe-Institut with regard to skilled worker immigration, which has been established over many years, will also be developed further, especially in countries with high potential such as Brazil, India, Indonesia and Mexico.
In order to safeguard the Goethe-Institut’s ability to act and, at the same time, enable the expansion of the new presences, the following measures are planned for the coming years:
- Medium-term savings of around EUR 24 million per year
- the closure of nine out of the current 158 locations: Bordeaux, Curitiba, Genoa, Lille, Osaka, Rotterdam, Trieste, Turin, Washington, as well as the Strasbourg Liaison Office
- the change, downsizing or merging of structures, as well as the relocation of presences to more favourable properties
- the reduction of up to 110 jobs within the network
The institutes based in Germany, which do not receive any public funding, are not affected by the measures.
The measures agreed are the response of the Executive Board and Board of Trustees to the changing financial situation. Following an annual budget of EUR 239 million for 2023, the government’s draft bill is projecting a reduction of about 3.3 per cent for 2024 as part of the consolidation of the federal budget. Institutional funding would be roughly at the level of 2018. At the same time, developments such as high global inflation and increased energy prices are hitting the Goethe-Institut’s international network hard.
The Executive Board is planning to mitigate any social hardship wherever it can by not filling vacancies, natural turnover and the use of early retirement schemes, taking account of the relevant provisions of employment law. “We have not taken these decisions lightly and many of the measures that have been agreed are painful,” said Ebert. “But these are the necessary prerequisite for setting up the work of the Goethe-Institut to make it both future-proof and effective.”
The Goethe-Institut is the globally active cultural institution of the Federal Republic of Germany. With 158 institutes in 98 countries, it promotes knowledge of the German language abroad, nurtures international cultural partnership and presents an up-to-date image of Germany. Through collaboration with partner institutions in numerous other locations, the Goethe-Institut has more than 1,000 available points of contact worldwide. www.goethe.de
CONTACT
Klaus Krischok
Director Goethe-Institut Washington
Regional Director North America
Tel.: +1 (202) 847 4701
Klaus.Krischok@goethe.de