For more than 30 years, the American Council on Germany has arranged in-depth fact-finding trips for practitioners and experts to travel across the Atlantic to meet with their professional counterparts and exchange best practices. Through Study Tours and Leadership Missions, the ACG has given groups of professionals the opportunity to engage in dialogue with officials, business leaders, journalists, and other experts to gain a better understanding of the political, economic, social, and environmental landscape on either side of the Atlantic.
With a focus on key issues shaping the transatlantic agenda, the ACG’s Study Tours and Leadership Missions look to address challenges both countries face. Study tours have focused on issues such as immigration and integration as well as energy, the environment, and sustainability. In the past, Study Tours have also focused on German elections, as well as German and European politics and foreign and security policy.
In 2018, the ACG conducted a two-part study tour on how cities are addressing sustainability. The Sustainable Urban Development Study Tour brought together Americans and Germans, once in Germany and once in the United States, for a series of meetings and discussions on the challenges being faced by cities today.
Launched in 2016, the ACG’s Leadership Missions are centered on urban affairs and sustainability as well as agriculture and food security.
The Leadership Missions on Agriculture, Food Security, and Resource Scarcity give agriculture and food security experts an opportunity to have in-depth discussions and site visits to better understand salient issues in agriculture, farming, and food-supply conditions. Traveling as a group, the experts travel to two or three cities to gain insights and a deeper understanding concerning the practices, challenges, and solutions to common concerns.
Leadership Missions on Urban Affairs and Sustainability bring together local government officials so that they can meet with their professional counterparts in order to gain a better understanding of issues cities in Germany and the United States face and to explore potential policy solutions. Participants receive an in-depth look at the city management and government administration on the other side of the Atlantic and have site visits.