Report – Annual Retreat in Timmendorfer Strand

The programme featured a dense schedule of PICO sessions and poster presentations across the TRR’s specialist areas. These sessions provided a focused space for discussion and lively exchange and supported interdisciplinary collaboration across the three participating disciplines: mathematics, meteorology, and oceanography. This year, TRR 181 also added something beyond traditional scientific formats. Alongside the research sessions, three hands-on workshops encouraged participants to take ideas beyond discussion and into creativity, dialogue, and playful reflection. With SAMIN.WORLD, the workshop on collaboration in intercultural teams explored how to collaborate effectively in challenging contexts, not in terms of “right” versus “wrong,” but to better understand one another, connect more deliberately, and work together with greater awareness.  

In an art workshop participants used acrylic paint and canvasses to express their impressions of the retreat, creating individual artworks inspired by the surrounding landscape. And in a LEGO Serious Play workshop participants built models of themselves and of their research, turning abstract thoughts into something tangible and discussable. a surprisingly powerful way to reach deeper conversations while keeping the process accessible and light.  

Between the official sessions, there was also time to head outside. Whether through a walk along the Baltic Sea or simply stepping into the landscape, the ocean-and-sky setting offered a meaningful moment to reflect on energy transfers between ocean and atmosphere, both as a scientific topic and as an everyday reminder of the themes that bring the group together.