A close partnership between the regions of Québec and Bavaria has already existed for decades in the fields of politics, science, culture and business, which was further deepened at this event. The University of Passau also contributes to this close cooperation with research projects, courses and student exchanges. It became clear how many committed people contribute to the many synergies between Québec and Bavaria.

The varied program of lectures and discussions in three languages (English, French, German) ensured a lively exchange. The topics were thus explored and discussed from different perspectives (practice-theory, research-teaching, Québec-Bavaria).

After introductory words by the Vice President of the University of Passau, Professor Christina Hansen, the General Delegate of the Government of Québec in Munich, Elisa Valentin, Professor Christoph Barmeyer, Chair of Intercultural Communication and Michael Kriegel, Wild Campus Rosenheim, research results from academia were presented: Professor Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink (Saarland University) spoke about Québec as a country of immigration in historical literary and cinematic perspective, Dr. Viktoria Lühr (HTW Saar) spoke about the change of immigration discourse in Québec since the Révolution Tranquille and Professor Marina Hertrampf (University of Passau) presented forms of immigration in Québec comics.

Next, Professor Christoph Barmeyer and Maria Wilhelm (University of Passau) presented on the creative cities of Montréal and Munich as innovation ecosystems, Tobi Rodrigue and Rosanna Schropp (ESG UQAM, Montréal) on the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Québec, and Professor Christoph Barmeyer & Sina Großkopf (University of Passau) on migrant entrepreneurship in Montréal.

Afterwards, representatives of the Government of Québec, Katharina Benz and Dr. Benedikt Miklós, as well as representatives of the State of Bavaria, Dr. Florence Gauzy Krieger, Bavarian Research Alliance and Dr. Daniel Etzel, Director, Representation of the State of Bavaria in Montréal reported on their cooperation projects and experiences in a panel discussion.

Afterwards, Québec business founders and consultants, Mélody Roussy-Parent (RethinkPath Consulting), Tobi Rodrigue (TRc3) and Shannon Lemay (BMI Lab) gave valuable insights into their entrepreneurial activities in another panel discussion.

As a final program item, young start-up founders presented their start-up projects under the moderation of Hans Heisinger, Carrefour Jeunesse-Emploi NDG.

Overall, the event provided a special opportunity to learn from each other and network, and ended with a culinary reception organized by Mélody Roussy-Parent (Melodys Canada), where participants had the opportunity to socialize and expand their networks to enter into further synergistic collaborations.

We would like to sincerely thank all those involved!

Professor Christoph Barmeyer was supported in the organization of the Québec Day by Sina Großkopf and Tuzienka Chenet Ugarte, research assistants of the Chair of Intercultural Communication at the University of Passau.

The event was sponsored by the Ministry of International Relations and Francophonie of Québec.

Photos: Céline Mertesz, Lichtgestalten, Christoph Barmeyer, Jessica Radziwill