Katja Podehl,  Partnerships and Corporate Cooperations, Humanistische Hochschule Berlin         

1. Please describe your company in a few sentences.

The Humanistische Hochschule Berlin is a state-recognized higher education institution and a public law entity. It was founded in 2022 to bring humanist values into research, teaching, and social practice. We train students for professional fields grounded in self-determination and responsibility. For us, education always also means personal development.

2. Why are you engaged as a Berlin-Partner? 

Wir glauben, dass eine offene, pluralistische Gesellschaft auch Bildungsinstitutionen braucht, die ihre Werte unabhängig von Konfession oder Weltanschauung aus einem humanistischen Menschenbild ableiten. Als Humanistische Hochschule Berlin AdöR wollen wir diesen Platz in der Berliner Bildungslandschaft aktiv gestalten und sichtbar machen. Berlin Partner ist für uns der Weg, mit Unternehmen, Institutionen und Wissenschaftspartnern ins Gespräch zu kommen, die ethische Entscheidungskompetenz und gesellschaftliche Verantwortung als Teil der unternehmerischen Aufgabe verstehen.

3. Which topics drive you in relation to your industry? 

How can higher education remain relevant for people and not just for markets? This is the key question that drives us. As Germany’s first university to teach and conduct research on a humanist-ethical foundation, we aim not only to enrich but also to actively shape the educational landscape. Alongside faith-based providers, there is a need for institutions that place people at the center of education: open, value-driven, and practice-oriented. Whether in social work, humanist life studies, or degree programs that translate ethical thinking into entrepreneurial action, our goal is to enable individuals to realize their potential and find meaning in their lives—while respecting others and nature.

4. What makes Berlin special to you?

Berlin is not an easy city, and that is precisely what makes it meaningful to us. As an international melting pot, social hotspot, and scientific hub, Berlin raises the very questions that drive us every day: How can people live together in diversity? How do individuals take responsibility for one another and for society? It is here, where these questions are tangible, that we want to teach, research, and make an impact.

5. Why is Berlin attractive for your company? 

Our roots are in Berlin: supported by the Humanist Association of Berlin-Brandenburg and founded through a democratic membership decision, we emerged as a university in 2022—open to all and deeply embedded in society. Berlin provides the academic environment, diversity, and civil society ecosystem we need to grow: as a university, as a network, and as a voice for humanist education in Germany.

6.  What does Berlin stand for, in your view?

For us, Berlin represents the lived question of how people of different backgrounds, beliefs, and life paths can shape a society together—in freedom and responsibility. This is not an abstract ideal, but everyday reality in Berlin. And that is also at the core of our identity: at our university, humanism is experienced and practiced in everyday life.

7.  How does your company approach sustainability?

For us, sustainability begins with a fundamental question: How do we want to live—individually and collectively? This is a question we revisit daily in our teaching and research. We educate people who take responsibility—for themselves, for others, and for nature. In addition, we focus on long-term partnerships in cooperation, fundraising, and network building. For us, sustainability is not a cross-cutting task, but a mindset.