What a fitting, emotionally charged culmination of a six-month journey of mutual learning, diversity and friendship! On July 14, the participants of the 46th UNEP/UNESCO/BMUV International Postgraduate Course on Environmental Management for Developing Countries (EM46), coming from 17 different countries, gathered in the Rector's Hall of the Technical University of Dresden (TUD) to celebrate their achievements and to gain momentum for the tasks ahead.Since January, they have been exploring the interconnected challenges of the Global Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Climate Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at CIPSEM, the Center for International Postgraduate Studies of Environmental Management, embedded in the Faculty of Environmental Sciences and the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The spokespersons of the group, Ms. Délice Muhoza from Burundi and Mr. Vaibhav Aggarwal from India, emphasized that the realization of how much the participants have in common, despite their very different backgrounds, is a key insight from the course.

There is a lot of gratitude towards the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV), which funds and supports the course program through the German Environment Agency (UBA), as well as towards the over 90 facilitators, as well as numerous other supporters and the CIPSEM team.Mr Ralph Wollmann from the German Environment Agency has emphasized the need for deep transformations, not just reforms and incremental changes, to stay within the planetary boundaries.Many participants mentioned that they feel empowered to address these challenges and will stay in touch to support each other. After the participants were awarded their Postgraduate Diplomas in Environmental Management, alumnus Erik Grigoryan, former Minister of Environment of Armenia and CEO of Environment Group, congratulated everyone through a video message. He emphasized that the role of each individual is crucial in addressing environmental challenges, especially in developing countries. He said that now, after the course, the participants will be those individuals who will create changes on local, national and international levels that will lead to better environmental conditions as well as social and economic improvements.