On September 30, 2025, in collaboration with the Peacebuilding Initiative, we organized a facilitated discussion, and met with the students of the Geneva Graduate Institute to talk about the topic of “Creating Community in a New Place.” Below are some of the key themes and insights that we discussed together.
Loneliness. Some of the students shared a sense of loneliness in Geneva, and a feeling of encountering a closed energy on the other side. For example, one person arrived in the city on the public holiday, when everything was closed. The solution was for this student to go to the nearby France to get some basic grocery and other important things to land well here. Some of us felt there was wisdom in this story: if something was closed, keep on looking for the doors that were open. At the same time even the closed doors could be opened. We talked how it would be hard to resist to open up, if there were a genuine interest on the other side, and how we could bring this interest whenever we go.
Belonging. We talked how for some people moving from one place to another is a style of life, and how it is not easy with such a lifestyle to feel that one belongs to a certain place. Not talking about sustaining relationships. Then one participant shared how she was moving in her childhood around 17 times, if not more, and she passed on her mom’s wisdom, who said that some people were born to set the roots, and others to have wings to fly. We concluded, that it might be crucial to know the self: for some it would mean to settle in one place, and for others it would mean to become the nomads. Knowing the self and having good relationships with the self may give by itself a sense of “inner” home and belonging.
No time for relations. We shared how students were overwhelmed with classes and educational assignments, and that there were literally no time for anything extra. One student shared how he was putting time for the self, relationships with friends, sport and some extra activities in a calendar, turning it into part of day and learning experience. Another participant shared how it was important to her to get immersed in the Swiss culture, go to the mountains, get in touch with local people, bringing her own interest (see the first theme) and thus building relationships with the people and nature around. In the end of the day, setting personal relationships with other learners and places may be part of the unofficial “curricula” or even a job for students studying international relationships.
Bringing Missing Pieces and Leading Evolution. In the course of our discussion, some people shared that they were lacking depth in connections. Mostly, there was a pattern for students to connect briefly and it was hard to build deep friendships. We shared that it might be the nature of the place and international environments, where people come and go, and maybe one solution would be to open up to it. However, another solution would be to bring the missing pieces and thus update the current culture of connecting with each other, introducing some fresh ideas, possibly from other cultures, to offer to the community of students. All in all, we supported each other to lead the processes and try to bring what was missing as an offering from different parts of the world — to update the status-quo of how things were, and then see and check if it would have resonance. Even if it would not catch fire, it would be more joyful to try.
It takes a community to learn at one’s best. We shared some personal insights about the different cultures and countries we were from: China, Turkey, Lebanon, Ukraine, Canada, the US, Switzerland. Some of us explained that as a person from another culture, highly competitive, it was a big stress to speak in the class, and on top of it, as a woman, one had to be 120% to be right before speaking out. We shared how these issues were cultural, but also systemic, talking about gender, but also learning culture and the need/stress to “be right”. In the moment students from different cultures and genders supported each other with the own tips and wisdom. There was a moment of greater awareness of who was in the room, and a thought that maybe it would need a community to create a great learning environment together—to support and allow each other to learn and grow at one’s best.
Conclusion. As in any real-life situation, during our facilitated discussion, students were coming and going. Some stayed for 5-10 minutes, others came in the middle, and some could stay longer till the end. Yet, we felt that there was a deep connection with every participant that we carry in our hearts. In the end some students asked what allowed us, the facilitators, to create such a space and meaningful interaction, and we shared one learning each from our individual experiences, hoping that we can share more in the future.
Post Scriptum. Sometimes after working with the field, the field responds, and brings some messages across. This time, after our facilitated discussion, we saw the results of the big Harvard study on happiness, that has lasted over 85 years, with the key insight as the following: the most important factor in determining one’s happiness in life, is the quality of one’s relationships. More details below.
livingtogether.world 
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