At WagArb, we like giving each year an overarching theme.
This year, at a time when nationalism, isolationism, and deliberately fuelled resentment are viciously gaining ground, we want to set a conscious counter-signal: for openness, humanistic education, and genuine international exchange.
Our year 2026 promises to be particularly guided by this topic:
🎓 The International Dispute Resolution (IDR) LL.M. – Berlin program at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin — which was co-founded by Philipp K. Wagner and in which he and others of our team are involved as lecturers — will celebrate its 10th anniversary this fall. It truly is a unique program for education and exchange in a unique place and connects an incredible number of outstanding people across the world.
🌐 Our law firm, which has served as training ground and become a meeting point for many of the students in the above program but also for many others, will celebrate 10 years at Hegelpatz, in direct neighboring vicinity to HU.
📚 On this occasion, we will release the 2nd edition of the Arbitrattoria Cookbook with 50+ new recipes from Canada to Turkey, Chile to Mongolia, Brasil to Ukraine and so on – a publication that fosters culinary education and exchange.
🏛️ At the same time, inspired by our part-time legal assistant Zeineb Aoun, who has started her studies in Business Education at HU, we have initiated a new project: the Arbitrattoria Academica — a series of visits to the main university student canteens in Berlin to find out what the nutrition for students looks like these days. (Evidence of our most recent visit below.)
Fun fact: Wikipedia turned 25 earlier this month (Philipp recalls hearing about the introduction of Wiki in Germany back in the days on the car radio one night and thinking why on earth one would need this in addition to the good old lexicon.)
We invite you to follow us through the year, and, if you like, contribute your insights on our annual topic here and as we go along — keeping up the spirit. And the good fight.
Education InternationalExchange HumanisticValues Tolerance GlobalMindset Dialogue ArbitrattoriaAcademica
