The initial association when you hear “Bermuda” is typically a positive one. A subtropical island with sandy beaches comes to mind, a warm breeze, a place where you can come to forget all your worries. Add “Triangle“ and things get a little less dreamy. After all, the Bermuda Triangle is that infamous part of the Caribbean between Bermuda, Florida and Puerto Rico which is known and feared as the place where, even in fair weather and steered by capable pilots and crew, ships and aircraft disappear without a trace.
My preferred metaphor, when describing the work of IJAB and its Director Marie-Luise Dreber, is exactly this: sailing through the Bermuda Triangle, the sides of said triangle being a) the interests of IJAB’s member organisations, b) the Federal Youth Ministry to which IJAB reports and c) JUGEND für Europa, the National Agency.
When Marie-Luise Dreber took over as Director of IJAB in 2001, she took the tiller of a fairly small boat. In October 2022, she handed over the helm of what has become a veritable tanker to her successor Daniel Poli.
She courageously navigated the reefs and cliffs that kept emerging below the surface as new and future-proof concepts were developed. This required skills that she perfected during the early years of her directorship. Her positive, encouraging attitude was the oilcloth she needed to face the occasional bad weather front. Everyone she worked with was full of respect for her constant personal commitment to IJAB and the strong technical expertise that IJAB was able to develop under her command.
She consistently adapted HMS IJAB to changing weather patterns and undercurrents. During her time in office came a profound transition, when the “International Youth Exchange and Visitors’ Service of the Federal Republic of Germany” became IJAB as we know it today. It transformed from a service provider that accompanied foreign delegations on their visits to Germany and likewise German experts who travelled abroad to explore how things were over there, to a hothouse of ideas with a German and international character that to this day delivers valuable inspiration for the international youth work community – and that enables the child and youth services field to look beyond the boundaries of national youth policy. Throughout all this, new issues and challenges kept appearing on the horizon that IJAB dealt with, such as digitalisation and inclusion. Marie-Luise Dreber succeeded in giving IJAB and in turn, international youth work in general a much sharper profile. Previously a tugboat that stayed in the port handling rather more menial tasks, gradually IJAB became a brand in its own right and eventually grew into a flagship for the challenges of today and tomorrow.
Navigating such developments requires a helmswoman with a keen sense of incoming gales and lulls, along with passion and vigour – of which Marie-Luise Dreber is a good example. For instance, it was her untiring commitment to network-building that inspired many international youth work organisations to begin working on projects with partners in North Africa after the Arab Spring.
This achievement demonstrates how skilful Marie-Luise Dreber has been in getting all relevant stakeholders (a term that likely did not exist when she took office) around the table to represent their objectives and interests. The Ocean of Good Ideas for international youth work and policy may be vast, but she is acquainted with every corner of it.
By the way, the Bermuda Triangle is also known as the Devil’s Triangle – and it would surely be the devil’s work if the Age of Dreber didn’t go down in history as a success story for IJAB.
