On 7 May 2026, we once again invited guests to the HCAT+ Networking Breakfast – this time at the Schülerforschungszentrum Hamburg. And what can we say? The morning captured exactly what lies at the heart of our network. Not simply collecting contacts, exchanging business cards and nodding politely, but creating real connection, building trust and moving into action together.
More than 40 guests from business, education, public administration, as well as from our project and cooperation partnerships, accepted our invitation. From the moment people arrived, one thing was clear: this was not just a meeting of institutions, but of people with ideas, values, expertise and a genuine appetite for exchange. The name badges had barely been handed out before the first conversations were already under way. A good sign – and, for us as hosts, naturally one of those moments when you quietly think to yourself: this is working.
A quiz, good spirits and a little competitive edge
Following a warm welcome from Sabine, Thomas and Dr Christoph Jermann from the Schülerforschungszentrum Hamburg, we did not begin with lengthy speeches, but with an interactive quiz. Because, let’s be honest: few things get people talking faster than a mix of knowledge questions, a gentle sense of competition and the quiet hope that one is not completely wide of the mark.
The questions were not only about figures, facts and developments relating to HCAT+, STEM, skills and lifelong learning. The quiz also offered a playful introduction to precisely the topics that drive us as a network: exchange, knowledge, future skills and the question of how individual perspectives can develop into shared thinking.
In the end, Katharina Quendler from the Bildungswerk der Wirtschaft für Hamburg und Schleswig-Holstein e.V. came out on top – congratulations once again! And, as befits a networking breakfast, the prize was not simply a conventional award, but an invitation to help shape the morning with a personal reflection.
As the winner of the quiz, we invited Katharina to share her impressions of the morning with us in a short personal statement, which we are pleased to include here:
“The quiz was a real highlight for me – playful, surprising and full of aha moments. With some of the questions, I simply trusted my intuition – apparently with some success. It was especially lovely to see familiar faces again while also making new contacts and entering into conversation. Overall, the event was enriching both professionally and personally, and I am taking away many valuable impulses for my own networking work at the transition between school and career.”
In this way, the quiz became more than just a successful start to the morning. It also offered a fitting example of what the event was all about: making people visible, bringing voices from the network into the conversation and not merely talking about connection, but putting it into practice straight away.
Connection is more than networking
The morning then moved into its thematic focus: Dr Johannes Ripken gave his keynote input, “Connection with Impact – How Strong Networks Emerge in Complex Systems”. At first glance, the title may sound like something from a specialist conference. At second glance, it describes exactly what we experience every day at HCAT+: networks do not emerge by accident. Strong networks certainly do not.
One central idea from the talk was this: networking is not automatically the same as connection. Visibility matters, and so does encounter. But real impact only emerges through trust, cooperation and shared action. Or, to put it another way: just because people know one another does not mean they are already moving something forward together. It is a little like a breakfast buffet: the coffee is there, the rolls are there, but you only feel nourished once you actually reach out and take part.
A thought that stayed with us
One quote in particular resonated:
“Networks can be organised.
Connection must be shaped.Contacts can be collected.
Trust must be earned.Conversations can be held.
Impact emerges through shared action.”
This idea ran like a thread through the entire morning. Alongside the professional input, the focus was above all on encounter: What are we currently working on? Where do we share common themes? Who can support whom? And which idea might simply need the right contact, the right space or a small nudge to move from thought into practice?
When conversations become concrete points of connection
Over breakfast, lively conversations developed, new points of connection emerged and many perspectives for future collaboration took shape. People discussed, laughed, asked questions, introduced ideas and thought further together. In short: the network did not merely take place – it got to work. And, pleasingly, without any compulsory flipcharts and with more than enough excellent food.
A fitting place for curious exchange
Special thanks go to the Schülerforschungszentrum Hamburg and Dr Christoph Jermann for their wonderful hospitality. On this morning, the SFZHH was not merely a venue, but a fitting setting for exactly the kind of exchange we want to strengthen: curious, open, future-oriented and grounded in practice.
Good catering is networking work too
We would also like to thank Häppchenliebe for the excellent catering. Because yes, content matters. But anyone who has experienced how much better networking works over a good breakfast knows that food is not just a pleasant extra. It is a strategic success factor. At the very least.
Our conclusion: contacts are good. Connection is better.
This breakfast once again showed just how committed, diverse and impactful our network already is – and how much potential lies in continued collaboration. Strong networks do not grow overnight. They grow through trust, through genuine conversations, through mutual support and through a shared willingness to make things happen.
We are taking away many impulses, new connections and, above all, a great deal of motivation from this morning. And we look forward to everything that will grow from it. Because, in the end, one thing is clear: contacts are good. Connection is better. And shared impact is exactly what HCAT+ stands for.
