Sabine Walter in conversation with ...

Rainer Agster, Project Manager at adelphi

Mr Agster, what do you love about your job?

Many things. I work in the field of development cooperation and lead international projects that focus, for example, on better economic management or a more careful approach to our environment. There is always something changing. It never gets boring. But what I find really cool about my job is that I can rethink things from A to Z in many projects. Especially in non-for-profit projects, we are often given only one goal, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Malawi. We then consider how best to proceed in order to achieve this goal. So I can develop the best solution from my point of view creatively and independently.

Our proposed solution is then evaluated by the funding institutions, such as the European Commission or the Federal Ministry for the Environment, on the basis of defined criteria. If all criteria for funding are met, we receive the funds to realise our solution.

And then it really starts: to make sure that what we come up with "flies" in the countries, we use local partners. Let's stay with the example of Malawi. If we as Germans were to come to Malawi and tell them how to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, the acceptance is lower than if a local expert does it. For that, they have to stand behind what we have developed. That is why our local partners are sparring partners for our proposed solutions in the first step. They tell us what works and what doesn't. Admittedly, the list of things that don't work is sometimes longer. But we are not deterred by this. On the contrary, we test out what really works and learn with every project.

I never thought I would end up managing projects in the field of development cooperation. I slipped into my job. As an environmental engineer, I always wanted to do something for the environment, but not necessarily to save the world. Now, with my projects, I do contribute to making the world a little better, and not only in environmental issues.

The central questions that I now focus on are: "How do we get higher impact with our projects? How can we scale what we are doing?" And that's where financial service providers are becoming increasingly interesting partners. Together with them, we develop financial products that support the set goal, such as reducing greenhouse gases in Malawi.

In the meantime, I no longer go to companies and advise them on how to save energy, for example, but I work with the bank to come up with a loan product that appeals to companies and helps them invest in energy efficiency.Specifically, this means: In the meantime, I no longer go to companies and advise them on how to save energy, for example, but I work with the bank to come up with a loan product that appeals to companies and helps them invest in energy efficiency.

What parallels are there to what we do, personality development?

Some. What we do in many projects is personality development on the one hand and organisational development on the other. What does that mean exactly? Managers and employees from the different companies we work with solve concrete questions from their company in a workshop organised by us using a structure and tools we have developed. We call this approach toolification. Example: How can we work better with stakeholders? In this workshop we guide them through the idea process so that at the end they know concretely how exactly they can achieve more impact with their company.

This means: At the end of the workshop, the participants have solutions for their own companies and a knowledge transfer takes place in the exchange with each other. Thus the companies learn also of each other. And last but not least, the participants expand their network and perhaps continue the exchange in the aftermath of the workshop or even find areas where they can work together.

In short: We don't stand in front of the group and impart expert knowledge with long PowerPoint presentations. But we empower people to solve their problems themselves. From our point of view, this is the best way to have a sustainable effect. The exciting thing about the group composition is partly the different levels of education. We work with people who have an MBA from Harvard as well as with those who only went to school for 4 years. We have to take this into account in our training programmes and in the facilitation of the workshops.

Another aspect of personal development is the development of our local partners. They need to be able to facilitate workshops and processes, work in a results-oriented way and support creativity so that solutions can really emerge and be implemented.

When do you get the best ideas?

After I had thought about it for a day, slept about it for a night and then thought about it again. And mostly also in group processeswhen I exchange ideas with some of my colleagues. It is important that we are focused on the task at hand. That is: No mobile phones, no laptops, no distractions.

When I get good ideas is when my thoughts have calmed down. In this emptiness, ideas simply pop up.

What will your profession look like in 2050?

I don't think my job itself will change that much. I think it will be more about scaling solutions. The question that will occupy us is: How do you think bigger with lower transaction costs? We need to be able to really develop large-scale solutions from the many small projects. To go back to our Malawi example: How do we also reduce greenhouse gases in neighbouring countries like Mozambique or Zambia with the Malawi project without further costs?

In my view, this goal of greater efficiency will also be supported in the future by an increasing intensity of competition for the best solution. At the moment, development cooperation is dominated by large organisations. In Germany, this is the GIZ. In the Netherlands it is already different. There, there are already several smaller organisations competing for the best solution. I also believe that more and more actors from India will enter the global market. The more that think about how to solve certain issues, the better the solution will be.

In terms of the issues we will be dealing with in 2050, I think that energy supply will not be so much in focus, but energy efficiency will be. Water will continue to be a big issue, empowerment will continue to occupy us.

What might be new is depowerment. When I look at the millennials we deal with, there is a lot of self-confidence and aspiration. What these young people often lack is some humility. We have to manage the interplay between the generations even better. So that it becomes a genuine exchange and creative and sustainable solutions for the problems that our world and society will have in 2050 emerge from this exchange.

Rainer Agster is an environmental engineer and has been working for almost 20 years as a consultant and project manager for adelphi active. adelphi is an independent think tank and leading consultancy on climate, environment and development. Together with his team, Rainer Agster develops solutions for sustainable development and supports governments, organisations and companies in effectively meeting global challenges.