From 20–22 February 2026, the Association for Canadian Studies in German-speaking Countries (GKS) held its annual conference in Tutzing. After last year’s conference in Berlin, the GKS returned to a more familiar Bavarian setting, which even allowed the trained eye to catch a glimpse of the Zugspitze. Located right on the shores of Lake Starnberg, the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing offered not only a stunning view of the Alps but also a wonderful atmosphere for fruitful conversations.
Under the theme “Climate Change, Climate Crisis: Canadian Perspectives,” the conference encouraged its more than 110 participants to explore what is Canadian about (experiencing, addressing, mitigating, writing, legislating, denying, and coping with) climate change.
The GKS was especially honoured to host H.E. Jean-Paul Lemieux, Ambassador of Canada to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Benedikt Miklós, representing the Délégation générale du Gouvernement du Québec à Munich, and Jane Koustas, past president of the ICCS, all of whom welcomed the participants during the opening ceremony.
Throughout the three conference days, eight panels, comprising a total of 18 individual presentations, addressed Canadian perspectives on climate change through various disciplinary lenses. In addition, the conference featured a hybrid roundtable discussion exploring Indigenous perspectives on dealing with the consequences of climate change and possible ways of restoring balance in a modified environment.
Two keynote lectures framed the conference: one by climatologist and glaciologist Shawn Marshall, currently the Departmental Science Advisor at Environment and Climate Change Canada, and the other by sociologist Shelley Boulianne, the R. Klein Chair in Communication Studies at Mount Royal University. Marshall’s keynote provided examples of the growing climate change stresses in Canada as well as a discussion of these phenomena in the context of Canada’s national climate change mitigation and adaptation policies. Boulianne, in turn, connected contemporary forms of climate denial to existing measures of climate opinions and environmental concerns and discussed implications for engagement in civic and political activities.
Aside from traditional panel formats, participants also had the opportunity to enjoy a movie night showcasing Indigenous short films on the topics of land, ecology, and climate change by Wapikoni Mobile, a film and music studio that gives Indigenous youth in remote communities across Canada the opportunity to express themselves artistically. The screening was followed by a discussion with filmmaker and activist Yasmine Fontaine, who provided an insight into her work of cultural reappropriation, protection of the territory, and promotion of Indigenous knowledge.
The GKS wishes to thank the DFG (German Research Foundation) and the Embassy of Canada in Berlin for their generous support and all the speakers and participants for their contributions to the success of this year’s conference.
The next annual conference of the GKS will be held 24–26 February 2027, in Berlin, on the topic of “Re-imagining Canada in North America.”
Left to right and top to bottom: Ambassador H.E. Jean-Paul Lemieux during the opening ceremony; Shawn Marshall during his keynote; Shelley Boulianne during her keynote; Yasmine Fontaine during the Q&A following the short film screening. Photographs by Mathias Behrens and Florian Freitag