26 German and Russian professionals with backgrounds in the fields of education and/ or culture took part in the workshop "Gemeinsame Werte in der Diskussion - Ein Methodentraining" from January, 27th to February 5th, 2015 at HAUS RISSEN HAMBURG. The overall goal of this workshop was two-fold: First of all, various political, cultural as well as economic issues that are currently of great concern for both Russia and Germany should be discussed. Secondly, a deepening and broadening of the existing knowledge of methods of value transmission should be achieved. The discussions during the workshop were mainly based on information on the current developments within German-Russian relations as well as on official documents that both Germany and Russia had signed in the past - such as the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charta of the Council of Europe. The main motivation for initiating and realizing this project was the deeply rooted conviction on both the German as well as the Russian side that the dialogue between the various actors of both countries´ civil societies need special attention and support in times of political crises. To place a special emphasis on the issue of "values" was difficult and fruitful at the same time. In any case, the often very emotionally-charged discussions clearly demonstrated that both sides are very concerned about the current state of German-Russian relations. For this very reason, it seemed essential for the workshop to have a well-thought-out combination of controversial in-class discussions as well as enough space for personal encounters and exchange of perspectives between the participants outside the "official" workshop setting. The workshop thus comprised not only lectures at HAUS RISSEN, but also an attractive framework programm - such as a visit to ZEIT-Stiftung, Hamburg town hall, a teambuilding rallye through the city center of Hamburg as well as an excursion to Berlin that included guided tours at the Deutsche Bundestag and the German Historical Museum. Another very important element of the workshop was the debate and employment of different methods of extracurricular, non-formal methods of political education - including general methods such as scenario-analysis and simulation as well as more "value-specific methods", e.g. the value stock exchange and dilemma situations. With the help of these methods, the participants were strongly encouraged to actively think about and discuss current issues of German-Russian relations as well as to broaden their horizon with regard to methodological approaches. Moreover, the participants were engaged intensively into a controversial discussion on the applicability of different methods for their own professional activities. Besides the actual content and methods, the participants repeatedly stressed the importance of personal encounters and exchange of perspectives that took part during the 10 days in Hamburg. Many of the participants are still in contact and highly motivated to start joint projects as well as to offer access to their own network of contacts to the other participants in order to enable even more fruitful dialogue and cooperation between German and Russian professionals. HAUS RISSEN and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO-University) also plan to continue their cooperation and already discuss possible future projects that might be realized within the Erasmus+ programme in the near future.