We are SAMIN
Hello, we are the Kohistanis.
We are geographers with an entrepreneurial spirit, scientific curiosity and systemic consulting skills.
Working in and on Rebuilding Higher Education in Afghanistan has taught us about international cooperation, culturally sensitive communication and sustainable development in situations of change, crisis and conflict.
We learnt to face these challenges in fragile contexts thanks to our geographical and systemic education. Working with people and organizations on change processes, we experience the willingness to create protected reflection spaces and to engage in dialog as one stabilizing key to minimizing friction and activating cooperation.
We believe in the supporting power of collaborative learning to enrich people and organizations on their journey towards a culture of sustainability.
Our Story
2005
The Beginning
Our story begins with our scientific research in and about Afghanistan. In 2005, we embarked on our first joint geographic field research trip to Kabul as part of the academic reconstruction.
In the course of many years of cooperation with international project partners, we have gained a wealth of experience in the diversity of communication processes and cooperation – and the potential and challenges they hold.
2011
Foundation
In order to be able to work stably in a fragile environment, we also needed a base. In 2011 we founded our company SAMIN, based in Düsseldorf, Germany. We developed further as a team.
Our domain samin.world established itself as a platform for our entrepreneurial activities. We decided to expand our company name and registered SAMIN.WORLD as a trademark in 2017.
2021
Times of crisis
Working in conflict zones means that unexpected crisis situations pose unique challenges for everyone involved. This also applies to us. The increasingly difficult security situation in Afghanistan has had a lasting impact on our work there, as well as here at our home base in Düsseldorf.
At the same time, we have experienced the strength of supportive networks, collaborations, partners, customers and people who are committed to us. Their support can hardly be put into words – we remain deeply grateful.
2023
Change
We took a look back at our past developments, experiences and skills and reorganized and refocused. After all, we as an organization are also evolving together in a learning mindset.
We stand for more understanding in collaboration and change and want to make this valuable resource even more fruitful with blended learning formats and systemic consulting.
Our new look and feel is an expression of our evolution.
Our office
When we started our research, we created space for our independent activities. In 2005 we moved into a creative office community in Duesseldorf’s Medienhafen. This is also where we met the wonderful Emmeke, who has accompanied us all these years with her illustrative design.
Following our research activities, our office moved with us and we found ourselves temporarily in Linz on the Rhine. After our doctorate, we decided to give our international project activities a formal framework. We returned to Duesseldorf, founded SAMIN.WORLD and settled there.
We started in the lively district of Unterbilk and later moved to the more rural south of the city. Here we found our office home in the old Sandhof on Gerresheimer Landstrasse in Duesseldorf Unterbach.
When we started with e-learning, we set up our small studio corner “chaikhana” (Persian chai = tea, khana = house) in our coaching, consulting and work space, from where we conduct our online activities.
Since the beginning of 2023, our four-pawed colleague Luna from Kabul has been helping us with our work here in the office. As an experienced mediator, she inspires creativity and balance through nature walks 🙂
