On Thursday, January 21 and Friday, January 22, the members of the ROOTS Clusterrat gathered for the 2021 clusterrat retreat. With a group of up to 32 participants, the retreat aimed to reach a common understanding on the progress of ROOTS after two years as well as to develop perspectives for 2021 and beyond. The retreat produced a large number of concrete and inspiring suggestions to foster cooperation between and across the subclusters on the main research approaches and questions of ROOTS. These outcomes will form the basis for major lines of future work within ROOTS, including the next cluster retreat. 

Due to the current SARS-CoV-2 situation, the retreat convened in virtual spaces. In the process, participants were invited to maximise interaction by experimenting with new digital tools and video conference experiences. This included, for example, conducting discussions in smaller groups in various breakout rooms, using virtual boards to single out major points of discussion, and informally meeting in the evening in virtual spatial rooms for relaxed discussion and chatting. The evening was also enlivened by Ignacio Mundo, the JMA Chair of the winter term, who played his Asturian bagpipe from his sunny garden in Mendoza (Argentina) as well as by the talented guitar player Vesa Arponen. The setting offered the participants both a safe and inspiring virtual space for creative interaction. The experience will be of extreme value for the preparation of upcoming large retreats of all members of ROOTS. 

For this meeting, we were supported by Ms. Christiane Zerfass with her extensive experience in moderating team events. We would like to thank all the participants of the retreat for the inspiring discussions. Thanks are extended to the organising team, and in particular to Romy Plath and Andrea Ricci in supporting the organisation of this virtual event in such a fine manner. 

Here you can see some impressions of the two-day event (documented by Tine Pape):