The Discussion:

Your group’s discussion takes place between 1990 - 1994. While you are working on the solutions to your personal and group issues, you will be interrupted four times. Every 15-20 minutes or so, a year will have passed, and your group will receive historical facts of what actually happened during that year in Germany. You will need to adjust your discussion in light of these new political, economic and social realities. At times, these historical developments will aid your objectives, while at other times you might find that your solution has been overtaken by the actual events.

• The goal of the discussion is to arrive at feasible solutions in light of these various developments.
  

How to start and conduct The Discussion:

Each of your group members has specific issues which s/he brings to the table. It is the responsibility of each participant to present the issue(s) and to propose a solution(s). Long and short-term advantages and/or disadvantages of the proposed solution(s) should be considered and addressed, as well as the potentially different impacts on former East and West Germans. Encourage each other to ask questions in order to explore each issue before accepting or rejecting a proposal.

Solutions should be arrived at in a consensual manner which might involve the development of compromises. Getting exactly what you want could be difficult in light of your group members' divergent interests.

• Develop compromises which allow all participants to view the solution(s) as the best possible outcomes.