Towards the end of the year, we are not announcing an upcoming event – instead, we would like to share with you our experience of a reflective end-of-year workshop at our office in Berlin. Everyone contributed something related to their respective field of work but deliberately avoided focusing on specific project results. Instead, we addressed fundamental questions that had accompanied us in our work throughout the year. Together, we discussed possible solutions, reflected on our values and working methods, and took the time to reconsider the meaning and motivation behind our actions. The event concluded with a festive dinner, followed by a special concert experience: a musical journey through time in the footsteps of the Oud – the oldest known stringed instrument in the world. Over four millennia, its journey took it from Mesopotamia to Persia and later to Andalusia, paving the way for the emergence of related instruments such as the Guitar, Lute, Rebab, and Mandolin in Europe, as well as the Sitar in India and the Tar in Iran. A beautiful and meaningful way to end the year: tracing the path of the Oud not only as an instrument, but also as a bridge between cultures and civilizations.