Photo of the exterior of the Belgian Ambassador’s Residence in Nairobi. Photo by Diplomatica Global Media.
On a brisk Kenyan evening, the Belgian Ambassador's residence in Nairobi is awash in light, its doors open, lush gardens beckoning beyond a grand patio. Across expansive grounds which once boasted the largest collection of ferns in Africa is the embassy, a concrete mass of a building that could easily be mistaken for nearly any other embassy in most diplomatic capitals in the world.
Unlike other embassies, however, the two-building five-acre compound has a design feature that makes it unique the world over - it was modeled after an eco-safari camp in the Kenyan bush.
Reporting from the TED Countdown climate summit in Kenya, read Nairobi’s First Net Zero Embassy on Diplomatica.
This summer, our intrepid intern Shannon Raymond personally reached out to every embassy in Washington not yet represented in Great Reads from Around the World to invite them to participate in our literary diplomacy project. The results were overwhelming. So overwhelming, in fact, that we’re having to build a new literary portal on our website to accommodate all of the new submissions.
We’ll be unveiling that in October to coordinate with National Book Month (US), National Poetry Day (UK), Bookshop Day (International), UNESCO’s World Novel Week, Book Day (Spain), and of course, Great Reads from Around the World’s first anniversary!
Our goal is to present a book from every country. If your country is not yet represented, please get in touch.
Did you know? You can support Diplomatica with any purchase on Bookshop.org, not just Great Reads, by shopping through our online store. Please bookmark our page and keep us in mind for all of your book purchases.
Our Diplomatica Global Media 2025 Summer Internship Cohort has ended and our interns have returned to their studies. We hope to have them with us again in the future, but in the meantime, we’d like to thank everyone who hosted our team this summer, including Embassy of Sweden in USA, Embassy of Australia, United States of America, Mexican Cultural Institute D.C., Spanish Embassy - Cultural Office, Embassy of Canada | Ambassade du Canada, Embassy of Japan, The Embassy of the Republic of Iraq, Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center, DC/DOX Festival and of course William & Mary.
You can see all of their great coverage from this summer at www.diplomaticaglobal.com.
We are expanding our relationships with universities throughout the U.S. to provide more students the opportunity to learn place-based reporting. Please get in touch for upcoming in-person and virtual internship opportunities for the fall and spring semesters.
On September 4, at 6pm, the Embassy of Slovenia will host Slovenian-born pianist Petra Persolja in performance at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. Last year, she won the Leigh Weimers Emerging Artists Award and the American Protégé competition. The performance will be live-streamed. In-person tickets are still available.
House of Sweden: There are only a few opportunities left to see the Snow and Rain Shall Pass exhibit, a stunning and bold photography display by Karin Alfredsson. We’ve profiled the House of Sweden previously as a prime example of architectural diplomacy in action. The exhibit open houses are a great chance to also see the beautiful waterfront embassy, as Sweden has ended its public weekend hours. More information.
On September 11, at 6:30 pm, the Japan Information & Cultural Center (JICC) will be hosting a lecture by the renowed samurai expert, Dr. Morgan Pitelka, who will be discussing the tension between the reputation of the samurai as fierce warriors and their record as devoted patrons of the arts. More information.
On Friday, September 26 at 5:30pm, the Spanish Cultural Center (formerly known as the Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain) will be hosting their fall open house. This is the perfect opportunity to see the center’s new exhibits and its stunning historic property, which we’ve previously explored. More information.
Of note: Events DC’s Walking Town Days have returned. For eight days in September, the city’s tourism board will host 50 free, public walking tours throughout the District to explore its culture, history and heritage. This is an incredible extravaganza not to be missed. More information.