18th East-West-European Memorial Seminar Kreisau
25./26. March 2021
The virtual remembrance
Memorial work and digital media
Remembering and teaching history online - what is possible virtually and what is not? Museums, memorial sites and contemporary witness projects in Eastern and Western Europe have long presented themselves online - but the pandemic is forcing many to move their multifaceted offerings completely online: Exhibitions, events, documentation and publications, workshops and discussion formats. What does this mean for historical and political remembrance work? How do methods, exchange and knowledge change when real encounters are not possible? What opportunities are offered by online communication, which target groups are opened up in a new way - and who cannot or does not want to participate in virtual formats?
Read more: 18th East-West-European Memorial Seminar Kreisau - online, 25.-26.03.2021
It's been a busy week. From Thursday to Saturday (25-27th of February 2021), we had the pleasure to host the second workshop session as part of the International Essay Competition entitled "My Europe of Freedom". A total of 42 people from Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany participated in the history and literary workshops, of which 33 were young people aged 16-29 looking for an essay idea.
Historical workshops were conducted by: Dr. Tomasz Skonieczny ("Krzyżowa" Foundation), Andrea Böhm (Bildungswerk Sachsen) and Michael Urban. Literary workshops were conducted by Constanze John, Radosław Wiśniewski and Pavlína Hilscherova. The meeting, moderated by Adelajda Lebioda ("Krzyżowa" Foundation), was also an opportunity for an international exchange of thoughts on the events of the 1980s and 1990s, in the countries of the so-called Eastern Bloc. Everyone could share their reflection with others and thus answer the following questions: What reasons did society have to go out on the streets and fight against the system of that time? How do we view those events from today's perspective? What role did those events play on the way to the Europe we live in today?
Read more: ||REPORT|| My Europe of Freedom. International Essay Competition. Online ideas workshop -...
The European Commission has announced the list of winners of the 2019 Altiero Spinelli Prize. The Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe is one of the 16 winners from all over Europe, thereby the first Polish organization in the history of this competition to receive such a distinction.
The Altiero Spinelli Prize has been awarded since 2017 and is a recognition of outstanding activities that promote understanding of the European Union as an integration project and its values. It focuses in particular on initiatives that help young citizens to engage in the democratic processes shaping the future of the EU. In the last edition of the Altiero Spinelli Prize, the activities undertaken in 2019 were assessed, and the work of the International Youth Meeting Center in Krzyżowa was recognized as outstanding in Europe.
The part of the ceremony with the announcement of the winners, including the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe, starts at 1:04 of the broadcast. We invite you to watch an interview with the winners - including Anna Kudarewska from the Krzyżowa Foundation.
Expert jurors paid particular attention to the very ambitious nature of the IYMC projects, the basis of which are meetings of young people from Poland, Germany and often also from other countries. Young people participating in these projects receive a unique chance to learn in an informal atmosphere to discuss, understand people with different views, experiences and expectations, as well as express their opinions and confront them with the opinions of peers in order to build consensus around different views. In this way, young people can better understand their own role in contemporary Europe.
During 30 years of operation, the International Youth Meeting Center in Krzyżowa has cooperated with over 250 schools and institutions, mainly from Poland and Germany, implementing projects with the participation of young people from various backgrounds, with different material status and experiences, also addressed to people with disabilities and disadvantaged groups. Many of them, participating in the projects of the Krzyżowa Foundation, had a chance to meet their peers from other countries for the first time and could overcome barriers created by tragic events in the past. Joint talks about the history and future of Europe, as well as everyday life as seen through the eyes of teenagers, contributed to strengthening the European dialogue by continuing it through the young generation.
Altiero Spinelli (1907–1986) was an Italian politician and political scientist considered to be one of the founding fathers of the European Union. He is the co-author of the Ventotene Manifesto, played a significant role in the federalist movement, had a strong influence on European integration in the first decades and in the 1980s. The main building of the European Parliament in Brussels is named after him.
The list of all winners is available on the website of the competition organizer.
Let's bring the local story to Instagram. Let us try to consider how we remember historical events that took place in our area and how the culture of memory influences our view of the past. These were the main messages of the project "Local History on Instagram". As part of the project, there have already been 2 editions of online workshops via the Zoom internet platform: 5.02-5.03.2021 and 11-28.06.2021.
Why do we suggest you move your local story to Instagram? Because on the one hand, historical and civic education is increasingly dependent on the use of various types of media, and on the other hand, the Internet, especially during a pandemic, has become a kind of educational institution. This is perfectly reflected in Instagram, where museums and educational centers are increasingly represented. On the occasion of current debates on social participation and democracy, Instagram is used more and more often, discovering new opportunities created by this social network for serious historical and civic education.
Read more: ||PROJECT|| “Local History on Instagram”
