9 days of seminars and workshops, 19 students, 15 lecturers - this is the summary of the Winter School on Balticness 2022, which took place at the European Solidarity Centre within the YoPeNet (YOUNG PEOPLE NETWORK FOR BALTICNESS) project.
The participants of the School came from Estonia, Germany, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Denmark, India, Turkmenistan and Brazil and were selected from 32 applications. This choice was not accidental, as it necessitated an intercultural and international dialogue between young people, students, PhD students and high school pupils on current topics related to change and identity construction. It was also about building new networks between the participants of the school. All classes were held in English and the topics ranged from politics, sociology, history to culture and environmental protection in the Baltic region. The classes were divided into 2 sessions each day, a more theoretical one in the morning and a more practical one in the afternoon.
- 'No one could have expected that the classes and workshops we planned to start on March 1, 2022, would start in a Europe at war. Nobody could also have expected how current the topic of migration would become, to which we decided to dedicate an entire day in the school's programme already a year ago,' - says dr hab. Kazimierz Musiał, prof. UG, from the Institute of Scandinavian and Finnish Studies at the University of Gdańsk, project manager.
During the meetings, the Gdańsk approach to migration was also discussed. Jurij Zabijaka, a Ukrainian activist, spoke about the Council of Immigrants and Immigrant Women, while Marta Siciarek from the Marshal's Office spoke about the Minimum Integration Standard. The workshop day ended with Karolina Stubińska talking about the Support Centre for Immigrants and Immigrant Women.
As one of the organisers dr Magdalena Muszel said: - 'The themes of the workshop were designed to give participants tools and create real space and platform for dialogue on new challenges, including those resulting from the current war and large migration movements. The closing seminar of the school referred directly to peaceful coexistence, patterns of building a regional future despite differences and living under different political systems.'
The discussion was concluded in an open dialogue with the Director of the Secretariat of the Council of the Baltic Sea States, Ambassador Grzegorz Poznański, who came to Gdańsk from Stockholm, especially for the occasion.
The winter school was made possible thanks to the YoPeNET project funded by the Council of Baltic Sea States, with the support and funding of PLN 25,000 from the City of Gdańsk, and logistical support from the University of Gdańsk and the European Solidarity Centre.
Partners in the YoPeNet project are currently: University of Gdańsk, European Solidarity Centre, Zatoka Foundation, and foreign partners include, University of Greifswald, Södertörn University in Stockholm and Beladania Association from Copenhagen.
The classes were conducted, among others, by lecturers associated with the University of Gdańsk: dr Karolina Drozdowska, dr Małgorzata Karczmarzyk, dr Magdalena Muszel, prof. Tomasz Szkudlarek, prof. Kazimierz Musiał, mgr Marta Skorek and dr Grzegorz Piotrowski (also associated with the ECS) as well as scientists specialising in the subject of identity and its analysis from partner institutions in Greifswald and Copenhagen: dr Alexander Drost and dr Lizaveta Dubinka-Hushcha.
