Joint projects ranging from research to cultural projects, summer and winter schools for foreign students, the promotion of Solidarity-related issues as subjects for bachelor's and master's theses - these are just a few of the many initiatives that the University of Gdańsk and the European Solidarity Centre have committed to under the agreement.
The cooperation agreement was signed on November 15, 2022, in the library of the ECS. The document was signed by Rector prof. dr hab. Piotr Stepnowski and ECS Director Basil Kerski. The cooperation was programmed for five years with the possibility of extension.
The cooperation between the UG and the ECS is to encompass many undertakings in various fields. In the area of science, there were declarations on the joint implementation of didactic and research projects, referring to the idea of solidarity and democratic culture; the search for source materials; the improvement of staff qualifications.
Several initiatives are to be addressed to students, such as summer and winter schools for foreign students; promoting Solidarity-related issues as subjects for bachelor's and master's theses; and involving students in conferences or seminars held at the ECS.
There are also plans to cooperate in the field of publishing, and - which is important for the ECS, which for many years has been carrying out projects for the integration of new Gdańsk residents - it has been declared that language teachers from the University of Gdańsk will run courses in Polish as a foreign language.
As Basil Kerski, Director of the ECS, emphasised, the agreement between the ECS and the UG is both the culmination of cooperation to date and the opening of a new perspective for both institutions, which are united by their commitment to common values: mutual understanding, a culture of dialogue, respect, cherishing the memory of history and the education of future generations.
- 'There is no better place to sign such an agreement,' - confirmed Rector prof. Piotr Stepnowski. - 'This moment formalises many of the activities that we have carried out together and plan to continue together. The reference to the best European values and community perfectly fit the idea of our university as an open one.'
- 'The documents signed here have a unique power,' - admitted the ECS director. - 'In 2014, when the conflict in eastern Ukraine began, a delegation from Mariupol came to Gdańsk and at that time, in the still empty, unopened library of the ECS, a letter of intent on cooperation between the cities was signed as an expression of Gdańsk's support and solidarity with Ukraine.'
Aid is still being sent from Gdańsk to Mariupol, our partner city, almost razed to the ground during the war. The square at the intersection of Matki Polki and Partyzantów Streets in Wrzeszcz, near the consulate of the Russian Federation, was named after the Bohaterskiego Mariupola.
It is noteworthy that the ECS annually organises several scientific conferences and symposia, as well as a forum for the exchange of ideas, whose participants are world-renowned figures in historical, social and political research. It hosts participants of many projects carried out in partnership with foreign universities. Daily, it conducts educational activities aimed at children and young people. It has an extensive book collection, a rich collection of archives, but also contemporary notations, which are excellent research material.
