News

From 12 to 14 June 2025, Dr. Renata Kobylarz-Buła and Dr. Michał Jakubik attended an interesting international event focused around the creation of a new meeting point for discussion and cooperation and the integration of different experiences of existing memorial sites. It was held in Oldenburg.

The symposium was hosted by Jugendkulturarbeit e.V., an Oldenburg-based German organisation, which has been involved in theatre, political and international education for children and young people in the Weser-Ems region, north-west Germany, for many years. The organisation is considered to be an exemplary institution in cross-border education, making it a good showcase of a cooperation between German and Polish young people. Similar meetings to the one we had the opportunity to attend have been organised by Jugendkulturarbeit in Oldenburg for about 20 years, with the aim of ‘exchanging experiences and building bridges between cultures’.

The meeting provided an interesting space to discuss new educational pathways and opportunities for effective networking, as well as an opportunity to talk about potential international projects for the democratisation of children and young people. The symposium was attended by esteemed experts and qualified practitioners from Poland and Germany, representing among others: The Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe, European Solidarity Centre, Federal Association for Cultural Education of Children and Young People, Ravensbrück and Sachsenhausen Memorial Education Centres, University of Oldenburg, and the German Emigration Centre.

It was a good experience, which we hope will become the basis for future cooperation.