11TH INTERNATIONAL FORUM
EUROPE WITH A VIEW TO THE FUTURE
PARLIAMENT OF WORD
During the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, we invite you to engage in a dialogue on democracy, solidarity, Europe and our responsibility for peace in the world.
In recent years, democracies have lost their authority in the eyes of many citizens. Dictatorships, on the other hand, have shown how brutally they are able to defend their existence by murdering and causing wars. At the same time, they are able to effectively build international alliances. The authoritarian world takes advantage of new technological and communication opportunities to expand their influence and to weaken the solidarity of the democracies. War is once again becoming a method of achieving political goals, as it happens in Ukraine or in the Middle East.
We, Europeans, once again have to make a choice as to the direction in which our civic civilisation should head. Do we want to barricade ourselves against global challenges in nationalist egoism? Or will we defend the practices of solidarity of nations and respect for human rights?
‘There is no freedom without solidarity!’ – this slogan of the 1980 Polish Solidarity Movement is still relevant, giving us strength. This slogan gives us civic strength.
Basil Kerski with the team of the European Solidarity Centre
Robert Piaskowski with the team of the National Centre for Culture Poland
registration | mandatory for most events: europazwidokiem.nck.pl
information | ecs.gda.pl, nck.pl
Programme
3 June 2025 Tuesday
10:00 am–6:00 pm
/ permanent exhibition and THE SHIPYARD exhibition
/ ticket – PLN 12
On the occasion of the holiday, we offer a promotional ticket price. We invite you to visit us!
10:00 am
AKADEMIA SOLIDARNOŚCI [SOLIDARITY ACADEMY]
/ permanent exhibition, hall E
Finale of the 2024/2025 edition. The Solidarity Academy is an international project bringing together young journalists from Ukraine, Romania, Georgia, Hungary, Russia, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Belarus and Poland. For a year, as part of workshops, lectures, meetings and research walks, we were exploring issues related to the defence of human rights, responsibility and threats in the work of a journalist, fact-checking, fake news and freedom of speech.
10:00 am
POLACY I CZESI SOLIDARNI Z GRUZJĄ [POLES AND CZECHS IN SOLIDARITY WITH GEORGIA]
/ workshop room no 5
/ free entry
Discussion panel implemented in cooperation with the College of Eastern Europe as part of the Polish-Czech Forum project for bringing societies closer together, enhanced cooperation and good neighbourliness 2025.
12:00 pm
FINAL LECTURE BY SAMUEL CHU
/ permanent exhibition, hall E
/ by invitation only
Presentation of the certificates of the Solidarity Academy 2024/2025.
2:00 pm
PRZESŁANIA DLA ŚWIATA [MESSAGES TO THE WORLD]
/ permanent exhibition, hall F
/ by invitation only
/ Polish Sign Language interpretation
The honorary guests of the forum will add messages to the ‘Kardiogram’ installation, which – as part of the permanent exhibition – crowns the story of the road to freedom of Poles and other nations who, after World War II, found themselves in the Kremlin’s zone of interest. Visitors leave here white and red cards on which they write messages, comment on reality, write down their dreams…
3:00 pm
INAUGURATION AND AWARD OF THE DECORATION OF SOLIDARITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS
/ permanent exhibition, hall F
/ free entry
The decoration was established by the European Solidarity Centre on the 45th anniversary of the creation of Solidarity. It will be awarded to persons exceptionally involved in the defence of human rights, not only in the civic sphere, but also in the fields of culture, science and education.
5:30 pm
MEETING WITH OLGA TOKARCZUK
/ St John’s Centre
/ free entry, registration required
8:00 pm
AGA ZARYAN & BIG BAND ŚLĄSKI
/ Fryderyk Chopin Polish Baltic Philharmonic
/ ticket – available on the nck.bilety24.pl website
Concert as part of the cultural programme of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU.
4 June 2025 Wednesday
10:00 am–6:00 pm
/ permanent exhibition and THE SHIPYARD exhibition
/ ticket – PLN 12
On the occasion of the holiday, we offer a promotional ticket price. We invite you to visit us!
10:00–11:45 am
ŚWIAT ROZDARTY WOJNAMI. CZY KULTURA DIALOGU MA PRZYSZŁOŚĆ? [A WORLD TORN APART BY WARS. IS THERE A FUTURE FOR THE CULTURE OF DIALOGUE?]
/ ECS, auditorium
/ free entry, registration required
/ Polish Sign Language interpretation
Democracies are weakened by the negative effects of globalisation and the lack of a vision of a modern social justice policy. Social tensions and digital media conducive to emotionalisation have changed the climate of public dispute. Polarisation is increasingly eliminating dialogue both on the national level and internationally.
Will we continue to follow a path that threatens human rights? Or will we be able to renew the culture of dialogue and social consensus to strengthen democracy and translate the ideas of social justice into the reality of the 21st century?
foreword | Basil Kerski, ECS Director and Robert Piaskowski, NCC Director
SPEAKERS
Leopoldo López | Venezuelan economist and sociologist, leader of the democratic opposition
Pavel Latushko | Belarusian lawyer, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus and President of the National Anti-Crisis Management
Oleksandra Matviichuk | Ukrainian lawyer, Head of the Centre for Civil Liberties awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Susan Neiman | American philosopher and writer
Jerzy Pomianowski | diplomat, Director of the European Endowment for Democracy
Ece Temelkuran | Turkish writer, journalist
moderator | Katarzyna Kasia, philosopher, author, journalist
12:00–1:00 pm
ŚWIĘTO WOLNOŚCI I PRAW OBYWATELSKICH [CELEBRATING FREEDOM AND CIVIL RIGHTS] Commemorating the birth of Polish democracy on the 36th anniversary of the elections of 4 June 1989
/ Solidarity Square
/ free entry
/ Polish Sign Language interpretation
4 June 1989 is the day of the victory of the Solidarity revolution in the parliamentary elections. This date marks the beginning of Polish democracy and the wave of democratisation across Europe. We meet in Gdańsk, the cradle of Solidarity.
Solemn rise of the flags of Poland, the European Union, Pomerania, Gdańsk and Solidarity, accompanied by soldiers, singing the anthems of the Republic of Poland and the European Union
anniversary speeches | Lech Wałęsa – leader of the Solidarity Revolution, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aleksandra Dulkiewicz – Mayor of Gdańsk, Mieczysław Struk – Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Basil Kerski – ECS Director
2:00–4:00 pm
WYOBRAŻONE WSPÓLNOTY. EMOCJE, KTÓRE ZMIENIAJĄ ŚWIAT [IMAGINED COMMUNITIES. EMOTIONS THAT CHANGE THE WORLD]
/ ECS, auditorium
/ free entry, registration required
/ Polish Sign Language interpretation
The world of politics is more and more saturated with feelings. During the debate, we want to look for those emotions that offer the potential to turn the culture of fear and threat into a space of civic cooperation for the renewal of democracy.
SPEAKERS
Michał Bilewicz | social psychologist, sociologist, professor
Leopoldo López | Venezuelan economist and sociologist, leader of the democratic opposition
Grzegorz Kwiatkowski | writer, musician, activist
moderator | Jacek Kołtan, philosopher and political scientist, ECS
2:00–4:00 pm
EKONOMIA W SERCU DEMOKRATYCZNEJ POLITYKI. JAKA GOSPODARKA PRZYCZYNI SIĘ DO BUDOWY SPRAWIEDLIWEGO SPOŁECZEŃSTWA? [ECONOMY AT THE HEART OF DEMOCRATIC POLITICS. WHICH ECONOMY WILL CONTRIBUTE TO BUILDING A FAIR SOCIETY?]
/ ECS, library
/ free entry, registration required
/ Polish Sign Language interpretation
In the post-growth era, we face the challenge of how to redefine the economy to better cope with sustainable development. We are faced with the question of an economy sharing the existing surplus; an economy that would challenge the modern dogma based on the imperative of ‘more’ and that would have the courage to think in a broad perspective of justice for all.
SPEAKERS
Dariusz Filar | economist, writer, professor emeritus
Harold James | British economic historian, professor
Henrik Müller | German journalist, professor
moderator | Maciej Głogowski, editor-in-chief and programme director of Radio TOK FM
4:30–6:30 pm
PRZEMOC, POPULIZM, AUTORYTARYZM. CZEGO POWINNY NAUCZYĆ NAS WSPÓŁCZESNE KRYZYSY? [VIOLENCE, POPULISM, AUTHORITARIANISM. WHAT LESSON SHOULD WE LEARN FROM MODERN CRISES?]
/ ECS, auditorium
/ free entry, registration required
/ Polish Sign Language interpretation
Not only does a crisis reveal systemic weaknesses, but it may also surprise us with possibilities for change. How do we overcome the ubiquitous violence, populism and wave of authoritarianism at the heart of the critical moments that define today’s world of wars and conflicts?
SPEAKERS
Leszek Jażdżewski | political scientist, editor-in-chief of Liberté!
Elżbieta Korolczuk | sociologist, commentator and activist
Paolo Morawski | Italian historian, journalist and publicist
Shalini Randeria | anthropologist and sociologist
moderator | Mateusz Burzyk, translator, editor of the monthly Znak
4:30–6:30 pm
CYFROWA DEMOKRACJA. CZY W ŚWIECIE SZTUCZNEJ INTELIGENCJI ZNAJDZIE SIĘ MIEJSCE DLA OBYWATELSKICH WOLNOŚCI? [DIGITAL DEMOCRACY. WILL THE WORLD OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HOLD A PLACE FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES?]
/ ECS, library
/ free entry, registration required
/ Polish Sign Language interpretation
The enthusiasm for the Internet disappears, replaced by a sense of digital surveillance. How can civic politics regain the cyberspace and build a new shape of democracy based on digital tools?
SPEAKERS
Edwin Bendyk | journalist, Chairperson of the Board of the Stefan Batory Foundation
Aleksandra Przegalińska | philosopher, professor
Anna Streżyńska | lawyer, Director of the National Institute of Telecommunications
Katarzyna Szymielewicz | lawyer, Chairperson of the Board of the Panoptykon Foundation
moderator | Grzegorz Piotrowski, sociologist, ECS
7:00–8:30 pm
WOLNOŚĆ, SPRAWIEDLIWOŚĆ, SOLIDARNOŚĆ. OBIETNICE DEMOKRACJI [FREEDOM, JUSTICE, SOLIDARITY. THE PROMISES OF DEMOCRACY]
/ ECS, winter garden
/ free entry, registration required
/ Polish Sign Language interpretation
The Round Table Talks in the spring of 1989 between the communist regime and Solidarity opened the way for peaceful democratisation in Poland. Back then, the Polish Round Table became a model of transformation for Hungarians, Germans or Bulgarians. In 2019, on the 30th anniversary of the victory of the Solidarity Revolution, the ECS created a round table for dialogue in the new times of transformation. At this table, we want to talk about contemporary challenges for democracy – about solidarity, attitude towards others, elementary human rights, fear of revolutionary change. What choices do we need to make to defend the world of values?
first conversation | TV debate
SPEAKERS
Agata Bielik-Robson | philosopher and publicist, professor
Samuel Chu | Hong Kong-born American human rights defender, founder and President of The Campaign for Hong Kong
Vesna Marjanović | Serbian politician, founder of the Centre for Democracy foundation
Andrii Portnov | Ukrainian historian and essayist, professor
moderator | Olga Brzezińska, cultural manager, Adam Mickiewicz Institute
second conversation | TV debate
SPEAKERS
Basil Kerski | Polish-German cultural manager, political scientist, editor and essayist, ECS Director
Andrzej Leder | philosopher of culture, professor
Taciana Niadbaj | Belarusian poet, human rights defender, President of the Board of PEN Belarus
Ece Temelkuran | Turkish writer, journalist
moderator | Olga Brzezińska, cultural manager, Adam Mickiewicz Institute
9:00 pm
SOUNDING EUROPE. FROM BACH TO PÄRT
MARCIN MASECKI & MARCIN MARKOWICZ
Concert
/ ECS, auditorium
/ ticket – PLN 30, available on the bilety.ecs.gda.pl
You are hereby invited to a story about European music. We will start with Bach, the most genius composer, who commenced the modern era in the history of classical music, and end with a piece by Arvo Pärt, one of the greatest living creators of this music tradition. The space in between, however, will be filled with Mozart, the brightest and cleverest, and also Beethoven, the wildest and the boldest. All of this will be presented by Marcin Masecki (piano) and Marcin Markowicz (violin).
/ the programme may be subject to change
