EUSTORY Summit Started in Berlin
On the evening of 15 October, the opening ceremony of the EUSTORY Next Generation Summit 2019 took place in Berlin. For three days, 120 young people from Europe and beyond worked in eight workshops on the topic “Winds of Change – Transitions in Europe”. Together with experts from the fields of art, culture, science and journalism, they dealt intensively and creatively with diverse aspects of political transformation processes in Europe.
The opening ceremony was part of a big event entitled "The Value of Europe. 30 Years After the Fall of the Berlin Wall", organised by Körber-Stiftung and its partners. Over 200 invited guests gathered in Berlin's Humboldt-Carré to look back at the transition years in Europe from different angles. Contemporary witnesses, pollsters, politicians and representatives of the civilian population discussed the significance of freedom and democracy for Europeans today, 30 years after reunification and the fall of the Iron Curtain, and also talk about where the legacy of the transition years is relevant to this day.
As part of the event, the US-American opinion research institute Pew Research Center presented a study that is significant in its geographical scope and historical comparability. This study was published for the first time in Europe on this day with the support of Körber Foundation. The institute interviewed around 19,000 people in 14 European countries as well as in Russia and in Ukraine and examined the state of democracy in Europe and the shape of the European project. In order to deepen the survey results, the German photojournalist Daniel Biskup then recalled the years of upheaval by means of some of his photographs. In addition, the former Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga gave insights into the difficult process of self-discovery of former Soviet satellite states and reflected on obstacles and dangers that Latvia is facing on the road towards a successful transformation of the country.
In the second half of the event, various other guests from Germany and abroad discussed the survey results and different perspectives on the experiences of the transitions. In addition to Ms Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Hanna Radziejowska, Director of the Pilecki Institute in Berlin, Michael Kellner, Federal Political Director of Bündnis90/Die Grünen (Green Party), and Kateryna Tebiakina, student from Ukraine and participant in the EUSTORY Summit, discussed current challenges of the European project and possibilities for individual ideas.
Watch a short PEW kickoff trailer
