120 curious minds, one city, countless ideas. In Riga, young Europeans tackled polarization, explored divides, and used history as a toolkit for dialogue, creativity, and action. The EUSTORY Summit “En:countering Divides” showed that youth energy can build a stronger, more connected Europe.

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Activities and Highlights

Staging Conflict: Coexistence in Challenging Times

Facilitated by Theater Strahl, Berlin

14 young people from 13 countries used theatre and improvisation to explore conflict and solidarity. By dramatizing everyday scenarios, they discovered how personal stories can spark dialogue and action. Participants learned to draw on lessons from the past to respond to injustice with confidence.

One person standing with a microphone in hand and two people sitting and clapping, all looking in the same direction
Three people with their hands high and one person with her hand against them and two people watching
Three people, one is smiling, one looking at the camera with a straight face and the other is looking the other way
A person with a microphone in hand
Four people standing on a stage, two people sitting and watching

Bridging Differences: Understanding Through Dialogue

Facilitated by Timeout Foundation, Helsinki

How to hold a constructive discussion when views on history and remembrance clash? And where to put the feelings coming along with opposite opinions? Participants practiced structured dialogue to overcome polarization designed tools to carry back home for fostering understanding in their communities.

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Capturing Change: Cities in Transformation

Facilitated by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art

How to keep relics and memories of the past alive while cities develop further? Participants explored urban transformations through photography, uncovering hidden histories in buildings and streets. Their visual stories were exhibited in the National Library of Latvia.

Poster with pictures of a building over time and pictures of a family

Sofia from Lviv, Ukraine, told the story of Konovalets street, rich with the baroque architecture, and the Bazylevych family that dwelled there and suffered one of the most devastating tragedies of the last few months of Russian invasion. Of the family of five only the father survived the bombing of their home.

Poster with pictures of a city and the address with a building

Anne from Dublin, Ireland, created a multi-layered poster about the apartment building on Gardiner Street 62 that tells about the complicated history of Ireland and the tragic destiny of some of her family members who used to rent living space in this building.

Poster with pictures of old cities

Niklas from Bochum, Germany researched a former Northern train station, now a beauty clinic, and found out its history related to mass deportations that took place during the WW2.

Rethinking Monuments: The Future of Remembrance

Facilitated by Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg and Scavengar

15 young Europeans questioned traditional monuments and created AR prototypes for inclusive memory. They explored how commemoration can look like in the future and how digital memorials can spark transnational dialogue. One of the monuments was already displayed in different countries – check it out here.

Talking Climate: From Negotiations to Actions

Facilitated by circa cph, Copenhagen

Participants traced how history shapes environmental policy and role-played global climate negotiations. They developed collective visions for action, linking past lessons to future solutions.

Poster with "it's complicated!" in the middle with names of diverse topics
Handwritten poster about recycling. Bottles in water in the middle with information about recycling around it
Poster with topics like CO2 emissions, aerosol emissions, agriculture and more
Handwritten graphic with rodes, drawings with notes about waste, industry, organic products and mindset

“Exploring the climate impact of human history is challenging, but understanding our past enables us to shape informed actions for the future.”

“Realizing that each of us can contribute to reversing climate change was powerful—collective action makes a difference”

Uncovering Realities: History and Storytelling in Media

Facilitated by the Baltic Centre for Media Excellence

15 participants analyzed how media shapes historical narratives and practiced telling history themselves. They produced blogs, podcasts, and reports, combining research, storytelling, and critical media skills. Check out how they turned an Armenian banknote, self-made Danish sweaters or the Czech tricolore into the protagonists of their stories.

Tracking Down the Invisible Man

It’s almost impossible to find traces of Heinrich Bruning’s life. He wasn’t considered worthy of going down in the annals of History, as will probably be the case for most of us, ordinary people.

The Power of Participation

Students are key to the History of the Czech Republic for a solid reason. They fought peacefully for the freedom of their country, and their legacy still lives on among a grateful Czech youth.

The Fortune-Teller

Some say premonitions don’t exist. The author of this story can swear they do. Her father foresaw her vocation twenty years before she was born, so how could she not believe in magic?

Tales From a Tattered 20th Century Transcript

Some documents can unexpectedly bear witness to historical events. How come Luke Darling asked for a military pension when the Irish Army didn’t even exist? And where did he get British weapons?

My Great-Grandfather’s Journal – Remembrance and Heritage

After the trauma of World War II, taboos and heavy silences became the norm in many families. Today, conversations are still hard, but discovering a meaningful diary can fill in the picture.

Are you Really Lucky?

Defining “luck” in an unequal world is complex. Bodil, who experienced the Nazi occupation, and Myroslav, who fled the war in Ukraine, tried to illustrate this dilemma, aided by knitted sweaters.

Extra activity: History Camp 2024

“Stories They Tell” – History-Based Propaganda in Popular Culture

Facilitated by Lilit Dabagian, Public Historian

How does Propaganda hide in films, music, and online culture? 16 young winners from Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine analysed popular media, uncovered ideological narratives, and used creative AI tools to produce their own counter-stories to challenge dominant messages.

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Participant Voices

„The importance of taking different backgrounds into consideration when you’re debating across countries is something I’m taking with me for the future.”

“Listening to stories from other people changed my perspective on certain topics.”

“Magic in workshops: We created something from nothing and were able to cooperate although everyone was from a different country.”

Impressions

Three people laughing while writing on a poster together
Two people taking a selfie
People sitting and looking in he same direction. One person is pointing at the front and talking to the person beside him
People standing in front of a building with EUSTORY banners in their hand
Two people smiling at the camera
People sitting in a room with pictures on the wall
Many books in shelves behind glass
People sitting, two people looking at a person standing
One person smiling with a microphone in hand, people in the background, also smiling

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