Conferences and summer schools

Teacher conference for PASCH and DSD schools from 15-17 April 2026

Teaching BIDS brings together German teachers from PASCH and DSD schools to discuss current
challenges in the classroom, receive practical impulses and strengthen the exchange with the Viadrina.

The conference is aimed at German teachers at PASCH and DSD schools worldwide as well as multipliers in schools abroad. Registration is possible until 31 March 2026.

Language: German
Venue: European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)

Networking event from 23 to 24 April 2026

The European University Viadrina and the Social Science Institute of the SWPS University of Warsaw are jointly organising the networking event DOING DEMOCRACY in Frankfurt (Oder) and Słubice. Two half days full of inspiration, dialogue and networking - across the German-Polish border. With DOING DEMOCRACY, the European University Viadrina and the Centre for Democracy Research at SWPS University are creating a space in which academia and civil society can work together on the future of democracy. Promoting and analysing democracy has become more urgent and sometimes more difficult. This is precisely why there is a need for spaces in which NGOs and academia can share knowledge, identify needs, strengthen each other and shape new forms of cooperation in the long term.

The event is aimed at organisations that are committed to political education, community building, democratic participation, human rights protection, extremism prevention and / or social cohesion in eastern Germany. The event offers the opportunity to share experiences and concerns, gain new impetus and find partners who pursue similar goals - across working fields and national borders.

The networking event focuses on dialogue and exchange: associations, alliances, initiatives, researchers and students present their work and concerns in advance in a simple poster format. Working groups are organised based on the topics. This creates thematic dialogue spaces in which experiences from practice and academic perspectives come together - for example on questions of democratic resilience, social participation or engagement in rural areas.

Participation is free of charge and is funded by the Europeam Reform University Alliance (ERUA), the European University Viadrina, the SWPS University of Warsaw, the state of Brandenburg and the city of Frankfurt(Oder), among others.

Call for Posters & Participation:
Registration by 8 March 2026 via the registration form and submission of a poster to doing.democracy@europa-uni.de (poster template available for download here).

Venue: European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) and Collegium Polonicum Słubice

Conference, 11 and 12 June 2026

From voice assistants and generative AI to the evolving relationships between humans and their animal companions, language-based communication with non-humans is becoming an increasingly common feature of the everyday. In response, we are seeing a surge in research from linguistics to philosophy to the social sciences, investigating the meanings, quandaries, and realities of this new communicative terrain. This conference aims to build a bridge between the predominantly distinct fields of human–animal and human–machine communication in order to jointly investigate the similarities and differences in our communicative practices when languaging with non-human others.

The conference is organized by the DFG-funded Emmy Noether research group “Posthumanist linguistics? Communicative practices between humans, animals, and machines” (team: Prof. Dr Miriam Lind (PI), Marlén Jacobshagen, Hannah Sawall).

Venue: European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Germany

Language: English 

Festival with workshops, talks and scientific perspectives - open to everyone, 18-20 June 2026

The Fake News Festival brings together science, practice, and the public to examine disinformation, artificial intelligence, and the future of our information society from diverse perspectives. In keynotes, lectures, and workshops, experts from research, media, politics, and civil society discuss how AI is changing the creation and spread of fake news, what risks and opportunities are associated with it, and how we can better recognize and counter digital manipulation.

The festival is aimed at everyone who wants to understand how disinformation is created, why it works – and what role AI plays in it. The goal is to make knowledge accessible, to stimulate debate, and to create space for exchange, questions, and new ideas.

The festival can also be attended by school classes or groups.

Venue: European University Viadrina, Collegium Polonicum, various locations in the twin city

Summer School, 6 - 17 July 2026

This Summer Course will deal in detail specifically and exclusively with the European system for the protection of human rights. Although there are numerous summer courses and other special study programmes within Europe on human rights protection, this course concentrates on an integrated treatment of the various European systems and of specifically European issues of human rights protection, that is, with important matters relevant to over forty European countries with diverse political, economic, and social systems. The subject matter, therefore, includes human rights protection under the regimes of the Council of Europe (the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Social Charter), the European Community, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (Helsinki Accords), as well as that on the universal level of public international law to the extent it is relevant. The treatment of the substantive regimes and their specific rights catalogues will be set against the background of a consideration of the philosophical, historical, political, economic, and sociological aspects of human rights, and include practical institutional matters such as complaint procedures as well as developments such as in the area of ‘New Rights’.

Practical and contemporary issues, such as the protection of human rights in situations of war or civil disorder, will also be addressed.

This comprehensive course has been organised by and will be presented by a dedicated group of experienced experts and teachers from universities in eleven European countries, co-ordinated by the Viadrina European University Frankfurt (Oder) (Germany). The other participants are the Universities of Poznań (Poland), Barcelona (Spain), Rotterdam (The Netherlands), Aberystwyth, Milton Keynes, Lancaster (United Kingdom), Bochum (Germany), Maribor, Kranj (Slovenia), Szeged (Hungary), Vienna, and Salzburg (Austria).

Venue: European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)

Final Conference from 30 September to 2 October 2026

As an overarching research initiative under the leadership of the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), the project is dedicated to the current challenges facing the European Union and examines possible counter-strategies. The project entitled "ValEUs. Research & Education Network on Contestations to EU Foreign Policy" is funded by the EU Commission as part of the Jean Monnet Policy Network (JMPN) for three years from January 2024 with 1.2 million euros.

The ambitious project, which involves 20 partner institutions from 17 countries on five continents, analyses the foreign policy of the European Union and its contested values. The third and final conference of the research initiative will take place at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder). More information will follow.

Venue: European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)

Language: English

Save the Date: Conference, 10-12 September 2026 (postponded until March 2027)

Participation - Opportunities, Challenges and Limits of a Democratic Mediation Practice

Objectives, content, methods and forms of history education are on the programme of the interdisciplinary conference of the Viadrina Center of Polish and Ukrainian Studies (VCPU) for multipliers of historical-political education in museums, memorials, schools and universities.

Venue: European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder)