When: 15–20 September 2025 (arrival on the 14th of September, departure on the 21st of September)
Where: Greifswald, Germany
How many credits: 5 ECTS
For whom: University students and PhD students within humanities or social sciences and advanced high school students with interest in the Baltic Sea region
By whom: Interdisciplinary Centre for Baltic Sea Region Research (IFZO) at the University of Greifswald, University of Gdańsk, Centre for Landscape and Culture at Tallinn University, Zatoka Foundation and CBSS, in cooperation with other YoPeNET project partners
About:
The Baltic Sea region (BSR) has been a contested cultural, political, and economic space throughout most of its history. Since the beginning of the twentieth century – from the upheavals brought about by both world wars, through the alienation during the time of the Cold War, the periods of opening and cooperation in the interwar period and after the breakup of the Soviet Union – the region has gone through changes and transformations of its political frameworks, and the foundations of its identities and cultures. In the recent decades alone, the BSR has gone from the hope of integration and region-building of the post Cold War years, fuelled by the fall of the USSR and the advancing European integration, through a period of growing divergence, to the situation of today: the sense of threat brought about by the Russian full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the resulting isolation of the Russian Federation in Europe and in the BSR, as well as the expansion of NATO to include Finland and Sweden. Furthermore, the region is vulnerable to the same challenges that all communities, globally and in Europe, face, such as climate change and the influx of immigrants and refugees from outside of the region.
The participants of the CBSS Summer University 2025 are invited to engage in the dialogue on questions of strategic narratives relating to cultural resilience in the face of the numerous, often challenging transformations, and the ways in which Balticness/BSR identity can help strengthen it. How do societies in the BSR respond to crises? How resilient are democratic structures and cultural practices in the face of renationalization, extreme ideologies, aggressor states, the climate crisis, and transformation? Can a shared, regional identity like Balticness help to establish and strengthen resilience of cultural practices and intangible knowledge in a region that shares the natural environment, the cultural memory of contact, cooperation, and conflict, as well as transnational democratic institutions?
The location of our Summer University is no coincidence: Greifswald, with its long Hanseatic tradition, also underwent the changes of the 20th century and has been able to develop in a free and democratic Baltic Sea region since 1990. Since then, the University of Greifswald has developed a strong research profile on the Baltic Sea region. Through peatland research, the One Health approach and preventive life sciences, Greifswald is also addressing the challenges of the 21st century, making it a perfect host for a summer university exploring ideas of resilience in the context of regional identity.
What will students learn when participating in the programme?
Participants will be trained to understand narrative strategies and identity construction in relation to the BSR, especially their capacity to build and strengthen cultural resilience. By exploring different narratives from science, museums and policy, participants will understand which narratives can be relevant in this context. What kind of social, cultural, political, environmental and economic agency do these narratives have (in the past, present and future)? Do different narratives coexist with different impacts? By the end of this Summer School, students will be aware of the connection between belonging and identity.
Registration and application:
- Submit the application to: yopenetuni-greifswaldde
Include a statement of intent with a short description of your interests and your motivation for taking the course (2 000–3 000 characters). Include your university affiliation, programme, and year. - Deadline for applications: 18th of May 2025.
- Please note that if you need a visa, send your application at your earliest convenience.
- Number of places: 20.
- There are no registration or tuition fees. The organizers also cover the cost of lunches and one dinner.
- Housing is planned to be provided free of charge in shared rooms for participants from outside Greifswald – indicate the need in your application.
- Travel: travel expenses to and from Greifswald will be covered up to the amount of 300 EUR (in exceptional cases, more can be requested).
- Detailed programme and syllabus will be updated on: https://yopenet.ug.edu.pl
- For further information and enquiries, please send an e-mail to: yopenetuni-greifswaldde
Event organizers:
- Alexander Drost (University of Greifswald, Germany),
- Franziska Sajdak (University of Greifswald, Germany),
- Marta Grzechnik (University of Gdańsk, Poland),
- Saara Mildeberg (Tallinn University, Estonia),
- Magdalena Muszel (Zatoka Foundation, Poland).
YoPeNET partners contributing to the Summer University:
- University of Gdańsk,
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Baltic Sea Region Research (IFZO),
- University of Greifswald,
- Södertörn University,
- Tallinn University,
- Zatoka Foundation.
The Summer University is supported by the Ministry of Science, Culture, Federal and European Affairs of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and organised within the CBSS Summer University framework facilitated by the Council of the Baltic Sea States.