European Conference

Duo "Di Yidishe Neshome“ - Klezmer & Klezmer-inspired classical music for violin and piano

Alan Bern (piano, accordion) & Mark Kovnatskiy (violin) opened the conference musically with “New Yiddish Music”. Alan Bern has been a pioneer in the international revival of Yiddish music for 40 years. He has performed with Itzhak Perlman and Brave Old World, among others, and in 1999 founded Yiddish Summer Weimar, the most important summer institute and festival for Yiddish music worldwide. His younger colleague, violinist Mark Kovnatskiy, plays with the Hamburg Klezmer Band and the Joel Rubin Klezmer Ensemble, among others. He is at the forefront of a generation that has rescued and further developed the sensitive playing style of the old klezmorim for the present day. The duo shines with traditional klezmer pieces, works by Russian-Jewish composers such as Joel Engel and Josef Achron, and with their own compositions.

Dr. Alan Bern is an American composer, pianist, accordionist, music educator, cultural and educational activist based in Berlin since 1987. He is the founder and artistic director of Yiddish Summer Weimar and the Other Music Academy (OMA). His contributions to the exploration, dissemination and creative renewal of Jewish music, including through Brave Old World, The Other Europeans and The Semer Ensemble, are internationally recognized. In 2016, he received the Weimar Prize in recognition of his long-standing contribution to the intellectual and cultural reputation of the city of Weimar. In 2017, he was also awarded the Order of Merit of the Free State of Thuringia, and in 2022 he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Mark Kovnatskiy is a widely traveled and highly acclaimed violinist, composer, lecturer and Yiddish dance expert based in Hamburg, Germany. He has performed and taught at many music festivals worldwide from North America to Japan, worked with orchestras such as Musica Viva (RU), Augsburger Philharmoniker (DE), Aurora Orchestra (GB), INSO Lviv (UA) and Weimar Staatskapelle (DE). From 2009 to 2016 he worked as Artistic Director of the international festival "Yiddish Fest Moscow". In 2009 he was artistic director of the festival "KlezmerFest" in Hamburg. His own klezmer compositions are played by various groups all over the world. 

Videos:
A. Bern. Reb Itziks Nign
J. Achron. Hebräische Melodie

Opening of the conference by Gernot Stiwitz, Director, Educational Exchange Service (Pädagogischer Austauschdienst), Germany

Rolf Gollob (Professor Emeritus at the Zurich University of Teacher Education) focused in his work on democracy and human rights education as well as intercultural pedagogy. Since 1996, he has been working in Eastern/Southeastern Europe, Asia and Africa. As the founder of the IPE department at the Zurich University of Teacher Education, he launched countless democracy initiatives in cooperation with the Council of Europe and developed corresponding teaching materials for various target groups. Since 2008, Rolf Gollob has been the Swiss National Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights Education/EPAN for the Council of Europe. Since 2024, he has been a member of the Swiss UNESCO Commission.

Presentation [pdf]

Maja Zaubitzer is the Vice Secretary General of the Bundesschülerkonferenz (German National School Student Council). She is also the delegate of the State Student Council of Thuringia. Maja advocates for student rights, democracy and international exchange.

Sabine Lioy, originally trained as a teacher, has been working for PAD as a senior programme officer for more than thirty years. She has a vast experience of the former and the current Erasmus+ programme generations in the school sector and is currently responsible for Key Action 2 Cooperation Partnerships and NA-contact person for the programme priority “participation and Euopean values”.

Annika Gruß: she has a Master's degree in German as a second and foreign language in adult education and has taught German to international students at the University of Bonn for several semesters. She gained experience in both classroom teaching and digital teaching. At the Erasmus+ National Agency for School Education, she works at the interface between digital exchange and on-site exchange. 

Presentation “Activities and Funding Opportunities in the School Sector” [pdf]

Presentation “Digital collaboration in eTwinning” [pdf]

Summary of the project: Our school located in Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) is an urban secondary school in a high-priority education network classified as a "Reinforced Priority Education Network" (REP+). Our Erasmus+ project brought together 3 EU countries from 3 different cultures: a country of Latin culture (France at Clermont-ferrand), a country of Greek culture (Greece Chrysoupouli, a hundred kilometers from the border with Turkey), and a country marked by other influences (Germanic, Slavic, Baltic), Poland at Piekary Slaskie.
By carrying out this project and its universal values of freedom, tolerance, and humanism, we had pedagogical, linguistic, and cultural objectives.
Three mobilities were made possible thanks to our Erasmus + KA2 project. These three mobilities were all located in the three beneficiary countries of the project. We carried out two types of mobilities: 
One mobility for adults in order to prepare, confirm, or amend the details of the activities involving students; two student mobilities with their teachers, first to Poland and then to France at the end of the project. 
The first mobility was the core of our project, as all the students involved gathered in Poland and worked together in groups on all the aspects of the project. 
The common language was English, which added a deeply cultural dimension to the project. Due to budget constraints we then decided to organize a final mobility for only the Polish students who came to France.

Ludovic Cherel (Collège Charles Baudelaire Clermont-Ferrand, France): I am 48 years old and have been a history-geography teacher for 22 years. Currently, I teach in a difficult classified establishment "Reinforced Priority Education Network" (REP+) in Clermont-Ferrand. I practice a lot of sport outside my job. 

Presentation [pdf, 5,40 MB]

is one of the three aims of our Erasmus+ Accreditation (along with pro-ecological one and good practice exchange). This aim is our main goal as we have performed prior to that 
1. HOPE - Human Opportunities for Peace in Europe - Lifelong learning democracy and active citizenship - 27 months - 01-09-2017 / 30-11-2019
2. MEGA - Make Environment Great Again - 24 months - 10-11-2019 / 09-11-2021.
The main aim of our current project is developing the "digital culture" of our school and learning from other schools and institutions within the cooperating schools. We are establishing the practice of debating skills, raising students' awareness on the possible ideas' exchange between international teams on the basis of democracy, European Union values and human rights.
We regularly (annually) send students' delegations to Model United Nations Conferences, such as LeMUN in Leiden, the Netherlands and ZaMUN in Slovakia, MEGA MUN in Luxembourg and NaMUN in Namur, Belgium. As a follow up, we organise such ToMUN conferences with our school MUN club. Toruń Model United Nations event is to foster our students' debating and language skills as well as their "European spirit" . We promote students' autonomy and interest in other cultures.  The whole project has a tight correlation with our membership in Europroject Network - Education Without Frontiers  gathering 18 schools from 16 European countries. Every year the conference is prepared mainly by the students of our school, which allows them to learn independence, cooperation, tolerance as well as human resource management.

Daniel Szczygieł (I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. M. Kopernika, Toruń, Poland): I am 46 years old teacher (for 26 years) of English at High School no1 in the very heart of the city centre of Toruń, Poland. I have always been very much into learning by doing approach. I believe TRAVEL IS THE BEST TEACHER... so I involve my students and school staff in plenty of international projects and exchanges. Apart from teaching English, I coordinate Erasmus+ activities at our school, Polish - American exchange with our Sister City - Philadelphia, USA and our membership in Europroject Network - Education Without Frontiers. On top of that, I coordinate our students running the annual conference Toruń Model United Nations. In my free time, I love dancing, cycling and travelling. So far, I have visited pretty much all of Europe as well as North and South America. 

Presentation [pdf, 6,50 MB]

The Small-scale partnersphip “FROM SCHOOL TO EU” is the result of cooperation between three schools Liceo da Vinci, Arzignano (IT), Ensemble Scolaire Françoise Cabrini , Noisy-le-Grand (FR) and IES Etxebarri BHI, Etxebarri (ES) and the non-governmental organisation garagErasmus ASBL (BE). Our project was born from a common idea of being more involved (both students and teachers) in civic education and EU topics. The project had been developed on the eTwinning platform, since it is safe and adequate for the communication of the students and the exhibition and dissemination of their activities. Thanks to this project, we had the possibility of creating a small but real community of EU teachers and students, who worked hard and passionately to reach together the project's goals. With this symbiosis we wanted to make our students aware of their European identity in order to give them a sense of belonging and values, to achieve the skills that we worked on and receive new learning methods. The 3 topics that had been developed in international mixed groups were: Eco-sustainability at school, Socio-economic inclusion in local community and Digital-policy for young people. The mixed group that made the best proposal (Eco-sustainability at school) was chosen as EU ambassador and had the opportunity to travel to Brussels to present their work to the parliamentary authorities. Thanks to this project, our involved students and teachers had the opportunity to reflect on themes such as inclusion, flexibility and cooperation thanks to the possibility of working with digital devices and foreign languages, among peers, with informal approaches. 

Alessia Lazzari (Liceo Da Vinci, Arzignano, Vicenza, Italy): I am 47 years old and I teach Spanish culture and literature in the small town setting of Arzignano, Vicenza (Italy). In addition to traditional teaching, I like to involve my students in participating in eTwinning and Erasmus + projects, in order to give them the opportunity to learn and make experiences in an unconventional but meaningful way. In my free time I also like reading, travelling and outdoor sport experiences. 

Presentation [pdf, 23 MB]

Democracy is not a theory. It must be lived practice in everyday life and in the school experience of all children and young people. The two workshop facilitators (Gelly Aroni, Athens and Rolf Gollob, Zurich) have been developing and publishing interactive learning materials on democracy and human rights (www.living-democracy.com) together with many teachers from all Council of Europe countries for over 10 years and have used them in training courses throughout Europe. Various examples will be tested and discussed together in the workshop. 

Gelly Aroni holds a PhD in Social Psychology (Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences) and a master’s degree on “Psycho-social aspects of Physical Activity” (City University of New York, USA). She is the Head of the Unit for Integration and Support of Unaccompanied Minors in the General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons and Institutional Protection in the Ministry of Migration & Asylum in Greece. She has extensive experience as a Physical Education teacher in Intercultural Schools where she used cooperative games and sports to promote, through active participation and collaborative learning, the principles, content, and values of Democracy and Human Rights Education (EDC/HRE).
Since 2020 she is working as an expert and a trainer in the European Wergeland Center’s programme "Schools for All – Integration of Refugee Children in Greek Schools. She is lecturer in the Joint MA Program “Identity, Education and Competences for Democratic Culture” (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens & European Wergeland Centre) and responsible for the course "Teaching Controversial Issues in Human Rights and Education for Democratic Citizenship - Human Rights Education and Their Management in the Classroom." 

Rolf Gollob (Professor Emeritus at the Zurich University of Teacher Education) focused in his work on democracy and human rights education as well as intercultural pedagogy. Since 1996, he has been working in Eastern/Southeastern Europe, Asia and Africa. As the founder of the IPE department at the Zurich University of Teacher Education, he launched countless democracy initiatives in cooperation with the Council of Europe and developed corresponding teaching materials for various target groups. Since 2008, Rolf Gollob has been the Swiss National Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights Education/EPAN for the Council of Europe. Since 2024, he has been a member of the Swiss UNESCO Commission.

Teaching example: Milans Choice [pdf]
Handout: 20 Competences for a democratic culture (RFCDC) [pdf]
Leaflet “Living Democracy” [pdf]
Poster “Competences For Democratic Culture” [pdf]
Poster with flowers “Competences For Democratic Culture” [pdf]

Led by experienced journalists and lie detectives Dr. Annemieke Akkermans and Jochen Spangenberg, this workshop focused on key aspects of media literacy, including fact-checking, source verification and effective image research. Participants were provided with materials for the classroom and gained insights into fostering a critical and safe engagement with the digital information landscape. Lie Detectors, an acclaimed independent media literacy organisation, collaborates with journalists to empower students and educators in navigating the digital world responsibly. 

Dr. Annemieke Akkermans: Annemieke is a media literacy expert with over 20 years of experience in digital education, media literacy and technology integration. She is deeply committed to driving educational transformation, fostering student agency and promoting media literacy, empowering students and teachers to take ownership of their learning journey. Annemieke serves as senior advisor for education development and strategy at NGO Lie Detectors and works as Head of IT and Media at the international Nelson Mandela School in Berlin, where she also teaches English and Media Studies. With a solid track record in leadership roles within international organisations, Annemieke has built expertise in IT and media, curriculum advisory positions and public speaking on topics such as media literacy and student agency. She holds a Doctorate in Education Science from the Humboldt University Berlin.

Jochen Spangenberg is a media and communication expert working as Deputy Head of Research and Cooperation Projects at international media organisation Deutsche Welle. The topical focus of his work over the past decade has been on social newsgathering, disinformation analysis and verification of digital content, and relating all this to the news sector and journalism. Jochen also lectures at the Free University Berlin in Media & Communication Studies and serves as vice-chair of the Advisory Council of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), Europe’s primary initiative against disinformation. He is furthermore Advisory Board chair of CEDMO (Central European Digital Media Observatory) and Advisory Board member of GADMO (German-Austrian Digital Media Observatory). He has actively supported Lie Detectors since 2018, going into schools ever since, teaching pupils media literacy skills and talking about journalism - and enjoying this very much! 

Workshop Presentation [pdf, 20 MB]

In a world where polarization is growing, it is more important than ever that we address the importance of democracy and democratic dialogue both in higher education (teacher education) and in primary and secondary schools. The Erasmus+ project ConCitizen has explored this challenge and developed ways of discussing and engaging with controversial issues and contested narratives. This workshop referred to the results of this project and was complemented by insights from own concrete teaching activities developed over a longer period of time and tested both with Danish students and in an international forum. Some of these activities can be used online in virtual sessions, while others are specifically designed for face-to-face interactions. In the workshop, participants learnt about examples of place-based teaching, philosophy with children, and playful learning approaches.

Britta Kornholt is associate professor at University College Copenhagen KP and teaches the subject Citizenship, Ethics/Philosophy, and Religious Studies and has authored publications about cultural diversity, globalization and citizenship, hermeneutics, philosophy with children and digital empowerment. Britta is a co-developer of the program Playful Learning in Denmark - a collaborative program between the Danish University Colleges and the LEGO Foundation. Britta is also involved in several international projects, all of which revolve around controversial issues and democracy, with a particular focus on how these themes can be taught.

Gitte Funch is associate Professor, department of Teacher Education, University College Copenhagen. At department of Teacher Education Gitte teaches in the subject History and she is teacher and co-creator of the international specialization Didactics of Dialogue and Reconciliation for Danish and international students investigating challenges and constructive approaches for education in post-conflict and multicultural societies. Gitte has a degree in Pedagogic and educational studies and has experience from years of teaching subjects linked to sociology, culture, citizenship education, didactics and pedagogic. She is a union representative for Dansk Magisterforening – the Danish Association of Masters and Ph.Ds.

Presentation [pdf]
 

This workshop explored practical strategies to promote constructive dialogue and advocate for democratic values - both in the classroom and beyond! Katrin Echtermeyer and Sabine Roehrig-Mahhou engaged with participants on the challenges of populism and the importance of democracy education. This was complemented by practical methods and approaches for dealing confidently with these complex issues.

Sabine Roehrig-Mahhou is the founder and managing director of Wisamar Bildungsgesellschaft gGmbH, a non-profit dedicated to education and intercultural understanding. With over 20 years of experience in EU project coordination, she is also an Erasmus+ advisor for vocational education. Her focus includes democracy education, storytelling, internationalization, and sustainable project management, offering training and running innovative projects in these fields.

Katrin Echtermeyer works as a manager for European educational projects at Wisamar Bildungsgesellschaft in Leipzig. With a background in communication and media studies, cultural studies, and journalism, her primary areas of expertise in educational work include e-learning and gamification, innovative learning and teaching methods, cultural understanding, and storytelling. Katrin also has experience as an EPALE ambassador and benefits from her extensive network in European adult education.

Workshop Presentation [pdf]
Two results from the workshop: "Populism in the classroom – experiences" [pdf] and "Values in the classroom - ideas for action" [pdf]. 

Laure presented a training of trainers and a series of podcasts on informational disorders produced by the CLEMI in collaboration with VIGINUM ( the French government body responsible for vigilance and protection against foreign digital interference). The series of 8 podcasts of 8 minutes is available in French and English for teachers and students who want to know more about the techniques used online to conduct massive disinformation campaigns.

Laure Delmoly: Laure is an international project coordinator at CLEMI, the French Public Agency in charge of Information and Media Literacy. CLEMI is part of the project DE FACTO, a programme that gathers media literacy educators, factcheckers and researchers to tackle disinformation at the European level. CLEMI produces educational ressources and trainings on information disorders and is in charge of organising the press and media week at school.

This workshop was about developing response and intervention competencies to counter dehumanizing statements and attitudes. Our basic idea: Any response can be a good response and being active is better than remaining hesitant! The participants shared their experience with right-wing extremist rhetoric and the things that help them in finding the appropriate responses. They were able to look at analytical tools to pinpoint the problematic core of a statement and train in practice how to respond confidently in private settings or public discourse. 

Georg Schütze works as a project coordinator at the Netzwerk für Demokratie und Courage, one of Germany's largest organizations for political education. Based in Halle (Saale), he brings his academic background in Philosophy and Psychology to his work promoting democratic values. Georg is trained in Theme-Centered Interaction, reflecting his ability to facilitate meaningful group processes and cooperative leadership. Beyond his day job he works as an independent consultant and political educator with more than a decade of experience in helping people to express and defend their political views.

Alexander Geppert works as a freelance referent in political education for various organisations. He specialises in the areas of anti-discrimination (racism, queerophobia, sexism, anti-semitism...), New Rights (codes & styles, language, strategies...) and the promotion of participation in the school context. He also works as a systemic school counsellor in Saxony and Berlin/Brandenburg. His target groups are pupils of all school types from Year 5 onwards as well as further training for teachers, companies and state institutions. Another field of activity is sex education, since 2024 also with a focus on sexualised violence against boys. In order not only to impart knowledge, but also to empower people to become more effective against inhuman attitudes, he has been giving argumentation and action training throughout Germany as an argumentation trainer since 2020.

Presentation [pdf]
 

We often use the metaphor "building bridges" to describe intercultural exchange. But bridges get built between things that are not already connected, and bridges are fragile. In contrast, roots are less visible than bridges, but they are much more sustainable and resilient. In this workshop, the participants explored how to make shared cultural roots visible and use them to strengthen intercultural youth exchange. The workshop included both short video clips of projects by the Other Music Academy in Weimar as well as hands-on experience with this method. 

Dr. Alan Bern is an American composer, pianist, accordionist, music educator, cultural and educational activist based in Berlin since 1987. He is the founder and artistic director of Yiddish Summer Weimar and the Other Music Academy (OMA). His contributions to the exploration, dissemination and creative renewal of Jewish music, including through Brave Old World, The Other Europeans and The Semer Ensemble, are internationally recognized. In 2016, he received the Weimar Prize in recognition of his long-standing contribution to the intellectual and cultural reputation of the city of Weimar. In 2017, he was also awarded the Order of Merit of the Free State of Thuringia, and in 2022 he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

4 students from the 11th grade of the Schloss Belvedere Music High School in Weimar opened the evening programme on 8 May in the Alte Remise in Tiefurt - under the direction of Beate Hartmann. 
The quartet consists of Vlada Pidhirna (1st violin), Ruth Weidner (2nd violin), Magdalena Arantes (viola) and Rahel Bartolomäus (violoncello). The quartet played Alexander Borodin (1833-1887): String Quartet No. 2 in D major, II. Scherzo, III. Notturno (Nocturne).

Up to 120 musically gifted pupils from the 5th grade onwards live and learn at this special state grammar school, where they receive comprehensive support after passing an aptitude test. Students with a high level of musical ability are supported by the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar. About half of the students at the music high school come from Thuringia, the others come from all parts of Germany, some also from abroad.