Schedule European Summer University 2022

Events

Wednesday

20:00
P - Opening event
The ESU starts on Wednesday with the opening event. In her speech, Birgit Mahnkopf will explore the question: "The world is changing - but where...

Thursday

10:00
K1 - Oeconomia
A Film by Carmen Losmann, Petrolio Film GmbH / Deckert Distribution GmbH, 2020, 1:29 h
Our economic system has made itself invisible and eludes understanding. In recent years, we have often had little more than a diffuse and...
W200 - Kino
de
A005 Theories of Change and Conflict Escalation
How does change happen? How do we think change happens? How do we think that this particular change will happen? What do we need to do to make that...
A020 Forced labour - forms, causes and measures
What are the structural abuses that encourage forced labour and how can they be overcome?
There are currently 25 million people in forced labour worldwide. But what forms of forced labour are there, what structural abuses encourage them,...
A033 Stop Amazon
How to fight Amazon's expansion in Europe
There has been organised resistance to Amazon's expansion in Europe for several years. Several successes have already been achieved: Abandonment of...
A064 Cancelling Ukraine's debt?
War means destruction and economic mayhem. The question of cancelling Ukraine's debt has to be raised.
A072 Social and Anti-Social Reforms in Europe
Comparing Struggles, Demands, Setbacks and Advances
Neoliberal reforms are undermining acquired rights and the redistributive social model in most European countries, except in Spain.
A105 How can social movements respond to the new geopolitical situation?
Today’s world is totally different from the world we knew twenty years ago. China is becoming a global power, the US try to contain this expansion,...
A112 Geopolitical confrontation instead of green transformation
None of the major global problems have been dealt with in the spirit of multilateralism. Instead, we are witnessing a renaissance of geopolitical...
A143 Street theatre according to Augusto Boal / Theatre of the Oppressed
Theory and practice - staging and realisation in the context of ESU 22
There will be a practical introduction to this form of street theatre with warm-up exercises, especially to promote expressive body language....
A012 From Health to BigTech
European strategies for success against the power of the corporate giants
The European Network for Corporate Research (ENCO) will discuss various experiences and successes. Reports will be given on different topics such...
A053 2048 - Scenes from a world of tomorrow
Concrete utopia of a successful life
In a radio play, scenes from a world in 2048 are presented in which capitalism has been overcome in favour of a solidary, ecological and peaceful...
F1.1 Health care - Public Health and the Pandemics
In this forum we will discuss the various consequences of the pandemic and the healthcare policies of our governments, the EU and international...
B008 Fit for 55?
The EU Commission's climate policy programme
The programme proposed by the EU Commission will determine climate policy in the coming years. Will it be sufficient to meet the 2°C degree target?...
B039 Benin, destruction of biodiversity and adaptation of agriculture to climate change
Destruction of the Route des Pêches, Porte de Non Retour and Route de l‘Esclave, Permaculture in Beninlave
This workshop was born out of a desire to show that communities and society in Africa are able to thrive despite enormous difficulties. It aims to...
B058 How can a "just transition" succeed?
The London Mining Network reports
The workshop will present the research findings of the London Mining Network, which can be summarised as follows: "A just transition is a...
B134 Regulating finance for a future free of fossil fuels
Capital requirements, windfall taxes, and fighting corporate lobbying with the power of the people
Stopping the proliferation of fossil fuels means stopping their financing. EU regulation of the financial sector must be used to make it almost...
B162 The climate crisis is a class struggle
Climate jobs, climate justice, and system change
We need to cut emissions, and fast. We need structural change to do so. The Climate Jobs campaigns seek to build bridges between the struggles for...
C125 Feminist strike
Feminist struggles for equality
For several years, trade unions and feminist associations have called for a major feminist strike on International Women's Rights Day. The aim is...
D093 Solidarity Cities: Cities as places of refuge
Solidarity Cities, or "sanctuary cities," treat all people living in them as equal citizens, regardless of their residence status. However, the...
14:00
K2 - Route 4 – a dreadful journey
A film by Boxfish on behalf of Sea-Eye and the Mennonite Relief Society. Germany, 2020, 52min, Director: Martina Chamrad
From the desert to the Mediterranean Sea: For more than 15 months, a media team accompanied the sea rescue ship ALAN KURDI on several missions on...
W200 - Kino
de
F1.3 Capitalism - Towards a new type of capitalism? Continuities, ruptures, crossroads
The global financial crisis since 2007, the subsequent euro crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, digitalisation, attempts to decarbonise the economy, the...
F1.2 Intersectionality - How intersectionality makes our movements stronger
The use of the concept of intersectionality is becoming more common in social movements. Activists can now call themselves "intersectional" to...
16:30
T2 - Monologues with my "asocial" grandfather
by Harald Hahn, approx. 60 minutes plus 30 minutes audience discussion
In 2020, the Bundestag decided to recognise so-called "asocials" as victims of the Nazi regime. There are hardly any personal testimonies of them...
Z34-Z36
de
A024 Let's talk about redistribution!
In Germany, the "top" ten percent in the wealth distribution own 62.1 percent of all wealth. We are a small group of people from this ten percent...
A059 Socialising. Strategies for a Democratic Economy
With the success of the Berlin referendum "Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen und Co.” (DWe), there is a chance that Article 15 of the German Basic Law...
A070 The European Union today - beyond neoliberalism?
Recently there have been important changes in the areas of monetary policy, fiscal policy, industrial policy and the regulation of wage relations...
A029 Defending housing - from practical resistance to a housing policy strategy
Focus on rental housing market (Germany, Austria)
Three workshops will take place on the theme “defending housing - from practical resistance to a housing policy strategy.” Two workshops will...
F1.4 Trade - How trade and investment agreements entrench corporate power and the climate crisis
Six years ago, social movements in Europe and the US successfully blocked the TTIP free trade agreement. While this was a great victory for people...
E007 Linke Lernen Lachen - Leftists learn how to laugh - La Gauche Qui Rit
Satire in Aktion
Especially in difficult times, social movements need a special, peaceful weapon: satire and humour, especially in our actions. We will inspire...
E049 There’s no safe Europe without a safe world
Responding to war and conflict in the 21st century
War is changing the security, human rights, social and ecological contexts across Europe and the wider Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions;...
E106 Latin American debates at the time of the return of the "leftists”
The return of the left in Latin America is accompanied by fierce debates between political forces and social movements around extractivism,...
A056 The unconditional basic income (UBI)
A foundation and instrument for a completely different kind of communisation
An unconditional basic income (UBI) would unconditionally secure everyone's material existence; they would not have to earn it and could not lose...
E071 EU-water policies
The workshop will illustrate EU water standards, the path to implementation of the right to water and the lack of acceptance by EU institutions....
K3 - UBI - Our right to life
This 41-minute film explains what basic income is and what it is not. What are the differences between the UBI and minimum wage or social security?...
W200 - Kino
de
B022 Pulling the emergency brake to stop climate collapse
What transformative strategies are there and how do they relate to each other? What elements are missing from the movement and which capacities...
B041 Labour union movement and ecology - diverse and complementary approaches?
Through an exchange of experiences and practices, the workshop will allow participants to approach the different possibilities that unions have to...
B081 Zero by 2030
Creating momentum to end the fossil fuel age step by step
B088 Debt, finance and climate justice
Making financial corporations pay
This workshop will discuss how European social movements can come together to make financial corporations pay for climate change through debt...
B142 Lützerath at the Garzweiler opencast lignite mine - the climate justice movement hot spot
The workshop is about the history of the emergence of the Lützerath hot spot. The diversity of actors and their experiences in the context of...
C066 Gender-sensitive lessons to be learned from the pandemic as levers for social and feminist transformation
The feminist analysis of the pandemic examines ”primary housework,” the combination of remote working and domestic work, as well as increased...
C111 Inclusive activist spaces
Fighting oppression as social movements
Social movement platforms usually describe what kind of world they are working toward. Feminism, anti-racism and other emancipatory struggles are...
S209
fr

Friday

10:00
K4 - Who we were
A film by Marc Bader, Germany 2020, 114min
A cinematic essay inspired by the book "Who we were" by Roger Willemsen with Alexander Gerst (astronaut), Sylvia Earle (deep-sea explorer), Mathieu...
W200 - Kino
A062 Shorter working hours for Europe?!
Reduced working hours as crucial part of the socio-ecological transition
Reduced working hours is a crucial part of the urgent socio-ecological transition. It can only be successful on a European level. The European...
A086 Undocumented workers in Europe
Struggles against their exploitation
The workshop will address the struggles for undocumented workers across Europe.
A077 From North to South: denouncing the illegitimate debt of the working classes around the globe
Misuse of property debt, student debt and microcredit
Crises reinforce capitalism and deepen inequality. Household debt is a powerful mechanism to ensure submission. Why should we question it? How can...
A090 Digitalisation and the Reorganisation of Capitalism
Digitalisation has become one of the most widespread buzzwords of our time. The workshop will take a closer look at the changes in capitalist...
A128 Pandemics, patents and profits: the fight against big big-pharma monopolies?
The pandemic has seen huge inequality in vaccine access thanks to a system that puts pharmaceutical companies’ monopolies before people’s health....
F2.1 Housing - Housing and Land - Eldorado of Capital Exploitation
The forum will focus on current housing and land policy problems as well as their main causes. The problems differ from country to country and are...
E028 Functioning and development of the European Union
The EU is very crucial to the daily lives of Europeans. This workshop will explain how the European Union works and discusses possible...
E073 Solidarity with the resistance to the dictatorship in Syria
Support for Syrians in Syria or in exile who are fighting for democracy and social justice
Who are the Syrian democrats, their organisations, their demands and their modes of action? How can we support their self-organisation, and enable...
B060 Lesson from mobilising farming communities around climate issues in Poland
How can climate activists and farming communities unite in a struggle against climate change and for better farming practices?
WeMove Europe has run an on-the-ground project in Poland in collaboration with Extinction Rebellion and other activists for the last year and a...
B096 How the EU-Mercosur trade agreement can be stopped
In 2019, the EU and the South American Mercosur countries announced a free trade agreement between the two blocks. In this workshop we will explore...
B109 Labour conflicts and climate crisis
How we can form a resistance better when we come together
In this workshop we will think brainstorm how we can better involve workers and their struggles in climate struggles because in order to...
B141 A just energy transition in Europe and Asia
What effect does the war in Ukraine have on one of the key points of the implementation of the Paris Agreement, the energy transition? Speakers...
C127 Care at the centre of feminist economy and ecology
The globalised capitalist system is both harmful to women's rights and to the environment. What are the feminist responses to these challenges? One...
C156 #MakingTheInvisibleVisible: Toolkit for Feminist Economics. A pedagogical proposal for secondary school teachers and students
We at Economistas sin Fronteras have developed a toolkit on feminist economics that we hope will be useful for anyone who wants to engage with...
D050 Fighting Islamophobia across Europe
Politics, strategies, tactics and the next steps
Islamophobia is one of the most examples of racism, stigmatisation and discrimination in the twenty-first century. Yet, there is still a lack of a...
D129 Racist language in the everyday working life of migration counselling
Together with the participants we will take a closer look at the issue of racist language in everyday work in the field of migration counselling.
D036 Argumentation training against bar-room clichés
PRACTISING how to appropriately handle right-wing ideas
Pushing back in the face of bar-room clichés! It's that time again, the “völkisch” mob and its Nazi supporters are taking over many bar-room...
S101
de
14:00
K5 - The other side of the river
A film by Antonia Kilian, Germany/Finland 2021, 92min
19-year-old Hala escaped an arranged marriage by crossing the Euphrates to find a new home with a Kurdish women's defence unit – a unit that went...
W200 - Kino
de
F2.2 Climate - The big solutions we need for systemic change and climate justice
Global warming and climate change are reaching a tipping point in a "now or never" way. The already inadequate targets of the 2015 Paris Agreement...
F2.3 Right-wing Extemism - International right-wing movements - analysis of the current situation and development of counter-strategies
An authoritarian-nationalist right is gaining strength worldwide. Fired up by election successes and even government participation, militant...
16:30
K6 - Countdown at the Xingu/Tapajos - Battle for Amazonia
A film by Martin Kessler, Germany 2020, 45min, followed by a discussion with the filmmaker.
The Brazilian Amazon region, provincial capital Altamira, on the Xingu River. The third largest dam in the world, Belo Monte, has been under...
W200 - Kino
de
A068 The health care battle
Since the mid-1980s the healthcare system in Germany has been transformed into a market. The effects have been devastating. Hospital workers have...
A083 For equity and an end to tax evasion
The workshop will focus on an analysis of the material followed by a discussion on proposals and possibilities for action equity and tax evasion.
A114 Trade union internationalism - more than soap-box oratory?
How can international solidarity among wage earners be strengthened?
Trade unions that are only organised in a national framework are reaching their limits due to the internationalisation of production. We will...
A160 "Resilence & Wellbeing" for more joyful activism and less burnout
In this workshop, we’ll work on how activism moves us, as well as the ways in which it can burn us out and cause damage. Collectively, we’ll build...
S204
en
A032 Preconditions and success factors of housing movements - networking and opportunities for a system change
Three workshops will take place on “Defending housing - from practical resistance to housing policy strategy.” Two workshops will take place...
E165 The role and possibilities of social movements in Africa
Social movements in African countries face particular difficulties. Nevertheless, there is a diverse civil society in all countries. Activists from...
A166 Cost of living crisis
Starving to feed your own children? Getting sick because of cold flats? What can we do about exploding energy and food costs?
E097 The poster as a form of protest art
Protest posters by artists from Poland
After viewing the exhibits, the participants will select posters that will then be analysed and discussed according to various points of view.
S304
de
F2.4 Democracy - Democracy and public freedoms: Regaining their full progressive traction
After the dark period of fascism in Europe, progressive movements have continuously fought for the expansion of democracy and civil liberties to...
B004 Mobility is at stake in Europe - challenges of the climate crisis and social impacts on the aviation and shipping sectors
The transport sector is one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions. The ongoing climate crisis has led to public action. Although the...
B009 Struggles against the appropriation of water and the pollution of the aquatic environment by private companies in Europe
We will present several cases of water grabbing and water pollution in Europe on the part of the bottled water industry, mining, the planned Tesla...
B037 Painting Utopia: When the Excavators Stop
How does civil society envision an environmentally and socially compatible post-mining landscape beyond the mining companies' rehabilitation plans?...
B052 Nuclear energy: between climate, economic and geopolitical issues, a struggle that is more current than ever
The ageing of power plants, the proliferation of radioactive waste, climate change, the war in Ukraine - nuclear power is a pressing issue that...
B122 Scientist Rebellion - From publications to public actions
What is the role of scientists, researchers and academics in the climate and ecological emergency? This workshop brings activists from Scientist...
B132 NETTO NULL and carbon offsets: pseudo-solutions in a neo-colonial tradition
Due to public pressure, companies are setting net-zero emissions targets to give the impression that they are taking aggressive action against...
C015 Faced with the war in Ukraine, how are women resisting and organising themselves?
The voice of feminists from Ukraine and Eastern European countries will allow both to better share their point of view, their experiences of the...
D121 How can the fight against the right succeed?
Right-wing extremism is by no means limited to Germany or Europe. The international right is well networked worldwide. This workshop will first...
20:00
P - Plenary Strategy
Mosaic, Rainbow, Unity
The strategy debate aims to examine the possibilities of political influence of social movements in a plenary session and to find the most...

Saturday

10:00
T1 - Ever since I can remember I have had a broken heart from "The Unheard"
People lie asleep on the floor; their bodies are traced with sidewalk chalk. A man stands up, looks out into the audience and says, "I've had a...
Z34-Z36
de
A094 China as an Enemy - A Differentiated Perspective in Times of Geopolitical Polarisation
Opinions about the People's Republic of China differ widely: some see the country as a "socialist market economy" or at least on the way to...
A137 ESCALATION - A wild ride through activism!
You want to know which methods you can use to create publicity and which creative forms of protest you can use to make a big fuss? Discover the...
A151 The EU push to ”complete the internal market” – strategies for reclaiming democratic space and protecting public services
Corporate lobby groups are demanding drastic new EU powers to ”complete the internal market.” This could mean yet another EU push for deregulation...
E027 Introduction to Unarmed Civil Protection
A presence that protects and transforms
The workshop will focus on Unarmed Civil Protection (UCP), an alternative conflict resolution strategy in France and abroad. It is based on...
E103 Banners, masks, signs
The bread and butter of street protest
There is no protest without banners, picket signs and masks of politicians, corporate bosses or heroes of the movement. This informs the bystanders...
W305
en
E023 The future of social forums WSF and ESF
Discontinued model or new beginning?
After its recent event in Mexico, the World Social Forum is facing its reconfiguration as a process, as a structure and as an open space. Ideas...
E113 Crisis of democracy, new authoritarianism and emancipatory counter-strategies
Bourgeois democracy is in crisis in many places; authoritarian-populist, nationalist and fascist forces are gaining momentum; new authoritarian...
B168 Our responsibility in times of climate emergency - What you can do in civil resistance
Our responsibility in times of climate emergency - What you can do in civil resistance
Hunger strikes, motorway blockades, shutting down pipelines - dramatic civil resistance is making its way into the Federal Republic. After all, the...
B061 End fossil fuels: Occupy!
How the youth within the Climate Justice Movement will occupy schools in 2022 to end the use of fossil fuels
Students are striking. Institutions are failing. The fossil fuel industry is growing. That’s why between October and December 2022 the youth within...
B085 Genetic engineering in nature conservation
The promises of new technology and why we must do something about it
Gene Drives - a form of genetic engineering - is set to become THE new tool for climate adaptation and biodiversity protection. Invasive mice could...
B084 Financing the ecological bifurcation
This workshop will focus on the financing of the ecological bifurcation, analysis of previous policies and discussion of alternative proposals.
B120 The imperial mode of living: what is it, and how do we end it?
In "The Imperial Mode of Living: Everyday life and the ecological crisis", Ulrich Brand and Markus Wissen lay out how the practices and...
B025 The EU, the war and climate change
Geopolitics and its the consequences on the capacity of the EU to cope with climate change
Under the catch phrase "strategic autonomy" the EU wants to play a big power role in the international system. With the Ukraine war the EU has...
S203
en
B089 EuroMemorandum: Peace, socio-ecological transformation, degrowth?
Crucial questions for the left in Europe
The event is a workshop to bring together activists and academics to discuss political economy, ecological and geopolitical dimensions of global...
B123 Strategy Discussion, Information-sharing on COP27 Mobilisation and Beyond
The People’s Summit and big mobilisations by UK-based and global climate justice groups in Glasgow and the Global Day of Action have strengthened...
F3.1 Traffic - The transport sector is key to to climate and social justice
Emissions from the transport sector continue to rise unchecked. The latest IPCC report shows how urgently we need to change course here too. The...
D163 Thirty years after the end of apartheid - Lex ukrainensis and Europe. How could it come to this?
Thirty years after the end of apartheid, there first- and second-class war victims once again. The Lex Ukrainensis has reintroduced the apartheid...
14:00
K7 - Trees of Protest #HambiBleibt!
A cinematic diary of the climate protests - Germany 2019, 103min
A long-term documentary about the fierce struggle of environmental activists against the opencast lignite mine Hambach and the energy giant RWE;...
W200 - Kino
de
F3.3 War and Peace #2 - Ukrainian activists* on the war on Ukraine, resistance and solidarity
Ukrainian activists* on the war on Ukraine, resistance and solidarity
The resistance of the Ukrainian people to Putin's brutal war of aggression has received support across Europe. This forum will be an opportunity to...
F3.2 War & Peace #1 - On peace and disarmament in times of war
On peace and disarmament in times of war
Each time major political powers are involved in wars the issue of global disarmament is back at the forefront of the debates. In the last decades,...

Sunday

10:00
P - Closing event
Résumé, perspectives, goodbye!
After four days of political discussions, with music, theatre, dance and party, but also with an impressive action to save climate and environment,...