Visegrad Summer School

The Visegrad Summer School is a unique cultural and educational programme catering to students, graduates, young researchers and journalists from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, as well as from Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans. It has been carried out annually by the Villa Decius Association, a non-governmental organisation and cultural institution based in Krakow, since 2002. Every year, 30 students and graduates in political science, economics, international relations, European studies, history, social studies, philology, and cultural studies, as well as young researchers, teachers, and journalists, are recruited through an open call for applications. For 10 days, participants gather at Villa Decius to take part in an interdisciplinary educational programme combining expert lectures, future-oriented workshops, and intercultural exchanges.

Each edition of the Visegrad Summer School centres on a key phenomenon shaping politics and international relations in the region. For this year’s edition, the theme is the Future of Information. The summer school focuses on the complex and urgent issue of how information is produced, used, and contested in contemporary societies. Amidst political polarisation, information warfare and declining trust in media institutions, it is important to distinguish disinformation, bias and manipulation. It becomes especially relevant with the ongoing conflicts, where narratives become as influential as military force, and Big Tech companies increasingly shape the information space, using data to drive innovations such as AI that affect socio-political life.

Thus, a key challenge is developing effective educational responses. Media literacy, digital skills, and civic education remain uneven across Central and Eastern Europe, creating gaps that authoritarian actors and populist movements can exploit. The project seeks to respond to these challenges by rethinking the future of information as a democratic value, a technological resource, and a societal foundation. These issues will be addressed by examining information in three dimensions: disinformation and education, reliable information as a democratic safeguard, and information as a technological and economic resource.

Summer school participants will develop competencies to recognise threats, design responses, and build strategies for regional resilience. They will work both in teams and individually, while strengthening long-term connections through an integration workshop, expert lectures, a multicultural garden party, study visits, cultural events, and recreational programmes.

Students, graduates, PhD researchers, young professionals, and leaders from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, and other eligible countries who are over 18 years old, have good English communication skills, and are interested in the initiative’s thematic scope.

For more information: https://visegradsummerschool.org/how-to-apply-2024

The 24th Visegrad Summer School is organised by the Villa Decius Association in Kraków, in collaboration with key partners from Central Europe: Bratislava Policy Institute, Václav Havel Library, and Cracovia Express Foundation.

The programme is supported by the International Visegrad Fund, the Municipality of Krakow, Malopolska Region and private sponsors, including Grupa ZUE.