Under the motto ‘Protecting democracy. Shaping Europe’, the Science Hub for Europe at the University of Passau hosted European Week from 5 to 9 May 2025. At a time of growing uncertainty, workshops, discussions and creative formats highlighted the many facets of European education and democracy work.
A strong signal for Europe
European Week at the University of Passau brought together researchers, lecturers and students with the aim of highlighting the university's diverse European profile. "The motto of this year's European Week, “Protecting democracy. Shaping Europe”, reflects the increased need for action in politically difficult times. This topic will accompany us in Europe in both the political and academic contexts," said Danny Jurjević, Managing Director of the Science Hub for Europe.
Travelling exhibition and information stand, Europe Direct Bavarian Forest-Bohemian Forest-Lower Inn - Photo: Jan Luka Keusemann, Science Hub for Europe
To kick things off, the student societies AEGEE Passau, GoverNet, JEF, the kuwi network and Europe Direct Bayerischer Wald-Böhmerwald-Unterer Inn provided information at stands and presented the travelling exhibition ‘EU on Tour’ in the foyer of the School of Business, Economics and Information Systems. European flags, exhibitions and information materials encouraged visitors to get involved. It was the starting point for a week full of discussions, ideas and practical inspiration.
Education for sustainable development
These included, for example, the question of how to teach about Europe in the classroom. In a workshop, teachers from the city and district of Passau worked together with teacher training students from the University of Passau to develop ways of firmly anchoring education for sustainable development in everyday school life. The topics were the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and the European Competence Framework for Sustainability. The participants discussed how young people can grow up to become responsible, future-oriented Europeans. The workshop was led by Angelika Herzog from the Centre for Teacher Education and Subject Didactics. She is a graduate teaching and research assistant in the fitESD.eu project, which is funded by the Erasmus+ programme. FitESD.eu stands for ‘Fit for Education for Sustainable Development for Future Europe’.
Background to European Week
Dr Udo Bux and Lovis Doneith (Passau Politics Days) - Photo: Danny Jurjević, Science Hub for Europe
Since 1985, peace and unity among the member states of the European Union have been celebrated annually on 9 May. The occasion is the speech given by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman on this day 75 years ago, in which he proposed that the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) should pool the production of these war-critical goods in the member states. Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands participated. The aim was to prevent further wars between the member states.
This has developed into the most successful peace project on the European continent. Democratic elections are an important part of this. This was the topic of the lecture by Dr Udo Bux, Head of the European Parliament's Liaison Office in Munich. The lecture was organised by the Passau Politics Days.
Focus on Europe's security
The challenges facing the European Union in the future have become apparent, at the latest since Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. ‘Defence capability’ and ‘war readiness’ are terms that are being discussed publicly. Necati Naran from the student society GoverNet showed how differently European countries deal with these issues. In the workshop ‘Europe de la Défense’, he analysed the defence cultures of Germany, France and Finland. It became clear that cultural factors such as ideas, attitudes, traditions and established patterns of behaviour strongly influence how a country deals with military threats.
Democracy needs civil society
What are the challenges facing the EU's enlargement policy and what are some concrete solutions? Florence Ertel and Julian Plottka from the Jean Monnet Chair for European Politics summarised the participants' points.
The ‘InvigoratEU Youth Lab’, funded by the European Union, is being carried out in 16 European countries – and one of these took place during European Week under the direction of Florence Ertel and Julian Plottka from the Jean Monnet Chair for European Politics at the University of Passau (press release). They focused on the EU's enlargement policy. The participants in Passau identified a lack of political will and complex coordination procedures as challenges. They therefore emphasised the importance of an engaged and informed civil society, not only within the European Union, but also in the countries covered by the enlargement and neighbourhood policies. They warned of dangers to democracy, such as disinformation campaigns.
Creativity as a bridge to Europe
Creative approaches also found their place: in a workshop as part of the Uni-live series in the meeting room in Große Klingergasse, participants created collages and, in some cases, multilingual poems on the theme of European unity. Students Elena Goldhofer and Kevin Burger organised the event. All the works were scanned. The result was a large collage of images and text.
Dialogue instead of slogans
Participants in the ‘Stammtischparolen’ workshop learned how to deal with populist slogans at the regulars' table. Communication trainer Sara Hoffmann-Cumani provided concrete tools on how to show understanding without compromising one's own opinion. Participants contributed their own experiences and learned which communication tools they can use in such situations in the future. The aim of the workshop was to strengthen social dialogue about Europe, even in the face of opposition.
Understanding democracy – and defending it
When is a teacher political – and when is a teacher too political? Can the transition to dictatorship be recognised in time? These were among the questions discussed by participants in the “Democracy World Café” led by Katja Reitmaier, graduate teaching and research assistant at the Chair of Education with a focus on diversity research and educational spaces in middle childhood at the University of Passau.
Europe as a task
More than 100 participants attended the workshops and events. University President Professor Ulrich Bartosch emphasised the importance of European Week: Passau is effectively located at the geographical centre of a cooperating European community of states. ‘This is both an obligation and a prerequisite for networking in research and teaching. The University of Passau not only enjoys the freedoms of Europe – it works for these freedoms.’
German text: Jan Luka Keusemann und Danny Jurjević, Science Hub for Europe
This text was machine-translated from German.
The Science Hub for Europe's cooperation partners were: Chair of Education with a focus on diversity research and educational spaces in middle childhood; Jean Monnet Chair for European Politics; InvigoratEU; Chair of Romance Literature and Cultural Studies (focus on France); International Office; Uni-live; Centre for Teacher Education and Subject Didactics (ZLF); the student societies AEGEE Passau, GoverNet, Young European Federalists Passau, kuwi netzwerk international e.V., Die Passauer Politiktage; FRanDEm; Climate Fresk Deutschland e.V.; Europe Direct Bavarian Forest-Bohemian Forest-Lower Inn; EU Youth Cinema: Green Deal; European Parliament Liaison Office in Munich.
