The meeting that took place in Ruda Slaska on 7th July, 2018, and it was a second workshop of a series called “Let’s Talk About Europe” of the “Liberal Dialogue for Europe” project that will be developed in Poland in 2018. The main aim of this project is to facilitate a dialogue with ordinary citizens, through a series of public consultations/workshops, about the main challenges the European Union in currently facing. This will result in a widely informed road which liberals in Poland (and the broader ALDE party) can follow towards determining their strategy for the European elections of 2019.
Around 40 participants from Germany and Poland participated in this event.
First part of the event took place in the Silesian Museum in Katowice where participants saw the exhibition and discussed the topic of modern identity, that combines regional, national and European aspects.
The introduction to the topic was given by Monika Rosa MP who briefly explained Silesian identity as being deeply European. Silesia is a borderland area and borders that cross that territory have changed at least three times during the 20th century.
The workshop started at 5 pm and was moderated by Magdalena Brukwinska and dr Bartlomiej Gabrys. Dr Gabrys gave a short introduction on the economic issues of the integration, especially on the Eurozone and started a set of interactive exercises.
The workshop consists of three interactive exercises. Their aim was to identify main topics that are important for European citizens these days. Participants in Silesia discussed in depth the topic of the EU being a leader of changes in energy and combating climate change. This issue very divisive in Poland, and especially in Silesia, where most of Polish coal is mined. Participants underlined that the EU should focus on environment and climate, and at the same time invest in new technologies that will create jobs in regions most affected by deindustrialization.
