Understanding the Past & Practicing the Present
Understanding the Past & Practicing the Present
19. November 2026 | Dresden, Germany
City Walk | Workshops | Panel Talk | Performance | Exhibition
How have historical events shaped the way our cities look, and include people today?
How are citizens’ rights reflected in our everyday urban environments?
How can citizens work together with municipalities to improve their communities?
How can we make our cities more inclusive and accessible so that everyone can feel that they belong?
What can Dresden, Prague, Ostrava, Oleśnica, and Khmelnytskyi learn from one another about inclusion, participation, and belonging?
These are some of the questions that will guide Understanding the Past & Practicing the Present, an international event bringing together citizens, municipalities, organisations, artists, educators, and local communities from Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, and Ukraine.
Aligned with the commemoration of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, this event explores the connections between history, collective memory, citizens’ rights, and present-day urban realities. The Fall of the Berlin Wall invites us to reflect on freedom, participation, democratic values, inclusion, and the role citizens play in shaping their communities. At the same time, it provides an opportunity to ask how these values are reflected in our cities today.
Throughout the event, we will explore how historical events continue to influence urban spaces, how cities remember their past, and how issues such as accessibility, participation, inclusion, and belonging are experienced in everyday life, public spaces, culture, community initiatives, as well as opportunities for participation that play a role in creating cities where everyone feels represented and included.
Why Participate?
Cities of Belonging offers a unique opportunity to:
- Meet participants from Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, and Ukraine
- Exchange ideas and experiences across borders
- Reflect on rights, participation, and urban life
- Engage directly with municipalities and local stakeholders
- Present your work, research, initiatives, or artistic practice
- Build new collaborations and connections
- Contribute to discussions on more inclusive and accessible cities
Because cities become more inclusive, democratic, and welcoming when the people who live in them are part of shaping them.
Programme
Thursday, 19 of November 2026 | Dresden
13:45–15:20 | Diverse Activities around Dresden
City Walk & Photography / Video Workshop
Join a guided walk through selected sites in Dresden connected to the city’s history and collective memory. Along the way, an experienced photographer will guide participants in creatively capturing the places, public spaces and details they encounter. Dedicated moments during and at the end of the walk will offer time to pause, reflect and document impressions through photos and short clips.
Accessibility note: Dresden’s cobblestone streets may pose challenges for people with mobility difficulties. To make the City Walk more accessible and comfortable, rest stops will be included approximately every 15 minutes.
Museum visit at Gedenkstätte Bautzner Straße
The Stasi in Dresden.
From 1953 to 1989, the Stasi’s Dresden district headquarters was located on Bautzner Straße. The guided tour of the fully preserved pretrial detention center offers insights into the conditions of detention at that time, the reasons for imprisonment, and the personal stories of those detained. Visitors can see, among other things, former detention cells, an interrogation room, and the vehicle checkpoint.
Visit & guided tour at Zentrum für Baukultur Sachsen
Ostmoderne.Kultur-Orte. Redevelopment of Industrial Heritage in Dresden, Chemnitz, Leipzig
Through six construction projects in Dresden, Chemnitz, and Leipzig, the exhibition shows how buildings from the GDR modernist era are being preserved, repurposed, and transformed into cultural venues. The focus is on the history of the buildings, current challenges, and their future use. Photographs, historical plans, and architectural models illustrate this transformation.
15:30–15:50 | Arrival at Stadtforum & Coffee Break
Take a short break, enjoy a snack and a coffee, and settle in at Stadtforum before we continue with the rest of the programme.
15:50–17:20 | Panel Talk & Discussion
Municipal representatives from the participating cities will join experts and local initiatives to exchange perspectives on belonging, inclusion, accessibility and urban participation.
Starting from the commemoration of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the discussion will connect past and present while sharing city-led practices, grassroots initiatives and citizen-driven projects, with space for open dialogue with participants.
17:20–17:40 | Coffee & Meet the Initiatives
Grab a coffee and meet representatives of initiatives from the visiting countries working on different aspects of belonging, inclusion, accessibility and participation. Discover their projects, learn about their experiences and exchange ideas on how local initiatives can contribute to more inclusive and welcoming cities.
18:00–18:45 | Tour through Stadtforum
City halls and other municipal buildings are usually not considered very welcoming or accessible. Opened in 2025, Dresden’s new municipal building called “Stadtforum” wants to change that. This guided tour through the public section of the building will show you how this building wants to rewrite the relationship between city administration and citizens – through architecture, accessibility and events.
Join us and explore how the Stadtforum changes the way municipality works, including digitalization, climate and energy matters and new work.
17:40–19:20 | Creative Workshops
Zine Workshop!
A creative zine-making workshop exploring what belonging means to us and how we experience the cities we live in. Drawing on our observations from the city walk, our personal experiences and reflections, we will explore how history and the present shape our sense of belonging, what makes us feel connected to a place, and what makes us feel included or excluded in urban spaces. Through zine-making, we will bring these perspectives together into personal and collective stories.
Expect:
- Creative work with collage, text, and drawing
- Working with magazines, photos
- Exchange in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere
- No prior experience required
Active citizenship and media production workshop!
Explore what it means to be an active citizen and how media can help you express your ideas and concerns. Discover how images, voices and sounds shape the stories we tell, and get creative with Vox Pops (short street interviews) to capture different perspectives, ask questions and spark conversations about the world around you.
Rethinking Underused Public Spaces: A Tactical Urbanism Workshop!
How can overlooked public spaces become more welcoming, inclusive, and vibrant? Through a short introduction and a hands-on group activity, participants will explore tactical urbanism as a tool for community-led transformation. Working with different user perspectives and scenarios, small groups will redesign an underused public space and discuss opportunities, challenges, and barriers related to implementing such interventions in real-life urban environments.
From 18:40 to 19:10, an additional workshop, Am I Czech? – Stories of Identity, Migration and Belonging, will take place.
Who decides where we belong? Through a short documentary screening, guided reflection and interactive group discussions, participants will explore identity, migration and the invisible borders that shape our communities. Drawing on personal experiences, we will collectively imagine how European cities can become more inclusive, accessible and welcoming spaces for everyone.
17:30–19:30 | Exhibition
A closing exhibition showcasing participants’ creative contributions, alongside historical photographs and documents from Oleśnica shared by the project partners. Together, the materials offer a creative reflection on the histories, perspectives and experiences brought together throughout the event.
The exhibition brings together different histories, perspectives and experiences explored throughout the event.
19:20–20:00 | Performances
Enjoy creative contributions from our partner cities, including an intergenerational choir and band performance from Oleśnica.
Intergenerational Choir
An intergenerational choir bringing together singers of different ages, celebrating music as a way to connect generations, share cultural traditions and bring communities together.
KOPER Folk Band
KOPER brings traditional Polish folk music to life through contemporary arrangements. Combining old folk melodies, original compositions inspired by Slavic traditions and unique instruments, including handmade ones, the band creates its distinctive “folk-now” sound.
A shared cultural moment to close the day through music, creativity and exchange.
Whether you are interested in urban life, inclusion, accessibility, citizens’ rights, culture, or simply want to exchange perspectives with people from different European cities, we invite you to join us in Dresden on 19 November.
Come with your experiences, ideas and perspective, and be part of the conversation on what belonging in our cities means today.
About the Project
Understanding the Past & Practicing the Present is the first international event of the European project Cities of Belonging, funded by the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) Programme of the European Union.
Cities of Belonging brings together citizens and municipalities from Dresden (Germany), Prague and Ostrava (Czech Republic), Oleśnica (Poland), and Khmelnytskyi (Ukraine) to explore how cities can become more inclusive, accessible, participatory, and democratic for everyone.
Through two international events, creative activities, dialogue with municipalities, and cross-border exchange, the project creates opportunities for citizens to reflect on rights, inclusion, accessibility, collective memory, and the future of European cities.
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Project Reference Number: 101292350
This measure is co-financed with tax revenues on the basis of the budget approved by the Saxon State Parliament.
