Bridging academia and the world so often cast as outside it, the EASA2026 conference has invited a number of Polish NGOs whose everyday work helps craft alternative stories in an increasingly polarised world.
Through their engagement with the humanitarian crisis on the Polish–Belarusian border, environmental sustainability, volunteer action, and the popularisation of anthropological knowledge, these organisations show how closely research and civic engagement can be intertwined. Many include anthropologists among their members, while others combine activism with research.
Meet them for a chat in the foyer on the first floor of Collegium Politicum, sign up for their workshops, and learn more through their photo exhibitions. You can also support one of the initiatives by taking home and giving a second life to some of the items they have rescued from waste!
Check whom you will meet in the EASA2026 NGO Zone – and how to sign up for the three workshops:
Horyzonty Intercultural Initiatives Centre
When: 22 – 24 July
Where: Collegium Politicum, 1st floor foyer
Activity: information stall (+ workshop on 22 July)
Centrum Inicjatyw Międzykulturowych Horyzonty (Horyzonty Intercultural Initiatives Centre)
is a non-profit organization based in Poznań, Poland. We create educational, cultural, and community-based projects that promote intercultural dialogue, social inclusion, solidarity, and active citizenship. Through workshops, exchanges, festivals, and local initiatives, we connect people from diverse backgrounds and support cooperation across cultures and generations.
Check EASA2026 Programme for updates, read more about Horyzonty and to SIGN UP FOR THE WORSHOP:
Find out more about the CIM Horyzonty workshop and how to register:
Workshop
“Beyond Borders: Human Connection Through Volunteering”
When: 22 July, 13:15-15:00
Where: Politicum, room 125
Register for the workshop here:
The aim of the workshop is to promote solidarity, intercultural understanding, and community engagement in an increasingly polarized world.
By activities conducted in this meeting we would like to:
– explore how volunteering can foster empathy, solidarity, and meaningful connections across cultural differences.
– encourage participants to recognize and challenge stereotypes and assumptions in order to develop a more open and empathetic understanding of others.
– experience and reflect on how collaboration can still happen even when communication is imperfect or restricted.
PO-Dzielnia
When: 22-23 July, 10:00 – 14:00
Where: Politicum, 1st floor foyer
Activity: Information stall, where you will not only be able to find out about the organisation’s work, but also take action yourselves in the spirit of zero waste by taking home items donated by Poznań residents and giving them a ‘second life’
PO-Dzielnia is a community-based sharing and zero-waste centre in Poznań, Poland. Since 2018, it has been promoting sustainable consumption, circular economy practices, and environmental awareness through a free shop, educational activities, workshops, lectures, and cultural events. By encouraging the reuse and repair of everyday items, PO-Dzielnia helps reduce waste and strengthen local community ties.
Check EASA2026 Programme for updates, and read more about PO-Dzielnia:
Badaczki i Badacze na Granicy (BBNG)
When: 21 – 24 July
Where: Politicum, 1st floor foyer
Activity: information stall + workshop on 23 July
Researchers on the Border (Badaczki i Badacze na Granicy) is an inter-university, interdisciplinary grassroots research network established in 2021 in response to the humanitarian crisis on the Polish–Belarusian border. Working within critical border studies and an activist research approach, the group studies this irregularized migration route and the impacts of the border regime.
Find out more about the BBNG workshop and how to register:
Workshop
Workshop by BBNG: Countermapping the Borderscape. Methodological Reflections from the Polish–Belarusian Border
When: 23 July, 13:15-15:00
When: Politicum, room 125
Registration: at the BBNG information stall during the conference.
See updates in the conference programme:
This workshop invites participants to engage with an interactive counter-map of the Polish–Belarusian borderscape. Developed through activist documentation and research conducted since the onset of the humanitarian crisis, the map draws on the methodology of counter-mapping. Rather than reproducing exact locations, it foregrounds the mechanisms of violence, regimes of control, and the everyday experiences of people on the move.
Through collaborative group work and collective discussion, participants will use the map to reconstruct and analyse the situation at the Polish–Belarusian border, focusing on material infrastructures, specific sites, and practices of violence, resistance, and contestation. The session will also provide space for critical reflection on the possibilities and limitations of counter-mapping as a methodological approach. Particular attention will be given to the intersections of research and activism, ethical challenges of knowledge production, and complementary methods that can support engaged forms of inquiry.
If possible, please bring your laptops or tablets as exploring the map is easier on these devices. Smartphones may also be used.
Stowarzyszenie Pracownia Etnograficzna / Ethnographic Laboratory Association
When: 21 – 24 July
Where: Politicum, 1st floor foyer
Activity: information stall
Founded in 2006, Stowarzyszenie Pracownia Etnograficzna is a non-profit applying ethnological expertise to address social issues and promote cultural diversity. Through participatory research, educational projects, open seminars, and international training programs, SPE successfully disseminates knowledge, empowers local groups, and bridges diverse communities.
Check EASA2026 Programme for updates, and to learn more about Stowarzyszenie Pracownia Etnograficzna:
Stowarzyszenie Jeden Świat – SCI Poland
When: 21 – 22 July
Where: Politicum, 1st floor foyer
Activity: Information Stall
Stowarzyszenie Jeden Świat (SCI Poland) is a non-governmental organization and a member of Service Civil International (SCI), a global peace movement with over 100 years of history. We promote peace, solidarity, human rights, intercultural dialogue, and active citizenship through local and international volunteering, youth exchanges, workcamps, educational workshops, and community-based initiatives. Our activities connect local engagement with global perspectives and support people in becoming active changemakers in their communities.
Check EASA2026 Programme for updates, and to learn more about SCI Poland:
Stowarzyszenie We Are Monitoring / We Are Monitoring Association
The We Are Monitoring Association is part of the Granica Group coalition. Together with other organizations, informal initiatives and local residents, we co-create a solidarity network of humanitarian aid on the Polish-Belarusian border. Since 2021, we have been working for human rights by collecting, analyzing and sharing data on the scale of movement, provision of support, abuses of power and various forms of violence, including institutional, experienced by people on the move. Our work also aims to complement the public discourse on migration by creating a space for expression for people whose rights to freedom of movement and seeking safety have been denied.
When: 21-24.07
Where: Politicum, 1st floor foyer
Activity: information stall (21-24 July) + workshop (24 July)
Check EASA2026 Programme for updates, and to learn more about We Are Monitoring:
Find out more about the We Are Monitoring workshop and how to register:
Workshop
Workshop: „They did not let us speak”: Stories from the Polish-Belarusian border
When: 24 July, 16:15-18:00
Where: Politicum, 125
Registration: at the “We Are Monitoring” information stall during the conference
See updates in the conference programme:
Drawing on our data and the testimonies shared with us, we will talk about the situation of people on the move at the Polish-Belarusian border after the suspension of the right to seek international protection. Together, we will look at what these stories reveal about current border practices, everyday conditions of people on the move, and the consequences of increasingly restricted access to rights and safety.
