From Canada, The USA and Mexico to Germany, Lithuania, Ukraine, Moldova to Armenia and Kazakhstan. From 11th oto 15th December, 130 Young leaders from more than 20 countries met in Warsaw and Pułtusk for the 1st World Congress of Young Poles and Polonia. 

The event organised by the World Polonia Council was a great opportunity for young people to meet their peers from around the world, to participate in a number of panels and lectures, and to shape the future of Poland.

Coordinated by the Federation of Poles in Great Britain, The UK’s Polish Youth Community was represented by:

Szymon Baranski on behalf of Żywiec Polish Folk Song and Dance Group.

Adrian Kosikowski on behalf of Polish YMCA.

Romek Klimowski on behalf of Mazury Dance Company.

What occurred during the event?

On the 11th December all the young Poles met in Stowarzyszenie “Wspólnota Polska” in which they had the chance to meet and start getting to know each other, before traveling over to Pułtusk Castle.

The next day, Thursday was the first day of the actual event seeing the Young Poles attend a Plenary Inauguration Session in the Polish Senate, which was attended by figures like Senate Marshal Malgorzata Kidawa-Blońska and Deputy Sejm Marshal Krzysztof Bosak, Senators and members of the Government.

The Session was a great opportunity for Young Poles from their different countries to share about their own organisations and how they operate and also importantly the issues that certain groups face, whether that be funding or issues around education or other.

The following two days saw the Young Poles attend panels and lectures in Pułtusk, with the panels having different ranges of topics.

For example, A forum related to Politics and how Poles abroad take part in the politics of their home countries with guests like, Gerwazy Longher, member of the Romanian Parliament, Jaroslaw Narkiewicz, member of the Lithuanian Parliament.

There was a forum on national identity with a historical reenactment group.

A Forum on education, on Culture through unconventional education, National Memory, Integration through new media and more.

Overall the entire event was great fun and an absolute pleasure to attend, a big thank you to the World Polonia Council for organising the Young Congress, and if anyone is interested to listen to the Session in the Senate or the many different forums that Young Poles attended, all recordings can be found on Polska360.org.

Szymon Baranski

Photos: Szymon Baranski and Jan Rzepka/@venomontwowheel