Summary of the October training courses conducted by the Foundation

Last weekend, at the House of Polish Culture in Vilnius free training courses on human rights were organized by the European Foundation of Human Rights, attended not only by teachers, lawyers, politicians and journalists, but also by many other people interested in the theme.

After greeting guests and giving a short lecture, the Director of the Foundation, Dr. Małgorzata Runiewicz-Wardyn, invited Dr Łukasz Wardyn to speak. He briefly presented the objectives pursued by the Foundation and its current activities. He also shared its plans for the future. ‘These are not the last training courses of this type, they will certainly continue next year”, he said. And so it will happen, especially considering the fact that the courses are of great interest, which indicates that there is a need for such initiatives.

The courses were conducted by eminent specialists in human rights, including Dr. Ireneusz C. Kamiński from the Jagiellonian University, Laura Koba – a historian and a longtime associate of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Dr. Elżbieta Kuzborska – a lecturer at the Vilnius Branch of the University in Białystok, and Mr. Wiktor Łozowski – a history teacher and a methodologist from Pope John Paul’s Gymnasium in Vilnius.

Trainees had the opportunity to not only listen to lectures on human rights and to learn new methods of teaching, but also to work in groups during workshops conducted by Mrs. Laura Koba. Even coffee breaks and lunch time were a good opportunity for constructive discussions.

The last lecture on freedom of speech was supposed to be given by Dr. Ireneusz Kamiński, who unfortunately didn’t arrive on time because of thick autumn fog at the airport in Kraków. Vilnius welcomed him only after midnight.

‘We learned a lot during these activities, we feel much more confident’, emphasized one of the participants of the training. We hope that these words will result in future life and work of the participants of our training, because that was their goal – to bring law and human rights closer to people, to make them clearer and less doubtful and fearful.

Sunday’s training took place in an atmosphere of multifaceted discussion. The training, led by Dr. Ireneusz Kamiński, was attended by journalists, politicians, lawyers and other people interested in the issues discussed. During the debate, trainees discussed not only the main topic of freedom of speech, but also other aspects of high interest for them.

Today, in the building of the Vilnius branch of the University in Białystok, Dr. Ireneusz Kamiński gave another lecture for students, titled ‘Freedom of expression on the background of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. From theory to practice’. This lecture ended this year’s series of trainings by the Foundation. We cordially invite you to the next!

Translated by Ewelina Zarembska within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.