EUSTORY Past Forward Festival
EUSTORY Past Forward Festival
A strong European network met at the EUSTORY Past Forward Festival in Hamburg to support each other while pressure on democracy is growing. From 7 to 11 September 2026, more than 200 professionals, practitioners and young activists shared, experienced and discussed strategies and possible solutions to challenges of history and civic education in Europe and beyond. What they all shared: the strong belief that dealing with the past can change our future for the better.
What was it all about?
To mark EUSTORY’s 25th anniversary, Körber-Stiftung’s multi-day festival aimed to inspire hope in difficult times. We invited people from a variety of professions, backgrounds, and age groups to share and discuss ways how to engage with our past in a responsible, courageous, and forward-looking manner.
Our Topics
- Making Peace with History: reflections and best practise how to tackle history when it is contested and emotionally burdened.
- Who Owns the Past: reflections and best practice on coping with struggles over memory and painful gaps in public commemoration, as well as on the potential of history to promote social cohesion.
- Memory Meets Machine: orientation on future trends and strategies concerning the challenges and opportunities that history and commemoration face by AI, ChatGPT and social media.
Our programme included
- Hands-On Workshops to experience and discuss meaningful approaches to transformative educational experiences and tools for current challenges
- Deep Dives by keynote speakers and panelists as food for thought
- Dialogue Across Borders to share and discuss potential solutions to urgent challenges and to enlarge your professional network
- Meet Hamburg when local organisations open their doors to offer a glimpse behind the scenes of innovation in civic education
- Young perspectives on histories that matter at the “Roots and Reels” Award Ceremony
- For this year’s EUSTORY history competition prize winners aged 16-20, we offer a Youth Workshop how to apply Constructive Journalism to historical storytelling as part of the festival
Some of Our Speakers
Programme
Have a glimpse into our festival days.
Festival Schedule
Extended Programme
Arrival day, internal EUSTORY Network Meeting and welcoming reception in the evening at Körber-Stiftung
Venue: Körber-Stiftung, KörberForum, Kehrwieder 12, 20457 Hamburg
Programme of the Day
At the festical opening event, we were happy to have, among others, Irina Sherbakova (Zukunft Memorial e.V.) as one of the founding members of EUSTORY.
During the day, participants could join parallel workshops and hands-on training sessions. In the evening, a public keynote and talk with Roman Krznaric, social philopher from the University of Oxford, was on the agenda.
Venue: KörberHaus, Holzhude 1, 21029 Hamburg
Our Workshops
Programme of the Day
Participants experienced another half day filled with workshops and hands-on trainings.
At lunch time, we celebrated the best videos of the international Roots & Reels digital storytelling competition.
Venue: KörberHaus, Holzhude 1, 21029 Hamburg.
In the afternoon, visits to innovative local organisations were available during our Hamburg excursions.
Our Workshops
Hamburg Excursions
Programme of the Day
Thursday was our Future Day, where we explored the key challenges facing civic education today. A half a day filled with visionary speakers who shared their perspectives on our three main festival topics.
During the afternoon, participants attended our „Deep Dives“, spaces for intensive reflection about the morning conference with the Future Day speakers.
After the closing of the festival, we finished with a social evening.
Venue: KörberHaus, Holzhude 1, 21029 Hamburg
Our Future Day
Departure day
More information about all workshops
Read our extended programme if you want to learn more about our different workshops, facilitators and methods they will use.
Extended Programme
Awareness Guideline
The EUSTORY Past Forward Festival brought together people from many different backgrounds, countries, and life experiences. We wanted this diversity to be a source of strength and created a space where everyone can take part fully, be heard, and feel that they belong.
We were aware that imbalances of power dynamics and discrimination can surface, sometimes without anyone intending them. For that reason, our team was on site for the full duration of the festival, ready to listen and to help foster dialogue if needed. If something had made you feel uncomfortable, excluded, or unfairly treated — whether it happened to you or you noticed it happening to someone else – our HelpDesk was ready and approachable.
Creating a festival where people feel free to engage, disagree, and learn together was a shared responsibility, and a big thank you to all of our participants who supported us in creating and maintaining an open, respectful and mindful festival atmosphere.
Our work is guided by Körber-Stiftung’s guiding principles and by the EUSTORY Mission Statement — we encourage you to take a look.
Our Venues: KörberForum and KörberHaus, Hamburg
Photo: Claudia Höhne 
Photo: Claudia Höhne 
Photo: Nicole Keller
KörberHaus
Holzhude 1
21029 Hamburg
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