EUSTORY Past Forward Festival

Do you believe that coping with the past can change our future for the better? Then join us at the EUSTORY Past Forward Festival in Hamburg! From 7 to 11 September 2026 we invite professionals and practitioners to share, experience and discuss strategies and possible solutions to challenges of history and civic education in Europe and beyond.

You will leave the festival with new perspectives, practical tools, and a strong European network to support your work, when pressure on democracy is growing.

What to expect?

To mark EUSTORY’s 25th anniversary, Körber-Stiftung’s multi-day festival aims to inspire hope in difficult times. We invite you 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 will include

Hands-On Workshops to experience and discuss innovative approaches 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

The detailed festival schedule will be available beginning of May 2026.

Some of our speakers

Irina Scherbakowa

Memorial / Founder of Russian History Competition

Jason Steinhauer

Public Historian

Roman Krznaric

Social Philosopher

Our programme

Have a glimpse into our festival days. The full programme will be published soon.

What to expect? Arrival day and welcoming reception at Körber-Stiftung in the evening

Venue: Körber-Stiftung, KörberForum, Kehrwieder 12, 20457 Hamburg

What to expect? The official opening will feature guests such as Irina Sherbakova, founding member of the human rights organisation Memorial and of EUSTORY.

You can look forward to a day filled with parallel workshops and hands-on training sessions, among others

on innovative engagement formats for incorporating missing (hi)stories into a city’s historical museum
on the impact of youth activism for more diverse commemoration cultures
an artistic introduction to a more holistic approach to historical source material through theatre
on future-orientated ways of coping with the trauma of terror and violence
on the potentials of collaborative game design in history education

In the evening, social philosopher Roman Krznaric will demonstrate the power of storytelling and ideas to transform society.

Venue: KörberHaus, Holzhude 1, 21029 Hamburg

What to expect? You can look forward to another half day filled with workshops and hands-on trainings, such as

on best practises for better coping with post-colonial history in diverse classrooms
a societal dialogue about participants’ and citizens’ perceptions towards war and peace

We will also celebrate the best videos of the international Roots & Reels digital storytelling competition. In the afternoon you have the chance to visit institutions in and around Hamburg for insights into innovation in civic education, for example a remembrance site, a local school, or a soccer stadium

Venue: KörberHaus, Holzhude 1, 21029 Hamburg

What to expect? During the festival’s Future Day, visionary speakers will share their outlooks. Public historian Jason Steinhauer will take a deep dive into the future of our perception of history. CEOs of civil society organisations from different countries will share strategies for responding to shrinking spaces for civic education. Jørgen Watne Frydnes, the Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, will share his experiences of coping with the trauma of the terrorist attack in Utøya in 2011.

The workshops of the afternoon provide an opportunity for in-depth discussion of the speakers’ topics

The full programm will be published in due time.

Stay for the evening to celebrate the closing of the EUSTORY Past Forward Festival with us.

Venue: KörberHaus, Holzhude 1, 21029 Hamburg

Departure day

Who can apply?

We’re looking forward to welcoming 200 professionals, practitioners, and young activists of history and civic education from across Europe and beyond.

The application for the EUSTORY Past Forward festival is open to experts, practicioners and activists from the field of history and civic education as well as for alumni from EUSTORY history competitions. For accepted participants, participation at the festival is free of charge. Lunch, dinner and coffee breaks during the festival will be provided.

However, participants are responsible for financing and arranging their own travel to and stay in Hamburg. We highly recommend booking your train or flights to and accommodation in Hamburg as early as possible after the confirmation of participation to secure the best prices.

We offer a limited number of conference scholarships and tickets for EUSTORY alumni that cover travel costs and accommodation in Hamburg. You can apply for those during the registration process.

Our aim is to ensure a diverse mix of participants. As places are limited, we may need to maintain a waiting list.

We are looking forward to meeting you at the festival in September!