The Nexus of Decision 2024

Culture

Residency

An intensive UA–PL–DE residency where young researchers and practitioners test how political, moral, and historical choices shape societies under pressure.

2024 (Second Edition)

Wielgolas Cieńsza, Poland

Our Goal

We convene young scholars, artists, and practitioners from Ukraine, Poland, and Germany to interrogate decision-making in conditions of war and instability. The 2024 edition advanced three concrete lines of work: Memory & Mythology, Sustainable Peace, and Ethics of Coexistence. Participants worked with historians, diplomats, analysts, and artists to analyze myths that distort policy, assess peace frameworks, and practice tools for responsible, reality-based decisions.

BAckground

Launched after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the residency addresses how war, propaganda, and shifting alliances reshape European security and civic life. 2024 — “Relationship of Peace with Reality”—focused on the cost of “comfort-peace,” the limits of Ostpolitik nostalgia, and the risks of negotiating with an aggressor. The aim is practical: sharpen judgment, reduce epistemic blind spots, and inform decisions that hold under real-world pressure.

How the residency works

The Nexus chooses symbolically charged sites so the place becomes part of the curriculum. After the 2023 edition at Stiftung Genshagen and in Berlin, 2024 unfolded in Wielgolas Cieńsza, a setting suited for examining blind spots in European memory. The program combines seminars and lectures (Portnov, Dovgopolova, Eisenhuth, Falkowski, Woidelko; Loringhoven, Puglierin, Klimeniouk, Dębski), workshops (Kakhidze; Shtaltovna), screenings (Kavelina; Tykha), and a site visit to Pracownia Cieńsza—the summer studio of Henryk Musiałowicz. A final reflective session, “Art as a Territory of Safe Empathy,” with curator Ksenia Malykh, linked inquiry to practice and consolidated a shared vocabulary for future collaboration.

Memory & Mythology

Participants examined German Aufarbeitung, Western misreadings of the East, and Russia’s abuse of history—testing how memory politics drives today’s responses to aggression and why epistemic injustice silences UA/PL expertise.

Sustainable Peace

Sessions assessed peace plans (incl. Zelensky’s), hybrid warfare, and deterrence trade-offs with Loringhoven, Puglierin, Klimeniouk, and Dębski—moving from “fear of escalation” to actionable, reality-based strategies.

Ethics of Coexistence

With Shtaltovna and Malykh, the group trained curiosity over judgment, used art for “safe empathy,” and explored how to live with difference without denying history or normalizing violence.

Invited SPEAKERS

Prof. Dr. Andrii Portnov

Historian; Europa-Universität Viadrina

“The ‘West’ Strives to Read the ‘East’: Perception of Ukraine and Central Europe in Germany (and beyond).”

Prof. Dr. Oksana Dovgopolova

Philosopher; Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University

“Commemorative Practices of an Ongoing War: The Ukrainian Experience.”

Dr. Stefanie Eisenhuth

Historian; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

“German Aufarbeitung: Myths, Challenges, and Political Impact.”

Mateusz Falkowski

Political scientist

Germany’s 20th-century self-image and its perception of Poland.

Gabriele Woidelko

Head of History and Politics, Körber Foundation

Workshop: “Russian Memory Politics, Ostpolitik Nostalgia, and EU-level consequences.”

Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven

Diplomat

Lectures on Germany’s peace stance and “Fake news from Moscow: how Russia attacks German democracy.”

Dr. Jana Puglierin

Security analyst

“Global Security Architecture in Times of Extremes.” Dr. Puglierin works on European defense integration and transatlantic coordination.

Nikolai Klimeniouk

Journalist/analyst

“Beyond Propaganda: How Russian Influencers and Regime Critics Play the Kremlin’s Game.”

Sławomir Dębski

Director, PISM

Talks on US elections, NATO posture, and defense spending strategies in PL/UA/DE.

Alevtina Kakhidze

Artist

Workshop: “End the war / stop Russia.”

Prof. Dr. Yulia Shtaltovna

International and intercultural Management Lecturer

Workshop on cognitive skills for peace: critical thinking, complexity awareness, perspective-taking, sense-making, long-term vision.

What we achieved

Named the myths that steer policy

Participants traced how selective memory (Aufarbeitung narratives, Ostpolitik nostalgia) and Russian history-abuse distort European debates. The group assembled concrete misperceptions that affect Ukraine-related decisions and outlined ways to correct them in academia, media, and diplomacy.

Through sessions with diplomats and security experts, the cohort mapped risks of negotiation with an ongoing aggressor, compared deterrence options, and analyzed hybrid warfare. Outcome: clearer criteria for evaluating peace proposals and recognizing information traps.

Stress-tested “peace” against reality

Practiced tools for coexistence

Workshops built cognitive skills (critical thinking, complexity, perspective-taking) and used art for “safe empathy.” The final reflection consolidated a shared vocabulary for addressing otherness without relativizing violence or erasing victims.

The Nexus of Decision 2024