Rebuilding society in Europe
2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the final end of World War II. Europe was a mess in every possible way and economically, politically and morally bankrupt. How to move on?
May 1945 marked the end of a horrific period, but also the beginning of the reconstruction. After all the horror of the war, it was time to design a future.
RECONSTRUCT is part of the Iron Curtain Project, a ten year old multimedia project that investigates the state of Europe in the context of the divided past in East and West. In the West, the post-war period was a starting point of transitioning again to democracy after occupation. In the East, in the post-war period a new totalitarian regime came into place. The transition to democracy took approximately 30 years more, compared to the West.
Nowadays, the EU democratic system is again under pressure; being challenged by radical movements, polarization and populists questioning fundamental values of diversity, democracy and political freedom. The invasion by Russia of Ukraine stresses the vulnerability of the democratic system even more. To better understand how to protect and strengthen democracy, it is essential to go back to transition moments in these democracies. What solutions were found during the reconstruction period, and what differences and similarities marked the reconstruction of diverse European countries? What lessons could we learn from it?
The focus on the important period of post-war reconstruction makes people realize that democracy is not something you can take for granted: it is something citizens of Europe worked on, and every citizen can play an important role in building and defending it: democracy is human-made and we can (re) construct it ourselves.
Client
The client for this project is the Iron Curtain Project. This is a storytelling project started in 2015 by journalists and designers to commemorate Europe’s divided past and its current state. The platform publishes multimedia stories, creates travelling pop-up museums and organises events throughout Europe. They collaborate internationally with museums, debate centres, journalists, theatre makers, artist, cultural centres, universities and colleges.
Assignment
Together with the Iron Curtain Project you will collaborate on an interactive workshop for young people (15-30 years old) in which to use stories to understand and protect the core values of contemporary Europe. In the workshop participants are given the task of redesigning and rebuilding a city. During this process they have to take on different, sometimes opposing, roles. They are stimulated to pay attention to the diversity of perspectives, and to achieve cocreation. In these sessions they focus on specific relevant and often polarizing themes of their countries such as public housing, education, reception of refugees.
You will contribute to background stories for the website, which will also serve as a foundation for educational materials. This is part of the project website that will be developed to communicate the project.
You will also conduct research for an educational workshop/game and participate in test phases (sensibility tests). Besides that you will be testing the concepts with the target groups (15-30 years) and analyse the results, including proposals for adjustments that make the content diverse and accessible.
The research could focus on one or more of the following topics:
- The country-specific situation immediately after the capitulation of Nazi Germany, with a particular focus on the Netherlands, Romania, Poland, and Italy.
- The processes of reconciliation, retribution, and remembrance in these countries.
- Urban planning developments in the post-war period.
- Exceptional personal stories of Europeans that can serve as a basis for a play, videos, or articles on the website.
Kick-off weekend
The kick-off weekend of this think tank will be on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 October 2025. The kick-off weekend is a mandatory part of the think tank.
Weekly meetings
The weekly meetings start after the kick-off weekend and will take place on Wednesday evenings from 18:30-20:30 unless the group decides otherwise in consultation with the supervisors. The supervisors attend the meetings once every three weeks.
Study trip
A study trip of three or four days is also part of this think tank. The dates and location will be determined in consultation with the group.