Launched in 2004, the program of study tours to Poland is addressed to active students and professionals from countries of Eastern Europe. The objective of the program is to show them realities of Poland and the European Union, and at the same time develop and strengthen professional and personal contacts between young leaders from Eastern Europe and their Polish hosts.
Students are offered a dozen-day-long study tour to Poland; the eligible candidates are 18- 21 years old, come from Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine and the Russian Federation – currently from Kaliningrad, Novgorod, Leningrad and St. Petersburg oblasts, as well as Moscow and Voronezh. Students participating in the “STP” have an opportunity to meet representatives of Polish academic environment, civic organizations, leaders of public life; they can also participate in lectures, workshops, seminars and cultural events.
Students apply to the program individually. The tours are organized for mixed groups of 10-12 people coming from various countries. They are held twice a year, in spring and fall, and managed by experienced Polish NGOs selected in an open competition. The program coordinator is Borussia Foundation from Olsztyn.
The offer for professionals is addressed to representatives of local governments, central administration, central public institutions, NGOs, media, the educational sector, and other professional groups from countries of Eastern Europe, Southern Caucasus and Central Asia. The tours, aimed at sharing Polish experience in transformation and European integration, are held in cooperation with Polish NGOs as well as central and local administration bodies. After the Maidan events in 2014, special emphasis in contacts with Ukraine has been placed on sharing experience with people actively participating in local government reform and activities related to integration of Ukraine with EU structures. Over the period from 2014 to 2019, Study Tours to Poland were held for 6,546 citizens of Ukraine, including 4,454 professionals and 2092 students.
The recruitment of participants in study tours for professionals must be preceded by a letter of intent sent to the program office in Warsaw by an interested institution and its partner organization from the countries of the region, or by a Polish NGO or institution.
From 2004 to 2019 a total of 10,253 participants, including 3,523 university students and 6,730 professionals representing various environments took part in the study tours. Each year Poland is visited by more than 300 professionals and more than 200 students.
Within the “Study Tours to Poland” Program, the Foundation supports the Warsaw Euro-Atlantic Summer Academy – WEASA – a common undertaking of PAFF, the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the College of Europe. The Academy offers two-week session of classes, based at the Natolin campus and addressed to experts from the Eastern Partnership countries, i.e. analysts, political and government advisors, think tank and NGO staff, civil servants, and journalists. The thematic scope of the classes encompasses political transformation, European integration and transatlantic relations, and – starting from 2017 – the main subject have been digital challenges, especially cyberspace security. The classes are held in form of lectures, workshops, and meetings with practitioners, and are conducted by prominent lecturers and experts from Poland and other countries. In eight rounds of WEASA (2013-2020), a total of 374 people from Eastern Partnership countries (and since 2017 also from Western Balkans) have participated, that is: 38 from Armenia, 29 from Azerbaijan, 34 from Belarus, 70 from Georgia, 34 from Moldova, and 107 from Ukraine.
The Foundation has disbursed $6,854,072, including $676,093 for the current edition of the program.
