The 2026 Europaeum Summer School took place at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków from 7–9 July with the theme ‘Creativity & Innovation’. Both concepts stand at the heart of today’s Europe and at its capacity to seize emerging opportunities — and this event interrogated the relationship between them, with special emphasis on the cultural and artistic sphere.
The event began with a philosophical introduction to the ‘uses of imagination’ from Prof. Bartosz Brozek (Vice-Rector for University Development at the Jagiellonian). The students them heard from Dr Ken Arnold (Copenhagen/Medical Museion, Copenhagen) about the translation and application of creativity into Museum contexts. Several students also presented their research and practice in relevant areas, including about using creativity in the construction of gallery spaces and developing human-non human interconnectedness in artistic projects. Further workshops on applying creative principles to artistic production and cultural policy were offered by artists Sofia Oliveira and Jared Hawkey (CADA project, Lisbon), Iris Jugo Nuñez-Hoyo (Complutense Madrid/Europaeum Scholar Alumna) and Daniel Golebiowski (Jagiellonian/Europaeum Scholar Alumnus and Teaching Fellow). These workshops considered the role that UNESCO can play in cultural preservation, the development of cultural programmes including that of European City of Culture, and how to use AI effectively in creative work. Artist Joana Moll also gave an online presentation of her work in this area and the students rounded off the academic side to their work by helping design the programme for a new Europaeum cultural Summer School, for delivery in the coming years.
The Europaeum thanks all the speakers for giving up their time so generously and also, in particular, Prof. Zdzislaw Mach and Dr Lucja Piekarska-Duraj, who served as local host organisers for the Summer School. We would also like to acknowledge Prof. Jaroslav Górniak, the Vice-Rector for International Relations, whose support made the whole endeavour possible.
The Summer School Programme also included an afternoon of cultural visits: first to the Czartoryskich Palace Museum and then to the Design Pharmacy, a unique cultural project in Kraków’s creative quarter of Wesola. We thank student Julian Madej for his liaison work enabling this latter visit.
Twenty-three students participated in the Summer School from across the Europaeum network, with 12 member universities represented.
