Green Talks with GEF at the Green Days 2025 (Białowieża National Park)

What does security mean in a time of war, climate crisis, and democratic backsliding? Join us at Green Talks with GEF during Green Days 2025 in Białowieża for a day of powerful discussions on defense, democracy, and environmental justice!

About the event

Green Talks with GEF is a special contribution by the Green European Foundation (GEF) to Green Days 2025, a Green summer school taking place this year in the iconic Białowieża National Park. Returning to the site of the very first Green Days held in 2015, this edition marks the event’s 10-year anniversary, bringing renewed focus on security, democracy, and environmental protection in a region facing ongoing geopolitical and social turbulence.

Starting on 4 July 2025, the event will consist of several panel discussions and workshops, offering a space for reflection, exchange, and alliance-building. The Green Talks organized by GEF will gather Green politicians, civil society actors, and grassroots activists from across Central and Eastern Europe to explore what Green security means in today’s Europe.

At the core of the event is a belief that security must go beyond borders and weapons – it must also mean access to justice, safety for the most vulnerable, climate resilience, and democratic freedoms.

Project background

This year’s Green Talks reflect GEF’s long-term commitment to strategic engagement in Central and Eastern Europe, and Poland in particular. With new political leadership since 2023 and Poland’s Greens in government, the country is at a critical crossroads for its future direction. Yet even under a pro-European coalition, hard questions persist: What kind of security do we want? Who defines it? And at what cost?

The symbolic location of Białowieża – a biodiversity hotspot straddling the Polish-Belarusian border and a crossing point for vulnerable migrants – underscores the complexity of these debates. GEF’s contribution will explore the intersections between defence, environment, civil liberties, and the future of Europe through a Green lens, asking how we can build safer, fairer societies without reproducing oppressive models of “order.”

Speakers

tbc

Programme:

You may find the GEF sponsored session down below, but in case you’re interested in the full programme, please click here.

Friday 4.07:

Parallel sessions:

10:00 – 11:30
Green vision of a safe city [PL/EN]

Confirmed speaker:
Dirk Holemmans, Ghent (Oikos, video),
Vedran Horvat, Zagreb (IPE/GEF, video) 
Mirosław Kaznowski (vice-burgmestr of Milanówek)
Katarzyna Pilitowska (urban activist Kraków)
Denis Gerard (Kooperatywa “Dobrze”)
Waldemar Kamiński, Warszawa-Białołęka (local councillor)

Practicalities:

Date and Time: 4 July 2025
Location: Białowieża National Park, Poland
Language:  English / Polish (simultaneous interpretation provided)
Registration: you may find the registration form to this link. Please note the GEF sessions are free, but that you must pay a fee if you want to participate to the full  summer school.

This stream of sessions is organized by the Green European Foundation with the support of Strefa Zieleni and with financial support from the European Parliament.