On March 3-5 2023, the fifth Congress was held in Wrocław, attended by representatives of groups and organizations that are part of the Plish Prides Alliance. This time, the Congress was organized by the Equality Culture Association from Wrocław partnering with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Representation of the European Commission in Poland. The Congress was also attended by people representing our partner organizations and friends from abroad: European Prides Organizers Association, Oslo Pride and CSD Deutschland.
On Friday, March 3, workshops on institutional support and development of non-governmental organizations were organized at the EP/EC Representation. The next day was devoted to integration, focused around discussions on the most controversial topics related to marches. The main goal of the talks was an empathetic and sensitive understanding of the different perspectives and experiences of individual groups and organizations. Group discussions were facilitated by persons from the Coalition Secretariat.
Then, a plenary session of the Coalition took place, during which the Secretariat reported on its activities for the period from September 2022 to the end of February 2023 and indicated further prospective activities. A very important element of this part was presenting to the Delegates the results of cooperation between the Coalition and the Fund for Change, in the form of establishing the Marching Cities Fund, which will support the smallest, beginning marches. Equally important, the group of member organizations of the Coalition was expanded to include the Poznań-based Stonewall Group, which was accepted by a majority of the voting Delegates.
On the last day of the Congress, representatives of Oslo Pride led an extremely important panel on crisis response in relation to the tragic terrorist attack during pride in the capital of Norway in June 2022.
This was followed by sessions on artistic cooperation in organizing events, a panel on the accessibility of equality marches and talks within so-called World Cafe with invited partner organizations.
This beautiful photos from the Congress was prepared by wonderful Bart Staszewski – thank you!
