17 September 2026

The international academic conference “Education after Totalitarianism: Legacies and Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe”

More than three decades ago, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe embarked not only on the task of building democratic states, but also on transforming the system that shapes individuals – education. Ideologically driven teaching began to disappear from schools, curricula and textbooks were rewritten, institutions were restructured, and one of the key goals of education became the development of independent and critically thinking citizens.

More than three decades later, we can ask: What did these reforms actually change? What did they fail to change? Why do the education systems of countries that started from similar circumstances differ today?

On October 1–2, we invite you to the international academic conference “Education after Totalitarianism: Legacies and Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe”, taking place at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania.

The conference will address national visions of education and systemic change, the role of education in shaping identity and civic engagement, the influence of international cooperation and the diaspora, transformations in higher education, and the social consequences of educational reforms. Considerable attention will also be given to learning environments – how changing ideas about education have reshaped school architecture and educational spaces.

We hope that comparing the experiences of different countries will help us not only to better understand the path travelled over the past three decades, but also to seek answers to some of the challenges facing education systems today.

The conference keynote will be delivered by Nelima Lassen, Principal of the International People’s College in Denmark. In her lecture, she will introduce the Danish folk high school (folkehøjskoler) tradition and its role in fostering active citizenship. The Danish example will offer a perspective on the questions raised at the conference from a country with a deep-rooted tradition of democratic education.

One of the highlights of the conference, demonstrating the continuing relevance of its theme, will be a screening of “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” winner of the 2026 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film. Directed by David Borenstein and Pavel Talankin, the film follows Pavel “Pasha” Talankin, who worked at a school in Russia. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Pasha documented how his school was changing: war propaganda increasingly permeated everyday school life, while students were drawn into ideologically driven “patriotic education” activities. The footage secretly recorded by Talankin became the basis for the documentary.

The conference is organized by the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania in cooperation with Vytautas Magnus University, the Faculty of Architecture at VILNIUS TECH, and the Institute of Educational Sciences at Vilnius University. The conference is also part of the programme “Friends in Need: The Year with Kingdom of Denmark,” implemented together with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark in Lithuania, the Danish Cultural Institute in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and the Danish Ministry of Culture.

The conference language is English.

For more information and the conference programme, visit: Education after Totalitarianism 

Briefly about the event 

perrašyk į dl,dt,dd ir pridėk _blank:

Date

October 1 and 2

Time

on October 1th from 8.30 a.m., on 2 – 9.30 a.m.

Place

Conference Hall, 5th floor, Room 501

Attendance

free and open to the public

Organizers and partners

the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania in cooperation with Vytautas Magnus University, the Faculty of Architecture at VILNIUS TECH, and the Institute of Educational Sciences at Vilnius University. The conference is also part of the programme “Friends in Need: The Year with Kingdom of Denmark,” implemented together with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark in Lithuania, the Danish Cultural Institute in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and the Danish Ministry of Culture

More information

https://konferencijos.lnb.lt/education-after-totalitarianism/

Important

the event may be photographed and/or filmed,
the conference will be held in English