Congress on Minorities

Dear Sir/Madam,

In 2025, Poland celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Act of January 6, 2005, on National and Ethnic Minorities and on the Regional Language.

The implementation of this law is of key importance for the cultural and ethnic diversity of Polish society, especially for our region.

Therefore, we have undertaken the organization of an international scientific conference to summarize the 20 years of the Act’s implementation and to outline perspectives for further enforcing laws supporting national, ethnic, and cultural diversity in our country.

We have titled the conference the „Congress on Minorities”, recognizing the need to bring together researchers, experts, and practitioners in the field of national and ethnic minorities, as well as representatives of these communities.

The Congress will take place on September 23-24, 2025, in Opole.

This event is being organized by a team of institutions and non-governmental organizations, including: the University of Opole, the Opole Voivodeship Government, the Opole Voivode, the Silesian Institute, the House of Polish-German Cooperation, and the German Minority Research Centre Studies. We have also invited the European Centre for Minority Issues in Flensburg to collaborate.

Our goal is for the Congress to become a platform for international discussion on the problems and challenges of national, ethnic, and linguistic minorities, as well as an opportunity to establish contacts and foster cooperation.

We cordially invite you to participate in the Congress, either as a speaker or a listener. Registration is possible via the registration Form.

Registration deadlines are in the section below.

Based on the submitted applications, a program will be developed that will structure the topics within the following forums:

1. The Socio-Civic Forum – a meeting and discussion platform for minority organizations, politicians, and officials responsible for implementing state tasks related to minorities.
2. The Public Administration Forum – a platform for exchanging knowledge and experiences among public bodies carrying out tasks related to national and ethnic minorities.
3. The Scientific Forum – a space for researchers to debate the issue of minorities as both a subject and an object of state and European Union policies.

At the same time, we have made efforts to provide active conference participants with accommodation, meals, and reimbursement of travel expenses.

We look forward to your participation!

1. Marek Mazurkiewicz, University of Opole
2. Norbert Rasch, Marshal’s Office of the Opole Voivodeship
3. Lucjan Dzumla, House of Polish-German Cooperation
4. Michał Matheja, German Minority Research Centre

• Opole University, Institute of Political Science and Administration
• Self-Governemnt of the Opolskie Voivodeship
• Opolskie Voivode
• European Centre for Minority Issues
• Silesian Institute
• House for Polish-German Cooperation
• German Minority Research Center

Active participation (speaker):

• Until May 15, 2025 – submission of proposals for thematic sections and presentations
• Until May 30, 2025 – notification regarding the acceptance of thematic groups and presentation proposals
• Until June 15, 2025 – information about the Congress program

Passive participation (listener):

• Until September 19, 2025

Registration is open until the end of April 2025.

Registration Form >>>

Planned programme >>>

Details for Mrs. Agnieszka Roczek agnieszka.roczek@uni.opole.pl