German-Israeli Educational Cooperation in Action: Mikhail Epshteyn at the European Janusz Korczak Academy
As part of our scholarship program “Network Israel – Solidarity with Democratic Civil Society in Israel” funded by the Remembrance, Responsibility and Future Foundation (EVZ), we welcome 15 scholarship holders in different partner organisations in Germany. We also support German-Israeli educational cooperation: As part of his fellowship, which brought him to EJKA, Mikhail Epshteyn was able to initiate numerous new joint projects and take the first steps toward their implementation.
In July, Mikhail Epshteyn was a guest at the European Janusz Korczak Academy (EJKA) in Munich and Berlin, funded by a scholarship from Netzwerk Israel. The aim of his stay was to gain insights into the workings of the EJKA and to establish new partnerships for educational projects.
Mikhail is a co-founder of the Israeli non-governmental organization “Together” – Institute for Educational Initiatives, which is currently still in development.
This made the exchange with the leadership of the European Janusz Korczak Academy (EJKA) particularly valuable for him. In in-depth conversations, he was able to gain insight into the key structures and program areas of a well-established educational institution—providing crucial input for building his own organization in Israel.
The exchange with EJKA was especially fruitful because both organizations share similar thematic priorities: educational work to strengthen Jewish self-identity, as well as the development of educational programs that promote democracy, tolerance, and intercultural dialogue.
This intensive collaboration not only sparked new ideas but has already led to the first joint projects: Mikhail and his team will contribute to the AI-based project “Ask Korczak,” which aims to make the ideas and writings of the well-known Jewish-Polish educator Janusz Korczak accessible through GPT technology.
Mikhail entwickelte außerdem einen Onlinekurs zur „Pädagogik des Respekts“ – von der inhaltlichen Struktur bis hin zur Kommunikationsstrategie. Das Projekt befindet sich mittlerweile in der Umsetzung und zeigt, wie aus einem Austausch – wie dem zwischen Mikhail und EJKA – deutsch-israelische Bildungsinitiativen entstehen können.
The opportunity to network with other civil society actors, such as the J-ArtEck youth education center, Lyzeum 2, and the Schalasch Intercultural Center, has also led to many new joint project ideas and collaborations. Inspired by the J-ArtEck summer camp, the idea for the “Pedagogical Dacha” project was born, which will be created in Israel as a creative retreat and learning center for educators, teachers, and instructors.
The fellowship enabled the network to provide the framework and support needed to strengthen German-Israeli partnerships and projects.
Mikhail himself sums it up as follows: “I consider this exchange to be very enriching and productive – both for me personally and for our organization. I had the opportunity to learn in detail about how non-profit organizations work, to share my experiences with colleagues, and to present our own approaches. Concrete implementation steps have already been developed for some projects”.
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