‘People are like birds: once set free, they never forget how to fly.’ On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the August Agreements, the European Solidarity Centre has established a special badge. It is intended to honour people who are ‘exceptionally committed to the defence of human rights, not only in the civic sphere, but also in the fields of culture, science and education’. The Solidarity and Human Rights Awards were presented for the first time at the ESC headquarters during the 11th International Forum ‘Europe with a View to the Future’. Parliament of Words on June 3, 2025. Among the first honourees is a researcher from the Institute of Sociology at the University of Gdańsk, dr Anna Strzałkowska.

As Basil Kerski, director of the European Solidarity Centre, said, the idea for the award was born ‘from the heart’ in 2024, on the 10th anniversary of the opening of the exhibition at the ESC. The award was intended to honour people who bear witness to values important to the European Solidarity Centre. The first awards were presented at the ESC permanent exhibition, against the backdrop of an installation featuring the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

‘The ESC has something very important written into its mission: we stand on the side of solidarity, which applies to everyone. If one person is excluded from this solidarity, it is no longer solidarity,’ emphasised Basil Kerski. He added that the award is intended to recognise the women and men who have made history at the ESC over the past 10 years. ‘This story is not over. We are defending our democracy, we are defending the logic of something that is not so beautiful in the fast-paced times of TikTok: compromise, tedious dialogue, parliamentarianism and peace.’

This year, the ESC Solidarity and Human Rights Award was presented to 12 people. One of them is dr Anna Strzałkowska, a psychologist and sociologist, social researcher, academic lecturer at the Institute of Sociology of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Gdańsk, and author of books and publications on social inclusion. Dr Anna Strzałkowska is an expert in equal treatment, social participation and urban policy-making. Her activities for the community include founding the LGBT+ association Tolerado and the Rainbow Families Foundation. The Mayor of Gdańsk, Paweł Adamowicz, entrusted her with the task of designing Poland's first equality policy, the Gdańsk Model for Equal Treatment (1st edition, June 2025).

‘We would like to thank Anna Strzałkowska for continuing to teach us what equal treatment is and what it is not. Thank you for warning us that “the same for everyone” is not equality, but a deepening of differences. Finally, thank you for continuing to teach us to understand the concepts of inclusive language, universal design and the creation of a city of human rights, i.e. one that excludes no one from the community,’ emphasised the laudation.

‘People are like birds that, once released into the wild, never forget how to fly. And we have this thanks to Solidarity, thanks to the heroes and heroines of Solidarity, but also thanks to Paweł Adamowicz, our president,’ said dr Anna Strzałkowska when accepting the award. ‘Thank you for teaching us to fly here in Gdańsk, and we will never forget how to fly in Gdańsk, the city of Paweł Adamowicz.’

Alongside dr Anna Strzałkowska, the ESC Solidarity and Human Rights Award was presented to:

• Paweł Adamowicz (posthumously; the award was accepted by the mayor's wife, Magdalena Adamowicz),
• Danuta Wałęsa,
• Lech Wałęsa,
• Bogdan Borusewicz,
• Samuel Chu,
• Anna Dąbrowska,
• Henryka Krzywonos-Strycharska,
• Bogdan Lis,
• Adam Michnik,
• Adam Reichardt,
• Iwona Reichardt,
• Jakub Wygnański.