“One thing that the Fellowship gave me is the confidence of stepping into a new group with trust, knowing that beautiful thoughts and friendships will come out of it and that you form the best thoughts together with other people.”
Zaza van de Koppel, 2022 European Fellowship in Berlin and Amsterdam
The Berlin Fellowship
Overview
The Humanity in Action journey begins with a rich summer experience of inquiry, debate, and community building rooted in trust and empathy.
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Photo: ©Sharon Nathan, 2022 European Fellow
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Accepting Applicants from:
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Denmark
- Germany
- The Netherlands
- USA
- ______
- Applications are now closed for 2025 Fellowships. Sign up to be notified when applications open for 2026:
July 7 – 22, 2025 | In-Person Fellowship | Post-Migrant Perspectives on Germany as an Einwanderungsland
In 2025, our Berlin Fellowship will focus on Germany as a post-migrant society, examining historical insights and contemporary strategies for inclusion and belonging.
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Photo: ©Sharon Nathan, 2022 European Fellow
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By bridging past and present, the program underscores Germany’s lively discussed evolution as an „Einwanderungsland“: Despite decades of migration shaping the country, significant resistance persists against acknowledging this reality.
Amid global migration and sovereignty debates, fostering inclusive communities and protecting individual and collective rights is more urgent than ever. As Germany navigates policy changes, the Fellowship will explore migration dynamics, questions of citizenship and statelessness, belonging and identity.
How do historical interpretations of migration shape responses to anti-immigrant sentiments and newcomer integration? How can we foster belonging in diverse societies while combating discrimination? What does a lived commitment to democracy, human rights, and pluralism mean in Germany’s current climate? And which strategies and good practice can our fellows take out of this to enrich their own communities and create positive change?
Berlin, with its history of division and reunification, offers a compelling setting to explore these questions. As a city shaped by migration—both forced and voluntary—it provides a valuable framework for understanding the complexity of migration, identity and belonging.
Taking place in summer of 2025, just after Germany’s new government takes office, the Fellowship offers a timely platform to examine evolving migration policies, integration, and democratic resilience. The fellowship adopts an interdisciplinary approach that enables a comprehensive understanding of migration’s complex dynamics, bridging macro-level structural analyses with individual human experiences and lived realities.
Peer learning will be central, with fellows from the U.S., Germany, Denmark, Bosnia, and the Netherlands contributing diverse perspectives throughout the Global North. This exchange fosters mutual learning and highlights interconnected migration narratives.
Beyond knowledge, the Fellowship empowers young people to drive change within their existing resources and contexts. Participants act as multipliers, using their insights to shape their own societies. The program cultivates fellows as leaders, ensuring their Berlin experiences translate into impactful engagement in their communities.
What to expect?
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Photo: Courtesy of EVZ Foundation, 2022 European Fellowship Fellows
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18 Fellows from different countries will gather in Berlin for an intensive 2.5 week educational program. Past Fellows have described it as a challenging and rewarding journey of personal and collective growth, meaningful connections, and collaboration across difference.
The daily program consists of guest lectures and workshops, site visits to memorials and museums, group discussions, reflections, and community building. You will get the opportunity to learn from eyewitnesses, alumni, activists, decision-makers, scholars, and your peers. The in-person program is a full-time commitment with some obligatory program on the weekends.
After the in-person program, you will be assisted by Humanity in Action’s staff to help you develop your Action Project and give back to your community.
The Structure
- Travel to Berlin | July 6, 2025
- The Berlin Fellowship | July 7 – 22, 2025 (in-person in Berlin, Germany)
18 Fellows will gather in Berlin for a daily full-time program, to learn from local experts, community members, and each other. There is some obligatory programming on the weekends. - Action Projects | September 2025 – December 2025 (virtual)
From September 2025 to December 2025, Fellows work on their independent Action Project.
Photo: ©Sharon Nathan, 2022 European Fellow
Recent Fellowship Speakers
Every day, Berlin Fellows meet and discuss with established activists, artists, community members, and policymakers with diverse perspectives on social justice and human rights.
After the month in Berlin, Fellows run impactful Action Projects in their own communities.
For 5 months following their time in Berlin, Fellows work on their Action Project: an independent social justice venture in their own communities. Action Projects are as diverse as Humanity in Action Fellows. Fellows apply their new knowledge and perspectives to the communities they impact—in whatever format they find meaningful. Examples of past Action Projects include film documentaries, art shows, community events, and social awareness campaigns.
Senior Fellows of the Berlin Fellowship
Will Germans be able to integrate into this society? Check out our past campaign here.
Our Supporters for the Berlin Fellowship 2025
We thank the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation, the Deutsche Postcode Lotterie, and individual donors (Stefanie Busold) for their generous support.
Checkpoint Charlie Foundation
Stefanie Busold
Our Fellowship Supporters in the past included
We thank our supporters and partners, hosts, Senior Fellows and friends of Humanity in Action. Your contributions helped to prepare outstanding students for a lifelong commitment to civic responsibility and social justice.
Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung
Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future"
Project of the Education Agenda NS-Injustice | 2022 European Fellowship in Berlin and Amsterdam
Ursula Lachnit-Fixson Stiftung
Become a Fellow
Every year, new Humanity in Action Fellows come together in five cities across Europe and the United States to study how and why people confront intolerance and protect democratic values.
