The activities of the Western and Northern Territories Network are focused on three main projects: a research programme, scientific residence scholarship and a mobile exhibition.

As part of the research programme running since 2016, a team of experts conducts complementary, interdisciplinary research on the past and contemporary history of Western and Northern Territories. Their results are made available to a wide audience by means of a free access online scientific journal, Rocznik Ziem Zachodnich. Each year, 24 peer-reviewed scientific articles, 32 presentations of sources, 12 reviews, discussions and expert opinions are produced as part of the research programme.

Corresponding to the conducted research, a mobile exhibition titled “Taking Root. Western and Northern Territories. The Beginning” is being prepared for 2017-2018. The aim is to present the selected aspects of the Western and Northern Territories history in the first few years after the Second World War, with a simultaneous exposition of key issues such as resettlement, familiarisation with the foreign cultural landscape, war damage, etc. The exhibition in question has to be a mobile exhibition, enabling multiple presentations (with associated assembly and disassembly), thanks to which it is planned to be presented in 11 Polish cities in 2017 (starting in October in Wrocław, then moved to Szczecin) and 2018 (Warsaw, the cities of the Network and selected cities of network voivodeships).

The research scholarship of the Western and Northern Territories Network referred to as “scientific residences”, aims at enabling foreign researchers to benefit from Polish sources and scientific achievements, thus broadening their perspectives in research on the recent history. The dissemination of knowledge about territories in question and the available source base in the international scientific circles is also a measurable benefit for the Network.

The planning and management system of the Network’s activities allows, within the framework of centralised initiatives referred to as “networking”, to activate individual institutions that co-create the Network and slowly but gradually influence the way and form of their functioning within the scope of conducting scientific research. In the longer term, this may result in internal changes and modifications in the way they operate, increasing innovation and improving the quality of achieved results.

In terms of external impact, the main objective of the Network is to prepare an interesting and coherent story about the post-war history of Western and Northern Territories, based on specialist research. The programme is addressed to a wide audience, both Polish and foreign, for whom the results of the research will be presented and made available through a wide range of tools and solutions.

At the same time, the offer of the Network is constantly expanding. The educational activities regarding the field of Western and Northern Territories is an attempt to respond to the growing interest, which is particularly visible among the inhabitants of these lands. The proposed solutions are addressed to a wide audience made up of both young and old people. They will take advantage of various solutions aimed at activating local communities, such as urban games, museum classes (both local and excursions), educational workshops and contests. Another form of activity is the Regional Chambers of Remembrance programme. The basis for the programme’s activities is the conviction that the memorabilia gathered in local Chambers of Remembrance are carriers of the memory of the past and that they are invaluable as sources and pieces of history, and as such, they should be subject to special protection. The program diagnosed problems of local chambers of remembrance, which are run by associations and other local actors. Most of these entities do not have an adequate budget and human resources to adequately safeguard Polish cultural heritage and local traditions. Thus, the main goal of the programme is to provide substantive support for the regional Chamber of Remembrance and undertake a commitment to support it in the area of storing the collections and making them available to the public.