Report on 18th GASi Symposium, Belgrade 23-27 August 2023

When Divided Worlds Meet: Confluences of Identity, Culture, Continuity and Change

Dealing with uncertainty was our main preoccupation from the very beginning. Preparations for the Symposium started in February 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, just after vaccination efforts started on a global scale. Circumstances at the time led us to believe we’ll be hosting a hybrid or a fully online event similar to Barcelona, without any clue of how would people even be able to come to Serbia for an in-person event. Testing all participants, providing indoor masks and obligations as organisers to ensure recommended infection control practices were some of the thoughts at the time, further intensified with borders being shut down. If that wasn’t enough, war became a part of our lives again.

Symposium Management Committee (Linde Wotton, Ivanka Dunjić, Hicham Jabrane, Peter Zelaskowski, Jasmina Stojković Pavlović, Milijana Niškanović, Bojana Mitrović, chaired by David Glyn and TIja Despotović) met once a month online and twice in Belgrade (February 2022 and June 2023 with the Scientific Committee) – the first was on the day of Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the second was Yevgeny Prigozhin sent an armoured convoy toward Moscow. As the war went on, prices soared every few months, putting significant pressure on the organising committee.

Guided by our previous experience with organising the EFPP Conference with 330 participants back in 2018 between ourselves and the help of only a few additional personnel, our suggestion to prepare this symposium with our own resources and experience was met with some skepticism. We wanted to make sure everything was according to the standards we deemed applicable. This suggestion was accepted, and Bojana Mitrović was the Chair of the Local Organising Committee, and the person who we should recognize as the MVP of this symposium. We certainly felt that at the farewell.

The context of Russian invasion of Ukraine brought political conotation to the organisation of the Symposium and so called neutral position of Serbia was experienced by many on the West as choosing the side of Russia, so we received a few reactions from people who refused to come to Serbia for political reasons. Beside Ukraine, we received similar reactions because of Serbia’s attitude towards the problem of Kosovo, or because of anxiety about the position of LGBT population in Serbia or ecological reasons.

 As the COVID-19 pandemic started to fade, but the war between Russia and Ukraine only getting more intense, there was a sense of global uncertainty and a division of worlds, perhaps more than ever. But the two societies, GASI and GASB, were determined to organise the Symposium.  After 30 years of Group Analysis development in Serbia, a unique opportunity presented itself, for which we were very enthusiastic.

The Symposium theme emerged from a desire to understand the present moment at all elvels of group and social functiontioning, and to include perspectives of different (geographical) areas where we live, in which opposing forces collide and form identities, cultures, and lead to change. The confluence of Sava and Danube rivers that shape Belgrade served as a metaphor and a symbol of divided worlds that meet in one place.

Each international event that we organized, however, was coloured with our feelings from our past, further plagued by recent events. Grief, mourning, guilt, and responsibility for everything that happened during the desintegration of Yugoslavia was only amplified a few months before the Symposium. In May, just a few months before the Symposium, the first school shooting in Serbia occurred. In one of Belgrade’s most renown schools, a 13-year old boy killed 9 of his classmated and a school guard, wounding several more in the process. A series of protests against the government ensued, in a society already filled with rage about our unresolved situation as a nation. As organisers, we were in a complex emotional matrix with a lot of anxiety about the safety of people coming to the Symposium, realising they might have a sense of fear coming here. In spite of all of these events, we believed that with the heritage of this region, we were capable to gather people from all over the world, in spite of many geographical, political and economical obstacles.

Finding the main venue was relatively easy, and we signed a contract with the Kolarac Endowment in Autumn of 2021. We wanted to avoid hosting the Symposium in a hotel or a formal conference setting, and wanted a space with history and a special atmosphere. The challenge, however, was finding a venue for the Large Group. After visiting dozens of sites in the vicinity with no success, including the house of the Army that would be to conflicting for the participants (and, as it turns out, for the hosts as well), it took us a year and a half to confirm the large group venue – Dorćol Platz. The main challenge was not knowing how many in-person participants would show up.

When it became clear that the Symposium will be live, we took the task of ensuring colleagues from all over the world would be able to attend, especially from lower-income countries and associated costs. On the other hand, we hoped that our geographical location and relatively relaxed entry requirements would bring more participants from the East – China, India, and Eastern Europe. We were fortunate that was the case. In total, we had 412 in-person participants and 58 online participants from over 40 countries.

The bursary committee aimed to support as many participants as possible. In total, 48 in-person participants and 6 online participants received a bursary. We feel gratitude  toward the Bursary Committee: Peteru Zeleskovskom, Milijana Niškanović, Zoe Voyatzaki, Jasmina Stojković Pavlović, Shama Parkhe who did huge work and all donors who participated the appeal for donations especially to Jane Abercrombie Fund who generously helped.

Registration followed the usual lower/higher fee selection – 40% of in person participants chose higher fees compared to 60% participants who chose lower fees. Given that there was a 10% discount on groups of 10 or more individuals, 9 groups with 10 participants received the discount. The majority of group-registered participants chose lower fees (88%). For online participants, 35% of them chose higher fees.

Ensuring a smooth hybrid component of the symposium was technically demanding. A separate payment system for participants with the bursary, along with an application form, was separately built, along with a system for abstract submissions and evaluations, as well as correspondence with authors; a system for applying for experiential group conductors and social dreaming hosts. The biggest task, however, was the mobile application with the whole program and the session booking system, given the GASIs strong desire for the Symposium to be paper-free.

All of these systems have improved the quality of the process behind the abstract submission process and bursary selection – but they required a significant investment and time and resources that were not initially considered in the budget. Most of them are the legacy of this Symposium to the future ones because they can be applied in future with some additions.

All of the mentioned tasks were led by Stefan Trbojević, who could be considered alongside Bojana as the most important member of the Organising team. We owe him a great deal of gratitude, with his son being born just one month before the Symposium.

During the preparation, executing the hybrid scientific and experiential program was thoroughly considered. In addition to plenary lectures held at the main hall, the decision was to provide access to five rooms where scientific sessions were held at the venue for online participants. Given a very small number of online participants at this Symposium, we advise future organisers to carefuly evaluate investing in such capabilities, carrying a significant financial impact.

The Symposium itself, based on our impression, was a great experience for participants. Our choices for the main and large group venue seems to have worked out well, even with the need for bus transportation that we considered a great risk. Incredibly high temperatures in the days of the Symposium contributed to an already intense atmosphere from emotional and intellectual exhanges on discussed topics, as if the heat was a form of their reflection. Considering the conditions and despite all efforts from the organisers, some rooms were not appopriately cooled.

Our volunteers deserve a special mention – with more than 30 undergraduate or postgraduate studies of medicine and psychology, these young and endlessly enthusiastic people were helpful beyond what I can comprehend. The proceeds that were collected for them were used to host a dinner for them, where we issued certificates of gratitude to each of them and had a great time recounting their experience at the symposium. It seems that this experience added some inspiration and changed their lives, and it is something we are particularly proud of.

The plenary lectures, as well as scientific and experiential sessions, seemed to have incrementally created a space that allowed us to learn from each other, get to know each other, and relinquish any preconcieved notions of each other. Divisions became more visible, some being manifested, but reparatory processes were also recognizable. The challenge of living in a diverse worlds was heard in one of the participants at the Large Group, stating that he feels greater pain from his fellow countrymen suffering then from suffering of others. Changes on many levels occurred, in my impression – one I noticed occured in the Large Group where despite the repeated insistence on victims vs. perpetrator status, we heard strong voices of need to acknowledge both positions in ourselves. I noticed that the prejudice of many people who came to Serbia transformed into a genuine interest for our history and culture.

Financially, we finished 18^th GASi Symposium with a small surplus.

I will end with gratitude to all people who contributed to this Symposium and ensuring its success, to whom I say a big “thank you” – I was grateful to have been a part of the team.

I would like to express my pleasure working with David Glyn, Ivanka Dunjic, Linde Wotton, Bojana Mitrović. Our relationship was based on trust and equality. It was pleasure to work with Peter Zelaskowski and Hicham Jabrane. No less is gratitude to cooperate with members of the  Scientific Committee: Pieter Hutz, Taras Levin, Jelica Satarić, Marit Joffe Milstein, Marina Mojović, Jasmina Knežević Tasić, Alice Mulasso, Danilo Pešić, Vladislava Stamos, Snežana Kecojević Miljević; with the  members of the  Bursary Committee: Chair Peter Zelaskowski; Milijana Niskanović, Shama Parkhe, Zoe Voyatzaki, Jasmina Stojković; Volunteers;GASI MC Members who also contributed Viv Harte, Werner Knauss, Carla Penna, Francesca Bascialla, Julia Borosa, Julia Porturas, Renate Hodenberg, ex treasurer, Janaki Hemaratne, and the Local Organising Committee: Milijana Niskanović, Jasmina Stojković Pavlović, Aleksandra Džambić, Miona Prokić, Nevena Jelić, Maja Lyon;  Local Conference Organisers: Sofija Marjanović, Ametid, Branding & Design, Stefan Trbojević, IT,George Pavlovic, PPS Financial Consultant, Uros Radulović, Event Organiser, Alex Despotović, Voluntary Consultant.

Special gratitude to all participants, presenters, Small, Median and Large Group Conductors, Conductors of the Social dreaming, we did this Symposium together.

• Hybrid event with 412 in-person participants and 58 online participants
• Participants were from 40 countries