The “HumanBE – Two Hours for Family/For Humans” campaign was launched in 2012 by Humanites Institute – Human&Technology in response to global challenges such as the loneliness epidemic and the crisis in relationships, which have intensified due to the pandemic and the development of new technologies.

The goal of the HumanBE campaign is to deepen intergenerational family ties and strengthen interpersonal relationships. In the face of increasing loneliness and the rapid development of technologies, which often lead to isolation and alienation rather than bringing people closer together, we emphasize the importance of authentic connections with others. Whether these connections involve family, friendship, or a circle of co-workers, closeness is the foundation of our emotional and social well-being. “Two Hours” has a symbolic meaning – it can be an impulse for reflection, a break from the daily routine, deepening our relationships with loved ones, and better understanding and understanding our colleagues.

Emotional health is one of the pillars of building human capital, a key element of a good, everyday life, but also of developing an innovative economy based on the ability to collaborate.

MOTTO 2026

Every year, we announce a competition to design the motto for the next edition of our campaign. For 2026, from over 2,000 (!) entries submitted by contest participants, we selected the motto by Piotr Kuźmicz.

This year, we want to cultivate culture with you!

The creators of high culture, as they themselves say through the mouths of their characters (from Konrad in “Forefathers’ Eve” to Adaś Miauczyński in “Dzień Świra”), are at the forefront of great social change. But that’s not all we owe them: they also create the foundations of culture itself, giving us something to talk about. Because that’s what culture is all about: relationships.

Its status is very interesting. It belongs strictly to humanity. It can be defined, but cultural studies advise against it: unless someone wants to spend the rest of their life creating a coherent and comprehensive definition. Culture – perhaps only a human could have created such a capricious concept! This year, it occupies a prominent place in the motto of our campaign. Because we, as the Humanites Institute, strive to ensure that humanity doesn’t lose its humanity in a world of rapid technological development, everything human, to quote a classic, is not alien to us. Culture has always been with us: in recent years, our mottos have referenced film, music, sports, cuisine, and relationships with our pets. It’s all culture, of course! Now it’s time for culture without these distinctions. Culture itself.

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A Conversation in an Art Gallery

The distinguished Polish sociologist Antonina Kłoskowska, in her book “The Sociology of Culture,” collected and analyzed several hundred definitions of the word “culture.” For our purposes, however, the common understanding of this category will suffice, encompassing all artistic creation and its results, as well as rituals, religious beliefs, and secular customs. Like echolocation in dolphins or the giant trunk of an elephant, advanced, complex, and intricate culture is what distinguishes us from other species. It’s thanks to it that theaters, chocolate factories, Łowicz embroidery, and heavy metal bands exist. And what’s especially important for us – without interpersonal relationships, there is no culture!

Even considering the extreme case of a misanthropic artist creating his life’s work in solitude – if that work doesn’t resonate with audiences, it’s as if it didn’t exist. So we need relationships, a group of people for whom a meeting under a painting in an art gallery will become a pretext for an important, perhaps even life-changing exchange. And that’s precisely what we want – to ensure that in a world saturated with artificial intelligence, important conversations in art galleries, cafes, or around the family table don’t get lost.

Everything else aside, participating in culture is simply… healthy. Research by scientists from the German Socioeconomic Panel demonstrates that attending a cultural event at least once a month improves comprehensively measured psychosocial health compared to less frequent participation in such events.

Cultivating Plants, Cultivating the Soul

Because culture is also a space on the other end of the spectrum from the lonely artist-misanthrope. It’s a grandmother baking a cake with her granddaughter, while mom, dad, and grandpa set the table for guests to arrive, celebrating their grandson’s birthday. Soon, everyone will gather around the table to celebrate this symbolic day, like so many generations before them.

It’s your mother’s vegetable garden, which you sometimes help her weed – a reminder of the fact that during the Great Neolithic Revolution, 15,000-20,000 years ago, people discovered they could grow their own crops, freeing themselves from the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Culture is a brilliant novel or a silly TV series whose characters you connect with and talk about with excitement to your friends.

Moreover, once upon a time, culture meant nothing more than the cultivation of plants. It was Cicero who first used it in its more contemporary meaning – cultura animi, or from Latin, cultivation of the soul, or mind.

I Want to cultivate culture with you!

Developing culture together has profound meaning, as evidenced by numerous qualitative and quantitative studies conducted for the National Centre for Culture’s 2021 publication “Taming Variability: Local Culture from the Perspective of Cultural Centers.” Interviewed by researchers, directors of cultural centers admitted that collaborative activities build community and integrate diverse social groups, and, along with artistic activism, also stimulate civic engagement. Most of them collaborate with local governments, the third sector, schools, and even parishes, networking and strengthening the social fabric.

Today, we want to remind everyone that before we all barricade ourselves alone in guarded villas, interacting only with AI-powered personal assistants, it’s worth pausing. Look left and right. Notice a neighbor, a friend, a parent, a stranger. Remind ourselves that cultura animi is not possible in a relational vacuum.hcę uprawiać z Tobą kulturę!

Culture Matters: Workplace Culture

A key concept for us in the context of culture is “workplace culture.” Today’s culture, after the COVID-19 pandemic, is more fragmented than ever. Remote work tools have made many tasks much easier, but at the same time, they’ve made building community more difficult. Without sacrificing what we’ve gained thanks to exponential technological growth, let’s remember that we are human. What can we do to improve workplace culture through culture? We have some inspiration for you:

1. Empty your magazines of old advertising or informational materials and play upcycling – give them new life, make collages out of them! About your mission and vision, your values, or simply – your team.
2. Paint a picture together. We swear – all you need are crayons, paints, markers, and paper, and a group of serious managers will instantly transform into a group of amateur artists. Theme? As above! Make it a shared creation, frame it, and hang it in the break room.
3. A company app with upcoming cultural events in the area? Art gallery vouchers as prizes and gifts? Why not!
4. Go to a theater performance with all your departments. Has anyone ever been? Even better – gaining new experiences is incredibly valuable!

Let’s cultivate culture together! We’ll be encouraging you to do just that throughout the fourteenth edition of HumanBE – Two Hours for Family | for Humans.