What part do EUSTORY Activities play in the commemoration culture of different countries? What real-world experiences do network members gain with their respective competitions? Where can cross-border synergies be developed, and what do current developments mean for the history competition yet to come? Moreover, national competition organisers also make use of the meetings to exchange information about new developments in school and extracurricular education. For example, they deliberate on challenges such as inclusion, digitalisation, or possible funding for civic history activities in Europe.
Since the host countries rotate, the meetings also offer intensive insights into the specifics of recollection and federal commemoration in different European places. On site, participants consider different approaches in dealing with difficult backgrounds such as the legacies of dictatorships, imperialism, or colonialism.
The meetings are organised and conducted by Körber-Stiftung in close contact with the respective host country. During the pandemic, the exchange took place in alternating digital formats.
What our network meetings focused on
Read the key take aways!
Beyond Bias – Teaching History in a Polarised World
How can we teach history and critical thinking in an increasingly polarised world? Some answers from the EUSTORY Annual Network Meeting 2025 in Oslo .
“Being tolerant is and should be hard”
How to deal with violence? Insights from Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and keyfigure in re-building the island of Utøya after the terror attack in 2011.
“War and Dreams”– Children’s Drawings from Ukraine
How do children see the war in Ukraine? This is the subject of the digital exhibition “War and Dreams” showing drawings by Ukrainian schoolchildren.
History in a Polarised World
Participants of the 2024 Annual Network Meeting in Moldova discussed the current Europe-wide challenges such as disinformation, the war against Ukraine and AI.
“Ingenuity, Courage, Humanity”
In his 2023 speech, Petro Kendzor, initiator of the Ukrainian History Competition, shares his thoughts on the war in Ukraine and its impact on the Ukrainian, Russian and European societies.
History at Stake? Old and New Challenges
Existing challenges for educational work such as populism and the consequences of migration as well as recent challenges resulting from the war in Ukraine made this 2023 Annual Network Meeting in Poland a very intensive one.
24 February 2022: A Historic Turning Point for Europe?
Since the Russian military attack on Ukraine in 2022, the relevance of history and its (mis-)use in contemporary politics has become more apparent than ever. Ukrainian political scientist Tatiana Zhurzhenko spoke about war and memory in the post-Soviet space.
War and Memory in the Post-Soviet Space: Arming without Borders?
How is the current Russian military assault on Ukraine accompanied by a "war of memory"? Tatiana Zhurzhenko, Ukrainian expert on the politics of history, deconstructs elements of Russian propaganda.
Postcolonialism
During this first virtual annual meeting in 2021, EUSTORY competition organisers focused on (post)colonial monuments that polarise.
La Transición and Its Legacies in Spain and Beyond
„La Transición", the years leading up to the stable restoration of democracy in Spain at the beginning of the 1980s, was the topic of the 2020 Annual Network Meeting in Málaga.