EUSTORY Annual Network Meeting in Denmark in Cooperation with EUROCLIO
From 19-22 April 2015 organisers of EUSTORY history competitions from 25 European countries will gather in Helsingør in Denmark for the EUSTORY Annual Network Meeting. The meeting will be held in partnership with EUROCLIO, the European Association of History Teachers. It will be linked to the EUROCLIO Annual Conference that explores possible “Roads to Democracy” and the role that history, history teaching, democratisation and citizenship play in paving the way towards open, democratic societies in Europe.
In 2015, democracy seems to be a flag that is waved everywhere in Europe, yet looking at the recent developements, it seems that history has not ended. European societies express low levels of trust in political systems and public bodies, populism and xenophobia are on the rise, small and large acts of violence increase across Europe, motivated by intolerance against “the other”. All these developments challenge social cohesion and the European integration as such. But they also raise questions for history and citizenship educators as well as civil society organisations active in the historical-political field, such as EUSTORY, EUROCLIO and its member organisations.
“Open societies – emerging from a conflicting past?” will, therefore, be the guiding question of the core panel debate at the joint EUSTORY and EUROCLIO annual conference. What is the role of educators and NGOs in sustaining peaceful societies in Europe on the basis of the conflicting past? What is the role of politics and media in communicating diversity, tolerance and active citizenship? Which methods are appropriate in history teaching and historical learning in order to strengthen awareness among European youth for critical thinking, tolerance, human rights, multiculturalism and active citizenship? How can Europeans avoid the ongoing debate about “us” and “them” to lead them into a vicious circle of populism and xenophobia reminiscent of Europe´s dark past?
Jens Dalsgaard, Secretary-General of the Danish National Commission for UNESCO, Ioannis Dimitrakopoulos of the European Union's Agency for Fundamental Rights and Maria Ecker, historian and author of teaching materials at the Austrian online history platform erinnern.at will be discussing these issues linked to the concept of open societies. The debate will be moderated by Jonathan Even-Zohar, Director of EUROCLIO, and Gabriele Woidelko, Spokesperson of the EUSTORY Steering Committee.
Apart from dealing with the political dimension of their work, EUSTORY competition organisers will, during the Annual Network Meeting, also discuss pedagogical questions such as evaluation criteria and the assessment process within the EUSTORY member competitions, international History Camps for prize winners and new approaches of EUSTORY competitions when it comes to extending target groups and establishing additional networks in order to increase the outreach.