New and Stronger History Competitions for Eastern Europe
Representatives from Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine gathered in Hamburg for a workshop to discuss the initiation and strengthening of history competitions in their respective countries. Between May 2017 and December 2018 they want to organise and host competition rounds for school and university students.
Local NGOs and experts that have long been involved in historical-political education will establish dependable structures for historical research competitions in four Eastern European countries. In Ukraine, history competitions have been implemented in partnership with EUSTORY for the last 20 years. In Georgia, the history teacher association GAHE and SovLab, an organisation involved with the Georgian commemorative culture, will cooperate to initiate a research competition. The Moldovan participation in the project is led by the association of junior historians ANTIM. Representatives of Historica and the Oral History Archive travelled to Hamburg to share ideas for the initiation of a Belarussian history competition.
The joint workshop of all participating organisations was hosted by the Körber Foundation. The EUSTORY International Office contributed their expertise in conceptualizing and day-to-day running of history competitions, suitable support structures for participants and tutors, and the judging and assessment of contributions. The collaboration of organisations from different backgrounds led to fruitful discussions, and the organisers had time to plan the next steps for their competitions that are due to start at the end of 2017.
The workshop marked the beginning of a cooperation project between the association of International German Adult Education Centres, DVVI, and the Körber Foundation. It aims at strengthening local structures for historical-political education and is supported with funds from the German Office for Foreign Affairs.