Second Belgrade History Teaching Symposium

The second edition of the Belgrade History Education Symposium “History and memory culture for Europe: 60 years of Franco-German co-operation” began at the French Embassy on Thursday, 23 March 2023.

The first day of the symposium was dedicated to the Franco-German relations and other European questions and concluded with the panel “Franco-German friendship as inspiration for Europe and the Balkans” at the Goethe Institute . H.E. Ms Anke Konrad, Ambassador of Germany, H.E. Mr Pierre Cochard, Ambassador of France, H.E. Mr Rafał Perl, Ambassador of Poland and H.E. Mr Urs Schmid, Ambassador of Switzerland  gave introductory remarks.

The guiding question of the symposium were the role of history education in post-conflict settings as a potential agent in the process of building peace and European unity. Another important aspect of history teaching is enhancing education for democracy, diversity, and respect of human rights in inclusive and dynamic societies of the 21st century that face various societal and political challenges.

Participants of the second edition of the Belgrade History Education symposium were  discussing the 60 years of Franco-German co-operation as a contribution to European unity and identify to what degree it can be an inspiration for multilateral cultural co-operation in South-Eastern Europe.

 

 

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Monument(al) Challenges

School classrooms across Europe are continuing to become more and more diverse. At the same time, controversies over contested historical legacies in public spaces across the world have increasingly led to contestations  over cultural heritage and conflicts over the interpretation of national histories. The new EuroClio project Monument(al) Challenges,  aims to respond to some of the challenges faced by educators across Europe in teaching history. Specifically, we aim to address teachers’ requirements for resources and training materials which equip them with the skills for discussing sensitive and complex histories, including colonialism and slavery, in their classrooms.

BELGRADE ADVENTURE

The project has been conducted by teachers and their students who research cultural heritage of Belgrade by the themes in order present the layers of multicultural cultural heritage of Belgrade. Special focus has been given to the Jewish heritage of Belgrade ( severely destroyed during the WWII), Ottoman heritage (vanished during the 19th Century), and other contested heritage sites such as Memorials (monuments and cemeteries and places of collective or individual torment) and public spaces which instigate controversial discussion. The project resulted in a website and an app uploaded in Google Play Store .

 

The Ratiu Forum History Programme

The Programme took place from 10th to 12th February 2023, at the Ratiu Centre for Democracy in Turda, consisting of two days of in-person sessions. It brought together experts from the Balkan region to share experiences on how best to tackle the issue of low historical content and to advise on how to approach problematic historical events. Participants from Romania had the opportunity to attend workshops led by John Lotherington, director of the 21st Century Trust in London, as well as by a number of other prominent institutions, including the London School of Economics, the University of Belgrade, and Education for the 21st Century.

Cultural heritage education in Serbia

Cultural heritage education in Serbia was the topic of the conference that was organised by Education for the 21st Century, as a part of the European Heritage Days, on September 9th and 10th at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade. The conference participants were teachers from Serbia, and the event was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, the Office of the Council of Europe in Belgrade, the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, the Institute for the Advancement of Education and the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Belgrade.

Second annual Forum for History Education 

The 2nd Annual Forum of the Council of Europe (CoE) on History Education took place in Brussels on March 7 – 8, 2023. Organised by the CoE Education department, and co-hosted jointly by the respective Ministries of Education of the Dutch Language Community and the French Language Community of Belgium, it brought together over 70 participants keen to learn and discuss the challenges and opportunities that the digital age poses on history education. Teachers and educators, NGO representatives together with Education for the 21. Century representatives, policymakers, and government officials had the opportunity to network and discuss common issues among their different backgrounds.

Remembering Hilda Dajč Foundation

On 8.05. University Library  Svetozar Markovic hosted a ceremony marking two dates: 80 years since the young student and volunteer Hilda Dajc died in the Staro Sajmiste concentration camp, and 100 years since her birth. On that occasion, the "Memory of Hilda Dajc" award was given in two categories: the youth award for civic responsibility and social awareness was given to the Center for Youth Integration for the programme "Drop in shelter.
The award for exceptional contribution to the culture of memory was given to the Historical Archive of Belgrade for its work on the Jewish digital collection.

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