Within the framework of the History Education and political studies, the Education Department is carrying out projects and initiatives in the following areas:
The intergovernmental programme on history teaching looks back on a long tradition as the oldest part of the activities of the Council of Europe in the field – it institutionalised the dialogue of the member states about the way history should be taught so that it could best support the values and ideals of the Organisation. It led to standard setting in the field of history teaching for the Council of Europe member States as it manifests in several recommendations, such as on “History teaching in twenty-first-century Europe”, or on “Intercultural dialogue and the image of the other in history teaching”.
The Observatory on History Teaching in Europe is an Enlarged Partial Agreement of the Council of Europe, whose mission is to promote quality education in order to enhance the understanding of democratic culture. The Observatory provides a clear picture of the state of history teaching in its member states, based on reliable data and facts on how history is taught, through general and thematic reports.
The joint project of the Council of Europe and the EU with the aim to give a boost to innovative ways of teaching history that supports democratic citizenship education in line with the values and standards of the Council of Europe, also in the light of new challenges, e.g. stemming from new technological developments. It developed a digital hub at the service of the community of history educators (academics, researchers, consultants i.a.) and organises annually the European Innovation Days in History Education.
The cross-cutting programme “Passing on the Remembrance of the Holocaust and prevention of crimes against humanity” comes within the institutional framework of the 1954 European Cultural Convention and Recommendation on passing on remembrance of the Holocaust and preventing crimes against humanity. It is a transversal programme closely connected to the founding history of the Council of Europe as a means to counter totalitarian ideologies based on hatred exclusion and discrimination after the Second World War.
The Council of Europe Schools of Political Studies were established to train future generations of young people showing potential for contributing to political, economic, social and cultural leadership in countries across Europe. With the participation of national and international experts, the Schools carry out annual series of seminars and conferences on topics such as European integration, democracy, human rights, the rule of law and globalisation.
