Back Reinforcing historical awareness and culture through higher education: threats and challenges

Oana GAILLARD

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The 3rd Forum of the Intergovernmental programme on history education takes place between 15 and 17 May 2024 within the premises of the University of Bologna, official partner of the event.

Reinforcing historical awareness and culture through higher education: threats and challenges

What is the role of higher education in teaching history? How can the misuse of history be tackled at this defining moment in young Europeans’ education? And what should be the role of historians in today's increasingly public and sensitive debates around history?

Council of Europe’s Forums for History Education provide a platform for relevant ministries’ representatives, other public authorities, teachers, curriculum developers, academics, researchers, and civil society representatives to exchange their perspectives and practices in history education and collaboratively develop guidelines for improving history education. They are part of the decades-long Intergovernmental programme on history education of the Council of Europe*, currently in its sixth edition entitled “Educating for diversity and democracy: teaching history in contemporary Europe”.

The Third Forum on History Education commits to tackle the topic of "Reinforcing historical awareness and culture through higher education: threats and challenges” with a particular focus to three key aspects:

The role of higher education in history education and research for democratic societies
The identities, roles, and responsibilities of historians within higher education
The value of historical culture for society: the role of higher education

Agenda

*Council of Europe’s attention to history education began as early as its creation in 1949 with a large number of activities, standards and resources proposed over the years. Whilst intergovernmental co-operation on history teaching emerged in the Council of Europe as soon as 1953, it was with Recommendation 1283 (1996) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on "History and the learning of history in Europe" that intergovernmental projects with specific missions and objectives were launched.

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Conference Bologna, Italy 16 April 2024

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History Education and the Council of Europe

The Council of Europe's work on history education is founded on the assumption that understanding the past is essential for building a shared future, for fostering European democracies and for strengthening active democratic citizenship. Our vision and motto is: Teaching History, Grounding Democracy. History teaching that is based on multiperspectivity, historical thinking and on the values of the Council of Europe can enhance students’ critical thinking skills, democratic competences and empathy – all of which are essential for generations of young citizens that value democracy. At the moment, four distinct initiatives complement each other in tackling history education in a comprehensive manner: the intergovernmental project on history education, the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe, the HISTOLAB Joint Project of the European Union and the Council of Europe, and the Remembrance of the Holocaust and Prevention of Crimes against Humanity programme. Click on any of the boxes below to learn more about each initiative.

Intergovernmental Programme on History Education

As a 70 years strong activity, Council of Europe’s intergovernmental programme on history education institutionalised the dialogue of member states on the way history should be taught. It led to standards in the field of history teaching, such as Recommendation (2001)15 on history teaching in twenty-first-century Europe.

Observatory on History Teaching in Europe

OHTE 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. It 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.

Visit the OHTE website >>

Transnational History Education and Co-operation Laboratory” (HISTOLAB)

HISTOLAB seeks to reinvigorate the field of history education by bringing together innovative ideas on how to improve the teaching of history. Its digital hub features a database of experts and organisations in the field of history education, an interactive calendar and bulletin board, as well as a resource hub. HISTOLAB also organises once a year the “European Innovation Days in History Education”.

Visit the Digital Hub >>

Remembrance of the Holocaust and Prevention of Crimes against Humanity

As a transversal initiative closely connected to the history of the Council of Europe and its foundation as a means to counter totalitarian ideologies after the Second World War, the Remembrance programme supports teaching about the Holocaust through the creation and publication of a number of resources that teachers may use for their teaching.

Visit the dedicated website >>