Teaching regional history enables students to better understand the historical and cultural context of their regions, and can strengthen their civic engagement as well as social cohesion and mutual understanding. However, as Peter Drenth (Netherlands, EPP/CCE) noted when presenting his report to the Chamber of Regions, regional history is still given too little attention in curricula and school textbooks. In a resolution and a recommendation adopted on Tuesday 31 March, the Chamber called for greater emphasis to be placed on the teaching of regional history, which entails training teachers in this subject and providing the necessary teaching resources. In addition to textbooks and curricula, these may include interviews and oral accounts, but could also take the form of digital tools, whether to facilitate preservation or to ‘reach children beyond the classroom’.
For the Congress, it is important to recognise the significance and complementary nature of regional history alongside national history. Regional authorities should contribute to its promotion, including through its ‘sensitive, traumatic or controversial’ aspects. Regional history fosters critical thinking and reconciliation, as several speakers, notably from Germany and the Netherlands, demonstrated. When taught well, it is the best antidote to falsehoods and disinformation, emphasised Steven Stegers, Executive Director of EuroClio, the European Association of History Teachers. Several members expressed the wish that the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe, established by the Council of Europe, should examine regional history and the way it is taught. The youth delegates showed particular enthusiasm for the subject. For the Albanian delegate, Evia Hoxha, local and regional authorities manage museums and archives and likewise have an important role to play in passing on memory and cultural heritage to future generations.
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