“Genocide of the Roma and Sinti: Implementation of Tools for Remembrance” - Council of Europe contribution to IHRA conference

Conference 23 October 2025 Lety u Písku, Czech Republic

Lety began operating as a forced labour camp in 1940 under the German-administered Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. In August 1942, it was designated as an internment camp for Roma, with a minimum of 1,300 Roma and Sinti1 passing through the site over the course of the war. At least 320...

Read More

History teaching in 17 European countries studied in new Council of Europe report

Teaching about economic crises strengthens critical thinking and resistance to scapegoating

16 October 2025 Strasbourg, France

via Council of Europe main portal Teaching about economic crises in history lessons helps develop students’ critical thinking skills, resilience and understanding of democracy is a core finding of the “Economic crises in history teaching” report by the Council of Europe Observatory on History...

Read More

Registrations open - OHTE 5th Annual Conference - "History at all costs?"

Conference 16 & 17 October Strasbourg

Teaching about economic crises transforms history into a key tool for understanding contemporary challenges. It encourages students to explore multiple perspectives which are essential to grasping the complexity of the topic and for preventing the repetition of past mistakes. Integrating the...

Read More

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

Publication 1 April 2025

As part of the intergovernmental programme on history education, the Education Department of the Council of Europe has launched a series of forums on key topics concerning history in the first quarter of the 21st century. The third forum was entitled “Reinforcing historical awareness and culture...

Read More

HISTOLAB Toolkit for History classes - Debunking fake news and fostering critical thinking

Via HISTOLAB, the Council of Europe and the European Union has developed a toolkit to identify and then debunk fake news in history classes in cooperation with the DICSO research group (University of Murcia, Spain). This toolkit consists of 11 learning-activities that aim to develop competences...

Read More

After one year of membership as Observer State, Ukraine joined the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe as fully-fledged Member State in June 2024

Ukraine joins the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe as fully-fledged Member State

19 June 2024 Strasbourg, France

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine reconfirmed the need to change approaches and practices in history teaching, the importance of implementing changes to curricula and historiography, as these will determine our future over the next decades. Reforms of history teaching in Europe are crucial...

Read More

Event communication, videos production, visibility materials and data visualisation

Call for Tenders for the Provision of Communication Services for History Education 2024AO32

Call for Tenders 7 May 2024

The History Education Division is part of the Education Department of the Council of Europe. Its work covers a wide range of activities including the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe (OHTE) as an Enlarged Partial Agreement of the Council of Europe, the intergovernmental programme on...

Read More

History Education in the Digital Age

Conference 7-8 March 2023 Brussels, Belgium

The intergovernmental programme on history education has been an initiative of the Council of Europe for the past 70 years, with an extensive experience in standard setting and cooperation on crucial topics such as textbooks reform, new practices in history teaching and bilateral and regional...

Read More

Secretary General at Struthof: a visit to keep remembrance alive among young people

Secretary General 4 June 2025 Struthof, France

via Council of Europe main portal On 3 June Secretary General Alain Berset visited the former concentration camp at Natzweiler-Struthof (Alsace), an iconic memorial site, to reaffirm the importance of history teaching and remembrance of the Holocaust for younger generations. After a moment of...

Read More

Where Learners Meet History: Reaffirming the Role of History Education in the 21st Century

Registrations open - 4th Forum for History Education

Conference 11-13 June 2025 Budapest & Online

Built upon the shared values of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, the Council of Europe’s Intergovernmental Programme on History Education serves the organisation’s mission when it comes to how history is taught, summarised in a single motto: “Teaching history, grounding democracy”....

Read More

Secretary General at Struthof: a visit to keep remembrance alive among young people

Secretary General 30 May 2025 Strasbourg

via Council of Europe main portal. On 3 June Secretary General Alain Berset will visit the former concentration camp at Natzweiler-Struthof (Alsace), an iconic memorial site, to reaffirm the importance of history teaching and remembrance of the Holocaust for younger generations. After a moment of...

Read More

Apply by 30 June 2025

Call for Youth Applications - OHTE Annual Conference 2025 - Debate speakers

Are you a student with a passion for history and politics and would you like to debate these subjects during the 5th OHTE Annual Conference, being held at the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France from 16-17 October 2025? Send us your video application and join us for this experience!...

Read More

80 years since the end of World War II: Ukraine and the crucial role of history education with European values at heart

Visit 8 May 2025 Kyiv, Ukraine

The echoes of history are stark. In 1945, Europe emerged from the most destructive conflict in its history determined to build peace through cooperation, human rights, and education. In 2025, as Ukrainians continue to defend their sovereignty and democratic path, that same struggle for liberty...

Read More

Montenegro joins the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe (OHTE)

1 March 2025

We are all aware that teaching history in today's world is a challenge. Rising polarization, misinformation, and misuse of both history and school history to promote division rather than unity presents significant challenges for education around the world. The answer must be cooperation and joint...

Read More

History education should be a key part of human rights education, PACE says

29 January 2025 Strasbourg, France

via PACE website “History education should be a key part of human rights education and a foundation for young people to develop democratic citizenship,” the Assembly said today. However, “delivering quality history education in schools can be very challenging due to overloaded curricula,...

Read More

Registrations open - 4th OHTE Annual Conference 'History in crisi(e)s?'

Conference 31 October 2024 Strasbourg & online

The theme of the 4th OHTE Annual Conference "History in Crisis(es)?" has been defined in relation to contemporary events affecting European society. For several years, the Council of Europe and its member states have been facing a series of crises on a continental scale but have also been...

Read More

Commemorating the Roma Holocaust: Council of Europe’s commitment to remembrance and history education

2 August 2024 Strasbourg, France

The Council of Europe marks the 80th anniversary of the European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day, commemorating the tragic events of 2 August 1944, when the last Roma and Sinti in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp were murdered. This commemoration is a poignant reminder of the atrocities...

Read More

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

Conference 16 April 2024 Bologna, Italy

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...

Read More

HISTOLAB Award for Innovative School Projects in History Education 2024

Award 5 April 2024 Strasbourg, France

via Council of Europe main portal The HISTOLAB Award for Innovative School Projects in History Education goes to eight schools from France, Ireland, Serbia, Spain and Türkiye and one transnational project. The Award was presented to students and teachers from the winning schools during the...

Read More

Innovating history education to tackle disinformation online

HISTOLAB's 2024 European Innovation Days in History Education

Conference 3-5 April 2024 Hybrid event

The European Innovation Days in History Education focus on the potential for evolution in history education, and shining a light on innovative initiatives in research, academia, and teaching practices. This year some of the thematic areas being discussed are the underrepresented histories of...

Read More