INGO Service

The Council of Europe and Non-Governmental Organisations: Promoters of democracy and active citizenship in Europe

The Council of Europe’s work benefits extensively from contacts and co-operation with the dynamic elements of society, as represented by NGOs. One of the main challenges currently facing the Organisation is to strengthen NGOs and civil society and to develop participatory democracy on a pan-European basis.

Click here if you want to read more about The Council of Europe and NGOs

The Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe
More than 400 INGOs enjoy participatory status and make up, since 2005, the Conference of INGOs which constitutes civil society’s pillar in the Council of Europe. This Conference gathers all NGOs which have like EUROCLIO a participatory status at the Council of Europe. Its role is consultative and its work focuses on three main areas: Human Rights, Democracy and Social Cohesion, Education and Culture.The Conference of INGOs is now recognised as an institution of the Council of Europe.

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To learn more about working groups of the Education and Culture Committee, click here

To interact with INGOs Conference of the Council of Europe on Facebook, click here

The role of EUROCLIO
Prof. Yosanne Vella, vice-president of the Maltese History Teachers' Association and member of Historiana editors' team, is the vice-chair of the iNGOs Conference Committee for Education and Culture. On Wednesday 25 January 2012, she launched a working group on history teaching within the Education and Culture Committee.

History Teaching Division

History and the Council of Europe

The Council of Europe has acted as the main actor in the development and reform of history teaching on the continent, involving several important intra-governmental recommendations and ministerial decisions. Please visit the Council of Europe's History Teaching Website .

Work in the field of history teaching, both in intergovernmental projects or through bilateral and regional cooperation focuses on issues:

•     related to the content of history textbooks to eliminate prejudice;
•     on the modernisation of teaching programmes and curricula;
•     and on teacher training .

The operational mode of all activities was always to create a space for debate where various target groups could share their views, confront their "reality" and revise their perception.

EUROCLIO is a partner of a project "Shared Histories for a Europe without dividing Lines". If you want to read more about this project, please click here

North South Centre

The North-South Centre and EUROCLIO

EUROCLIO also works with the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe to promote a history education that contributes to intercultural dialogue in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

The North-South Centre of the Council of Europe has selected the EUROCLIO programme “Historiana – Your portal to the past” as one of the three World Aware Education Award winners. The award will be presented to EUROCLIO during the North-South Center Global Education Congress in June 2012.

The aims of the European Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity (more commonly known as the "North-South Centre") are:

• to promote human rights, democracy and the rule of law through intercultural dialogue and education, in particular among the youth of Europe and its neighbouring regions;
• to provide a framework for European co-operation for the purpose of increasing public awareness of global interdependence and solidarity issues;
• to promote policies of solidarity in conformity with the aims and principles of the Council of Europe, by fostering dialogue and co-operation between Europe and non-European countries in neighbouring regions.

The North-South Centre has also published Global Education Guidelines. This document should be regarded as a guide for understanding and practising global education, also as a pedagogical coaching tool to help establish global education approaches where they do not yet exist and enrich existing ones. EUROCLIO operates in accordance with these guidelines. To read the document, please click here

Click here, if you want to learn more about North-South Centre

To interact with North-South Centre of the Council of Europe on Facebook, click here

Council of Europe Recommendations

Council of Europe Recommendations

Council of Europe Recommendations are issued by the Committee of Ministers, which is the Council of Europe's decision-making body and comprises the Foreign Affairs Ministers of all the member states, or their permanent diplomatic representatives in Strasbourg, to member states. Relevant Recommendations are listed below.

• Recommendation CM/Rec (2011)6 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on intercultural dialogue and the image of the other in history teaching. Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 6 July 2011 at the 1118th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies. Available here.
• Recommendation CM/Rec (2011)4 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on education for global interdependence and solidarity. Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 5 May 2011 at the 1113th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies. Available here.
• Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)7 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education. Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 11 May 2010 at the 120th Session. Available here.
• Recommendation Rec(2001)15 of the Committee of Ministers to member states
  on history teaching in twenty-first-century Europe. Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 31. October 2001 at the 771st meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies. Available here
• Recommendation 1283 (1996) on history and the learning of history in Europe. Adopted by the Assembly on 22 January 1996. Available here.