NOVA DOBA, the All Ukrainian Association of history educators presented during educational symposium of teachers of History, academics, national communities of Ukraine on 16 March 2012 in Kiev, Ukraine, the results of their project Multicultural History of Ukraine. This project, support by the European Union delegation, resulted in a richly resourced  school textbook Together in One Land. Multicultural History of Ukraine. A varietyof speakers representing the  Congress of National Minorities  of Ukraine, Yosyp Zisels,  the Institute of Innovation Technology and Content of Education at the Ministry of Education, Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine,Prof. Oleksandr Udod and  the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine praised the quality of the publication and the courage of the Association to develop this textbook. 

Many of the topics addressed are new and often sensitive and controversial. The chapter on the killings of Poles in Volhynia in1943-1944was mentioned as an excellent example of addressing the problematic white spots of Ukrainian history.The authors group informed the audience that the materials are not only innovative in content, but the textbook also livesup the innovative requirements related to methodology and pedagogy. In the framework of the book concepts such as intercultural dialogue, diversity, multiperspective  and emphaty were repeatedly elaborated.Petro Kendzor,coordinator of the project stressed the importance of teacher training. In order to make sure that not only the book but also the philosophy behind publication are implemented, the project also developed a the textbook to university students  New approaches to history education in the multicultural society.EUROCLIO partnered in this project and therefore several colleagues from Bulgaria, Latvia and the UK acted as experts and trainers.

Executive Director Joke van der Leeuw-Roord was asked to evaluate the project and its publications. She informed the public with delight that the project had reached all three EUROCLIO target areas :knowledge and experience exchange, intercultural dialogue en networking and enhancing professional civil society. The responsible innovative content of the publications applies the new historical paradigm, observes the EUROCLIO methodology and is competencies based. The textbook also addresses the requirements of the citizenship agenda in creating a new sense of belonging, formulating Ukrainian identity beyond the dominant ethnic or religious community. The Congress of National Minorities  of Ukraine presented its inspiring educational exhibition Together, in which present Ukrainian youth is placed in their multicultural background. A round table gave representatives of different ethnic societies and the audience to share their, mostly very positive, opinion about the project and its publication. Please look for the full publication in Ukrainian link

The Ukrainian Association Nova Doba (The All Ukrainian Association of History and Social Studies Educators), recently held a seminar in the Black Sea port of Odessa as part of their project Together on One Land, The Multicultural History of Ukraine. This three day activity brought together university and school based colleagues who have been working on the supplementary textbook Together on One Land and other educators. Partnership with Nova Doba has been strong over the years, and Polina Verbytska Executive Director of Nova Doba said: “This was an important seminar for us as we head towards finishing this important and exciting project, our own experts have worked hard developing materials, and the session leaders from EUROCLIO gave a lot of energy to encourage us to use active and engaging approaches in telling our  national and multicultural histories in Ukraine.” EUROCLIO was represented by Danute Dura from Latvia, and Dean Smart from the UK who ran workshops demonstrating source use and multiperspectivity.

On the 16^thof March, Kyiv(Ukraine) hosted a presentation of a new teaching manual for secondary schoolstudents “Together in Common Land. Multicultural History of Ukraine.” The symposium brought together teachers of history from all over Ukraine, academics, representatives of national communities of Ukraine, massmedia.The Executive President of EUROCLIO Joke Van Der Leeuw Roord also honored the symposium with her presence. 

The textbook “Together in Common Land. Multicultural History of Ukraine” is about people different in their ethnic origin, social status, gender and age, it is about people who speak different languages, go to different temples and keep to their own traditions. The multiculturalness of the textbook does not end with multiethnicity only. There are many pages dedicated to exploring religious, linguistic, gender, social, regional and other specific features of the multicultural mosaics of the Ukrainian society.

Some of the textbook’s chapters include:

 UKRAINE AS A NEW LIFE SHORE. MIGRATIONS IN HISTORY OF UKRAINE

ONE STREET WITH TWO TEMPLES. RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY IN THE HISTORY OF UKRAINE

HUMAN DIMENSION - HUMAN CHOICE. IDENTITY AND PERSONALITIES IN THE HISTORY OF UKRAINE

AND TOGETHER THEY CALLED IT ... A CITY AS AN INTERSECTION OF CULTURES AND CIVILIZATIONS IN HISTORY OF UKRAINE

HOW WE USED TO LIVE TOGETHER. CO-EXISTENCE (RESPECT, FRIENDSHIP AND CONFLICTS) IN THE HISTORY OF UKRAINE

The materials of the textbook are available online in Ukrainian at   www.novadoba.org.ua

“Memory of War. War of Memories: Search for National reconciliation through New Ways of Teaching History”. This is the title of a newly started project by Nova Doba supported by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ukraine. The project aims to reconcile conflicting and contested memories of the World War II in Eastern Europe. The project contains three roundtables for scholars and history teachers: The first table on “Historical Experience of Central-Eastern Europe during the World War II: Common and Specific Features” was in Kiev the 21^st and 22^nd of October. The last two roundtables will be on “Holocaust and genocides” in Lviv, January 2012 and on “Collaboration and resistance” in Kharkiv, September 2012. For more information, please contact  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , executive directorof Nova Doba.