On 15 January 2016 the Association for Historical Dialogue and Research (AHDR), a EuroClio member organization, presented to the public a new interactive website containing the findings of a three-year-long research project, undertaken by the AHDR with funding from Norway Grants 2009-2014, in partnership with the Council of Europe, in the context of the project “Home for Cooperation”. This unique and innovative website aims at gathering together information on the most significant landmarks of Nicosia, as well as a collection of short personal stories and public scandals that took place in Cyprus’s capital during the period 1878-1974.
The launch of the website took place at a public event at the Home for Cooperation (H4C) in Nicosia where representatives of the main communities of Cyprus were invited to share thoughts and hopes on how this project could contribute to acknowledging and preserving the common heritage of the island.
The night closed with a Question & Answer session. The research team of the ‘Nicosia: The story of a shared and contested city’ project are currently looking into ways to expand the research, including also aspects on the less known social and cultural communities of Nicosia. Also, they invite the public to contribute to the project, by sharing ideas, stories, information and audio-visual material about the history of the capital, in order to help the project evolve. As Mr Lyritsas, member of the research team, said “we see this project as an opportunity for historiography to become a bottom up, collective process that will help all of us to reflect on our common past, present and future.”
The website is currently available on www.nicosiaproject.eu in English, with the Greek and Turkish versions due to be released soon.