EuroClio Associated Member Education for the 21st Century (Serbia) published “Recommendations on ‘Fostering Human Rights Through Deconstruction of Stereotypes in Education, Culture and Media'”. The recommendations are formulated by a group of academic experts from the Balkans after consultations with the educational, cultural and media sectors. The project, funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the context of Serbia-EU negotiations, took place during the first half of 2016 and included two round table sessions in the Serbian capital Belgrade.

The first session, held in February, focused on sharing experiences from the field in fighting stereotypes. EuroClio Network Coordinator Jaco Stoop attended the meeting and presented the “EuroClio Manifesto on High Quality History, Heritage and Citizenship Education“, which addresses the abuse of history and the use of stereotypes in history education. The round table was attended by representatives of NGOs, governmental organizations and educators in the field of education, culture and media from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. Mr. Cartwright from the Council of Europe’s office in Serbia delivered some opening remarks. Participants to the round table stressed the need to directly address policy makers and politicians, and to actively engage them in debates about fighting stereotypes. Media representatives noted that a code of conduct is being developed, and that media organizations need to supervise themselves better.

In May, a second round table was organized by Education for the 21st Century, again attended by many representatives from the field of education, culture and media. The result of these two round table sessions has been summarized in twelve recommendations for the educational, cultural and media sectors, as well as governments in the Balkans and the political scene in general. The publication is available for download below.

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