In November, educators from Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon and Jordan came together in Nicosia, Cyprus, for the first time to start working on learning activities for intercultural citizenship. The group was hosted by the Association for Historical Dialogue and Research (AHDR) at the Home for Cooperation. The meeting is part of the project “Learning about (Y)our Past: History lessons for intercultural citizenship in the Euro-Med region”, funded by the Anna Lindh Foundation.

The project aims to help young people in the Euro-Mediterranean region to acquire competences for intercultural citizenship by learning about identity and diversity, about positive intercultural encounters and addressing emotive and controversial issues in history education. Together with partner organisations AHDR and the Lebanese Association for History, a team of six authors was selected to develop the learning activities together.

Over the course of the next half year, the team will work on learning activities dealing with three different subjects. These subjects were initially formulated in the Guidebook for History Textbook Authors: On a Common Path (.pdf). The Guidebook was developed and supported by UNESCO, the Anna Lindh Foundation, the League of Arab States, the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the Swedish Institute in Alexandria. It is especially relevant for this project because it entails “New Approaches to Writing History Textbooks in Europe and the Arab and Islamic Worlds”. The three subjects identified in the Guidebook are:

  1. Identity and diversity;
  2. Positive encounters with the other;
  3. Sensitive and controversial issues.

The learning activities will be developed in English and subsequently translated into Arabic, Greek and Turkish. The team will receive training and supervision from Michael Riley, director of Schools History Project and co-author and editor of “On a Common Path”.

Project team

Alaettin Çarikci, coordinator and author AHDR (Cyprus)
Loizos Loukaidis, coordinator and author AHDR (Cyprus)
Amin Elias, coordinator LAH (Lebanon)
Ghada Fakhredddine, author LAH (Lebanon)
Jihane Youssef, author LAH (Lebanon)
Kariman Mango, author (Jordan)
Hasan Sungur, author (Turkey)

For more information, please visit the project page (see below) or contact Jaco Stoop (EuroClio Network Coordinator)

Learning About (Y)our Past