International seminar "Knowledge and critical understanding of history: key competencies for democratic culture"

In the period from 15 to 17 December 2023, an international seminar entitled "Knowledge and Critical Understanding of History: Key Competencies for a Democratic Culture" was held in Valencia, Spain. 30 teachers and other educators from 10 European countries participated in the seminar, among them were representatives of Documenta and teachers from Croatia.

During three working days, teachers learned about women who resisted during the Second World War, about modern anti-Semitism, and how to organize a quality guided tour or field lesson for students. They received recommendations on how to teach about the Holocaust and human rights, as well as numerous resources and methods that they can use in their work. They have acquired competencies with which they can oppose the distortion of the facts about the Holocaust and the denial of the Holocaust. They also took part in a guided tour, during which they learned about the Jewish history of Valencia. The last day was dedicated to the presentations of the projects that the teachers carried out with their students, as examples of good practice on how to teach about the Holocaust and human rights in an impactful way.

The seminar was organized by a consortium of European organizations, coordinated by the Catholic University of Valencia (Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir), in partnership with the TOLI-Institute Olga Lengyel for teaching about the Holocaust and human rights. The project is co-financed from the CERV program of the European Union.