Preserving Democracy: Why does History Education Matter?

2-3 December 2021, Strasbourg and online

The First OHTE Annual Conference “Preserving Democracy: Why does History Education Matter?”, held on 2 and 3 December 2021, helped to increase the visibility and awareness of the Observatory’s work among the member States of the Council of Europe, within the Council of Europe and among the broader public. 

With at least 60 on-site participants, 360 online registrations, a minimum of 110 persons connected at any moment, and nearly 4,000 engagements with the related social media content, the Conference was able to generate considerable interest.

The four plenary sessions, including high-level debates and a targeted panel discussion on the teaching of pandemics in history, demonstrated the work of the Observatory, its methods, and its contribution to the strengthening of democracy through the promotion of good practices in history education.

In addition, an informal face-to-face meeting between the Governing Body and Scientific Advisory Council members, benefitted the cooperation between the two constituent bodies. A session on the interplay between OHTE and the Council of Europe intergovernmental programme took also place during the OHTE Annual Conference.

This Annual Conference was organised by the Council of Europe with the financial support from France and Andorra and in partnership with the City of Strasbourg, the Grand-Est Region, the European Collectivity of Alsace and the French Government as part of the three-year contract "Strasbourg, European Capital 2021-2023".