8 July 2008: CDRSEE to perform Joint History Project comedy at the EXIT festival in Novi Sad on July 13th. Participating in Southeast Europe’s most exciting festival, the CDRSEE will be presenting a dramatic interpretation of the Joint History Project on the Agora stage at the Exit Festival, followed by a talk, question time and sticky pastries. For further information please click here.

The joint history project has been made possible through the kind financial assistance of the following:

Dr Peter Mahringer Fonds, The Royal Dutch Embassy in Athens, Two anonymous donors, Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, UK FCO, Swiss Development Agency,
Cyprus Federation of America, Winston Foundation for World Peace

News

Successful start to the new year as the Joint History Project book is launched at a press conference in Skopje

On January 21st, 2008 the Macedonian together with the Albanian language edition of the 4 history Workbooks was launched in Skopje. The press conference was a joint initiative of the CDRSEE and its local partner, FOSIM.

Among the special guest speakers were Dr Erhard Busek, Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact and Head of the Board of Directors of CDRSEE, Ambassador Erwan Fouéré, Head of the Delegation of the EC and EU Special Representative, the Honourable Jovan Lazarev, Deputy Minister of Education and Science, and Prof. Dr. Todor Cepreganov, Director of the Institute for National History.

‘History does teach us a lot,’ began Mr. Lazarev, ‘but history can’t find any pupils.’ ‘We sure are at the beginning, but we are certainly moving in the right direction,’ he continued, reflecting on the meaning of the JHP as a step toward reconciliation in the region.

It is the tendencies to re-write history that often give birth to nationalism, Ambassador Fouéré pointed out, ‘this project however, is of tremendous importance because it comes from the region itself,’ he concluded.

According to Prof. Dr. Cepreganov, ‘the alternative materials break the already existing strategies applied in the education system, and give students a chance, while the teacher becomes the moderator.’ ‘All those against the books, are the ones that have a politicized view of history’, he stressed.

The Training of Trainers Conference opening the next phase of JHP implementation has been scheduled for the end of March 2008, with the first Local Workshop to follow in four weeks time.

*The CDRSEE would like to especially thank the European Union through the European Agency for Reconstruction for the financial support regarding the implementation of this project.