16-18 December, 2011 – History Education Meeting in Belgrade, Serbia. The Joint History Project's History Education Committee finalised its push to expand this highly successful history book series to cover more recent times. During a two-day meeting in Belgrade, the editors and contributors discussed the publication within a larger circle of participants and received input from a renowned international expert in the field of Southeast European History. The fruitful meeting was the last in a series of three meetings made possible by the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Institute for Sustainable Communities.

2 – 4 December, Dynamic Teaching Tools Concept Meeting in Thessaloniki – Some of the most accomplished educators and researchers from the region and from the United States gathered in Thessaloniki to create the framework for a new dynamic teaching methodology tool. This talented, multi-faceted group will ultimately publish a manual that will provide teachers with the latest research on teaching methods and ideas on how these methods can be used in their classrooms. While this project builds upon CDRSEE’s highly successful Joint History Project, the information and ideas within will not be limited to history classes, but rather will be focused on the art of teaching in a rapidly changing society. The manual will be translated into six different languages. This was the first meeting, with the next scheduled for spring 2012 in Tirana. The project is funded by the European Union, under the IPA Programme.

1 December, 2011 – CDRSEE and the European Fund for the Balkans (EFB) will kick off a new project in December, organising a series of lively debates about controversial regional issues and broadcasting these debates via major local TV stations throughout the region. The idea of “Similarities Between Differences” is to foster an exchange of ideas and a real debate about the issues that are plaguing these countries, impeding EU accession and reconciliation. This is not your everyday talk show. This series will bring together untainted, well-respected and unbiased individuals from a wide field of social sciences, including anthropology, ethnology, cultural studies, applied ethics and many others. The topics will not be easy or comfortable, but the wider debates that spring from this series can lead to real solutions and a mutual understanding. More information on the EFB is available at www.balkanfund.org.

28-30 October, 2011 – History Education Meeting in Petrovaradin, Serbia. The Joint History Project’s History Education Committee continued its push to expand this highly successful history book series to cover more recent times. During a three-day meeting in Petrovaradin, the Committee discussed the strengths and weaknesses of current history curricula and made great strides in developing themes and topics for the new additions to the JHP series. The fruitful meeting was the second of three made possible by the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The third will be held in mid-December.

1-2 November, 2011 – CDRSEE Board of Directors Annual Meeting in Thessaloniki – The Board of Directors of the CDRSEE came away from its annual meeting invigorated and with fresh ideas for carrying out the Center’s mission. Board members traveled from Serbia, Turkey, Austria, The Netherlands and around Greece for the two-day gathering. Board members reviewed the Center’s activities over the past year, set goals for expanding programmes in the coming year and made plans for new fundraising initiatives.

October 21-22 – New Balkans and EU Enlargement, Miločer, Montenegro – The CDRSEE was represented at this highly visible international conference, the seventh of a series on Reconciliation, Tolerance and Human Security in the Balkans, sponsored by the European Centre for Peace and Development (ECPD). Dr Erhard Busek, Chairman of CDRSEE’s Board of Directors, gave opening remarks along with other dignitaries and scholars, and CDRSEE Executive Director Nenad Sebek was a welcomed voice in the session on Mass Media: an Important Factor in Strengthening Interethnic and Religious Tolerance, Understanding and Cooperation.

October 19 – “Remembrance Culture, Politics of Memory and Education in Europe,” Vienna – The CDRSEE was invited to co-organise the event by the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe. The Chairman of the CDRSEE Board of Directors, Dr Erhard Busek, opened the event and three historians from the CDRSEE's Joint History Project were invited as panellists. Bozo Repe took part in the discussion, which focused on the difference between history and memory and why some narratives are forced while others are silenced. JHP Series Editor Christina Koulouri and JHP contributor Dubravka Stojanovic were panel members discussing Institutional and Informal Education, which looked at the challenges of differentiated remembering and history writing, and the extent to which alternative or opposing research can be included in national education programmes and school books. CDRSEE Executive Director Nenad Sebek gave the keynote speech at the conference on the role of the media in creating historical memories.

3-4 September 2011 – History Education Committee meeting in Belgrade. The Joint History Project’s History Education Committee began making exciting new plans for further development of the JHP series, in the first of three History Education Committee meetings in Belgrade. The committee members gathered from all over Southeast Europe to discuss new needs of the JHP. The committee, the most respected team of historians in the region, said their success to date is due to their spirit of team work, and vowed to continue working in close cooperation. The next meeting will be held in late October, and the final meeting in the series in mid-December. All meetings are held in Belgrade and are made possible by the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the “Civil Society Advocacy Initiative” program, implemented by the Institute for Sustainable Communities. 

1-3 July 2011 - Teacher Training Workshop in Subotica. The JHP keeps up its pace in Serbia, with its upcoming workshop in Subotica on 2-3 July! The workshop, funded under the IPA programme of the European Commission, will welcome 29 teachers and provide them with an opportunity to learn about the JHP methodologies and familiarise themselves with the workbooks. The participants will be assisted in creating their own model lessons based on the training, so as to consolidate their new skills for further use in class. As with all the JHP workshops, the training will aim at allowing history teachers to provide their pupils with participative, balanced and critical lessons, to foster tolerance and mutual understanding among the next generation of SEE citizens. The workshop, implemented in cooperation with the Croatian National Council in Subotica, will be guided by Goran Miloradovic, from the Association for Social History (Belgrade). Mr. Miloradovic, CDRSEE's long-standing partner and experienced trainer, will work jointly with Kresimir Erdelja, key member of the History Education Committee, and  member of the CDRSEE's implementing partner (HUNP) in Zagreb.

June 2011 - JHP in Montenegro. Montenegro is one more country which will join the JHP and which will, in its own language, offer to its teachers and students a new manner of understanding history. Two prominent Montenegrin historians, Zvezdan Folic and Dragutin Papovic, are editors of the Montenegro language edition which will be printed by the end of the year. It is also our pleasure to collaborate with the Ministry of Education and the Institute for textbooks as a co publisher. Click here to read the whole article and see the video files.

30 May -1 June 2011: Set up meetings in Tirana, Albania. CDRSEE kick started the next phase of the Joint History Project (JHP) in Albania, with a series of meetings with partners and local authorities. More specifically, the CDRSEE met important actors in the education sector such as the Center for Democratic Education and the History Teaching Association in Albania, as well as the Educational Advisor of the Prime Minister and the Head of European Integration at the Ministry of Education. The aim of these meetings was to draw up an action plan that will ensure successful implementation of the JHP in an inclusive and cooperative manner. The JHP in Albania strongly benefits from the valuable contributions of its local representatives Mr. Helian Demiri, who is the Editor of the Albanian language version of the JHP Alternative Educational Materials and Dr. Valentina Duka from the Faculty of History and Philology at the University of Tirana.

20 May 2011: CDRSEE donates books. On 20 May 2011, the CDRSEE made two donations to two local institutions in Subotica, the heartland of the Croatian national minority in Serbia. The donations were organised by a supporter of the JHP, Mr. Gojko Miskovic. The first donation was made to the City Library of Subotica, and was received by the Director of the Library, Mr Dragan Rokvić. It consisted of a number of sets of JHP books in the Serbian, English, Greek, Macedonian, Croatian, Turkish and Albanian languages. Mr. Rokvić was very grateful for the donation, and said upon receiving the books that they are sure to make a popular read. The second donation was to the Croatian National Council in Serbia. The CDRSEE donated 12 sets of JHP books in the Croatian language, as well as a couple in the Serbian and English languages. The event was witnessed by local and Croatian media, and the Chair of the Croatian National Council, Mr Slaven Bačić , received the books with great interest and expressed his gratitude for the donation.

1-7 May 2011: CDRSEE takes part in Regional Conference, Belgrade - The CDRSEE was invited to participate by the YIHR (Youth Initiative Human Rights) to the conference Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina – yesterday, today, tomorrow, which took place between 1 and 7 May 2011 in Belgrade, Serbia. Prominent people from the political, judiciary, media and academic circles discussed the problems which burden the two societies as well as the solutions which would lead to better neighbourly relations and trust. Find out more about the event and the YIHR at http://www.yihr.org/en.

6 May 2011: JHP receives significant support from DG Enlargement. The Joint History Project (JHP) enters a new phase in 2011, thanks to the support of the European Union. The CDRSEE is delighted to announce a refreshing 3 year programme which will allow the JHP to continue fostering reconciliation and democracy development throughout the region, through intensified activities, in scope and in content. The CDRSEE will increase the footprint of this effective model project, not only by  continuing its fruitful work  in many areas,  but also carrying on training more teachers providing capacity building and follow up to previously trained educators and facilitating a regional network of teachers for sustaining results and adding value. Read the whole article here.

15 April 2011: CDRSEE participates in Conference “EFA Network: SEE Regional Meeting 2011” - The CDRSEE participated in a fruitful panel discussion in Zagreb, Croatia, on 15 April this year, on the theme “Southeastern Europe EU Journey”. The conference gathered participants from 11 Southeast European countries, allowing for a fruitful debate on important social issues and future joint projects in a European dimension. Dr Erhard Busek, the CDRSEE’s Chair of Board of Directors, was a guest speaker at the event, supported by the Center’s Executive Director. Learn more about the conference and the EFA network at http://www.efa-network.eu/.

12 April 2011: CDRSEE at conference “Bringing the Western Balkans Closer to Europe” - The CDRSEE was represented at the first panel of the conference, organized by the European Fund for the Balkans. The discussions, themed “Western Balkans and Europe”, were divided into 2 sessions, and counted prominent participants, making for a productive session. The CDRSEE’s Executive Director, Mr. Nenad Sebek, took part in the days first session, named “Administrative Reform in the Western Balkans”. The CDRSEE was further represented during the second session, entitled “Reconciliation in the Western Balkans – Progress since the wars, where are we today?”, by Prof. Zarko Puhovski, member of the CDRSEE Board of Directors. Want to know more about the discussions and the EFB? Click here!

09-10 April 2011: Local Teacher Training in Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The CDRSEE implemented this 2 day local workshop in Banja Luka, closing the first phase of the JHP in Bosnia. This will allow new activities to take place all over the country, as soon as this year!  The first day of the workshop was led by Mr. Enes Milak, Editor of the Bosnian Language Edition of the JHP workbooks, Mr. Munib Efendic and Mr. Nijazija Maslak, two of the teachers trained by the JHP in the Training of Trainers workshops previously implemented. Read the whole article here.

4 April 2011: CDRSEE holds press conference in Sarajevo. On April 4, Enes Milak, editor of the Bosnian edition of the history books, and Nenad Šebek, CDRSEE's Executive Director, moderated by Dzevdet Tuzlic, the JHP coordinator in BiH, presented the principles and materials of the JHP to a highly present and interested Press, after taking part in 2 live television interviews. During the following press conference, the journalists proved to be very interested in the JHP and their questions focused on its beneficial impact on history education in Bosnia and Herzegovina. No controversial questions or negative judgements on the JHP were expressed, reflecting the continued and promising advancement of people's acceptance of, and support to, the JHP in the region.

2-3 April 2011: JHP Regional Teacher Training in Sarajevo. For the first time, the CDRSEE – reacting to the conclusions of the Thessaloniki International conference organised in November 2010 – invited teachers from throughout Southeast Europe to take part in common training activities related to the JHP workbooks’ methodology. Accordingly, teachers from Belgrade, Skopje and Zagreb joined Bosnian participants from the Canton of Sarajevo for a 2-day workshop in Sarajevo. Read the whole article here.

01 March 2011: CDRSEE attends Conference “Shared Social Responsibility” in Brussels - The conference, organised jointly by the European Commission and the Council of Europe in Brussels on 01 March 2011, revolved around discussing the need of shared social responsibility in the current context of multiple transitions and related subjects. The event counted amongst its participants speakers from the fields of European Politics, science and civil society, and meant to confirm social cohesion as an objective for Europe.

History Teacher Training in Zlatibor, 18-20 February 2011 - The Joint History Project (JHP) seminar series of 2011 started in Western Serbia with a workshop in Uzice (Zlatibor). 28 teachers from Uzice and 11 surrounding municipalities gathered to discuss attitudes towards history teaching and current methodology. During the workshop the last copies of the 2nd edition (2010) of the JHP workbooks were distributed which closes the rapid dissemination of 1500 copies within 7 months. More copies will be produced in 2011 as a response to the accelerating demand in Serbian schools. Read the whole article here.

The CDRSEE in 2011 - In the year 2011 Active Citizenship is at the forefront in Europe, citizens driving social transformation and cohesion, strengthening our common European values and building a strong alliance to counteract the ongoing economic crisis and subsequent nationalistic trends. The CDRSEE contributes with a busy workplan for 2011 that puts a strong focus on working towards a better understanding of history and societal developments, and thus contributing to the current debate around diversity. The solid results already achieved with the Joint History Project in Southeast Europe will be further strengthened, including training more teachers throughout the region, especially in rural areas; developing more multi-perspective history teaching materials; applying the project methodology to educational subjects other than history; and replicating the project in other regions of the world. The goal is to convey to our youth the competences required to become tolerant citizens who are empowered to defend and promote democratic values. The CDRSEE also offers meaningful opportunities for volunteerism and alternatives forms of learning to motivated youth, on average 8 internships per year were completed and places are available for 2011.