Background and aim of the meeting
Throughout the EU and its Member States, people have suffered from the consequences of terrorist attacks. Keeping the memory of such atrocities alive as well as the stories of victims and survivors is seen as an essential part of the process for societies to deal with, commemorate and heal the wound inflicted by terrorist attacks.
While memorials and commemoration in Europe have been an essential part of reconciliation and remembrance efforts after war, atrocities and conflict, their role in preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) is often underappreciated. Yet, memorials and commemorations can provide different important contributions for a sustainable approach in P/CVE:
- As spaces for victims/survivors, their families and affected communities to mourn, remember, receive recognition and search for healing;
- As spaces to address a broader audience and raise awareness of a historical event and its implications for society as a whole;
- As spaces to promote dialogue and reminding societies of the need to prevent violent extremism, and the atrocities that can arise from it, from happening.
Spaces for remembrance and commemoration, such as museums and houses of memory, national memorials or programmes for dialogue, restorative justice and education ultimately play an essential part in building ownership of victims/survivors as part of a whole-of-society approach in P/CVE.
This meeting will explore the different ways and roles of memorials and other spaces for commemoration can have in promoting sustainable efforts in P/CVE.
Building on past Working Group meetings and key publications such as the RAN Paper on Memorials for victims of terrorism and their possible value for P/CVE, participants will exchange their insights and lessons learned from different approaches across Europe on how memorials for victims/survivors of terrorism and spaces for commemoration have been used in the context of P/CVE efforts. In doing so, the meeting will distil learnings from how memorialisation and commemoration plays a role in the work of first-line practitioners in education, family and community support, social and youth work or other areas such as exit work.
The outcomes of this meeting will be captured in a conclusion paper highlighting different practices across EU member states.
Participants we are looking for:
- Practitioners who are working in the context of memorials and commemoration – or who wish to include aspects of commemoration and memorialisation in their P/CVE work (e.g. educators, local authorities, community workers, exit workers).
- Practitioners who would like to help establish a memorial in their country or community and who search for experiences from peers.
Deadline
If you are interested in participating, please fill out the form by clicking here. Please answer the questions and submit all relevant information by 01 November 2021 at the latest.
We will invite participants based on this information. Please keep in mind that we only have a limited amount of places available for this meeting to foster exchanges, so participation is not guaranteed.
The meeting will be held digitally in English.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact Fenna Canters.
