The Warsaw Summit in 2005 recommended the Secretariat of the Council of Europe (CoE) to set up a resource centre on intercultural education. In cooperation with the CoE, Norway took the initiative to contribute to realize this recommendation. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, at its meeting at the Deputies Level in December 2007, welcomed the Norwegian initiative to establish a European Resource Centre on education for intercultural understanding, human rights and democratic citizenship.
The cooperation agreement between the Government of Norway and the Council of Europe was signed in Strasbourg 16 September 2008, by CoE Secretary General Terry Davis and Norwegian ambassador Petter Wille.
The European Wergeland Centre opened in February 2009, and it builds on and will promote the work performed by the Council of Europe and Norway for intercultural understanding, human rights and democratic citizenship.
- In selecting the name it was natural to bring forward our great advocate for human rights, freedom and tolerance, says former Norwegian Minister of Education, Bård Vegar Solhjell, explaining the name of the centre.
Who is Henrik Wergeland? 
Henrik Wergeland (1808 – 1845) was a romantic poet and an important historian. He was an advocate for
democracy, and an eager defender of freedom of faith and freedom of expression.
