Norway's Minister of Education, Kristin Halvorsen held the opening of the Council of Europe conference "Shared Histories for a Europe without Dividing Lines", which took place in Drammen/ Norway, June 16-17, 2010. In her opening speech she underlines the importance of diversity as a resource necessary to build peaceful and sustainable democracies in contemporary Europe.
Furthermore, she emphasized the role of the European Wergeland Centre - and other resource centres - as an important tool when it comes to preparing the pupils and teachers in Europe for living together in diverse societies.
The conference was organized by the Council of Europe in co-operation
with The European Wergeland Centre and the support from the Norwegian
Ministry of Education and Research.
Download the welcome speech 
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.
