The inauguration event marked the opening of the European Wergeland Centre. The Norwegian Royal Family, represented by HRH Crown Princess Mette Marit, attended the opening, as well as ministers, politicians and high level experts.

How can history teaching in Europe contribute to overcome old dividing lines without creating new ones? This was one of the leading questions when the new project ”Shared Histories for a Europe Without Dividing Lines" was launched at a conference on June 16-17, 2010 in Drammen, Norway.

Recently EWC Executive Director Ana Perona-Fjeldstad and Special Adviser Gunnar Mandt met with the Polish Deputy Minister of National Education, Krzysztof Stanowski in Warsaw, Poland to discuss the possibility of organizing a summer academy in Warsaw, a joint project between the Polish Ministry of National Education, the National In-Service Teacher Training Centre in Poland and the EWC.

Lars Gudmundson has a MA in History of Ideas and Political Sciences from the University of Oslo. He has wide experience from the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research and the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training. He has actively worked with issues concerning education about religion and strategy plans promoting democratic citizenship in schools.

The EWC Inauguration celebration in Oslo started with a Welcome Reception at the Radisson SAS Hotel, followed by a formal dinner at the Akershus Castle, Thursday 28th May. The Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research was the host of this dinner.

The Summer Academy “Democracy at School” in Poland is organized by the EWC in cooperation with The Polish Ministry of National Education, the Polish Centre for Education Development, and the Council of Europe. It will take place from July 10-17 and will bring together headteachers, teachers and representatives from parents associations and NGOs from up to 13 countries.

The Summer Academy "Democracy at School" will take place from July 10-17, in Sulejówek/ Warsaw. A number of school heads, teachers, and representatives of local NGOs from Eastern and Central Europe, and the Caucasus region applied already. There are still some places available. You can apply now until May 20, 2010.

The Summer Academy ’Democracy at School’ was held July 10-17, 2010 in Sulejówek, Poland. Teachers, head teachers and NGO representatives from 7 countries joined the Academy. During the week, the participants got to know tools for the classroom, whole school strategies, and drafted an action plan with steps for their own school.

The report on key human rights challenges and best practices in Norway was recently submitted to the UN Human Rights Council. It was drawn up by several ministries with input from civil society. The European Wergeland Centre is listed in the report as an initiative to improve human rights education in Norway, and other European countries.

The final conference of the Council of Europe project “Policies and Practices for Teaching Sociocultural Diversity” took place last week in Oslo, Norway. In her official welcome address, Ms Tora Aasland, Minister of Research and Higher Education of Norway presented the European Wergeland Centre as an important resource centre in the field.