History at all costs?

Languages of the event: English and French

During its 5th Annual Conference, the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe (OHTE) will publish its second Thematic Report on "Economic Crises in History Teaching". The report provides an overview of how economic crises, their origins and impact on societies, are taught in primary and secondary level history education.

"History at All Costs" also stresses the fundamental importance of history education – an essential investment in understanding the world and shaping the future.

In line with the New Democratic Pact proposed by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, this year’s OHTE Annual Conference will promote quality history teaching as a powerful tool for enhancing democracy by deepening our understanding of our shared pasts – with the ultimate goal of ensuring a peaceful future.

DRAFT PROGRAMME*

THURSDAY, 16 OCTOBER 2025

9:30 - 10:30 - OPENING SESSION: “HISTORY AT ALL COSTS”

Moderation: Alex TAYLOR, European Journalist

Opening words

Bjørn BERGE, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Francesca CAMILLERI VETTIGER, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Malta to the Council of Europe, Representative of the Maltese Presidency of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers

Panel

Sofia ZACHARAKI, Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, Greece

Yevhen KUDRIAVETS, First Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Ukraine

Josep Anton BARDINA, State Secretary for Education and Universities, Andorra

Dimitris P. SOTIROPOULOS, Chair of the OHTE Governing Board

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10:30 - 12:30 - OHTE Debate: “HISTORY AND POLITICS – THE UNBREAKABLE BOND?”

Moderation: Alex TAYLOR, European Journalist

In today’s world, citizens often find themselves trapped in echo chambers, swayed by emotion-driven content on social media, and pushed toward polarised views. Space for dialogue and mutual understanding is shrinking. Could debates help restore reasoned exchange? Could they offer citizens a way to shape their own opinions, in their own space, while recognising that no complex issue has a simple yes-or-no answer? Inspired by the Oxford model, the inaugural edition of the OHTE Debates will address the motion: “History should not be used as a political tool.” The event will spotlight outstanding students from several countries in a House debate, followed by an engaging exchange between two leading European personalities.

House Format

Jonah BERGER, PhD Researcher in History, European University Institute of Florence

Albana BIKAJ, MA in History of Political Thought and Intellectual History, University College London and Queen Mary University of London

Ellie DOUSKA, PhD student in Contemporary History, University Jean Moulin Lyon III – LARHRA Lyon

Andrii KARPENKO, MA in History, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Pietro MASSAINI, PhD student in Political Sciences at University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy and University of Strasbourg

Anne DE MONTLAUR, History student, Ecole normale supérieure de Paris-Saclay

Debaters

Sonja LICHT, Sociologist and President of the Belgrade Foundation for Political Excellency

Markus MECKEL, Former Diplomat and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the German Democratic Republic

Observer

Alain LAMASSOURE, Former French Minister and Founding President of the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe

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14:00 - 15:30 - OHTE Talk: “TEACHING HISTORY IN A WORLD WITHOUT CONSENSUS”

Moderation: Matjaž GRUDEN, Director for Democracy, Council of Europe

In this new OHTE Talk, the importance for democracies of investing in high-quality history teaching will be underlined. In a world marked by disagreements and polarisation, history education can both offer younger generations the prospect of a democratic and peaceful future, and equip them with the tools to understand and face today’s complex challenges.

Yascha MOUNK,

Political Scientist and author, Associate Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, Washington D.C., and Visiting Professor at Sciences-Po Paris

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15:30 - 16:00 - Screening: “IS DEMOCRACY WORTH THE TROUBLE?”

This session will present the scroll documentary that gathers the learnings of “Changing Democracies”, a European project that explores 15/how Europe's living history about recent transitions to democracy can help us to grasp what processes are needed today for democracy to fulfil its promises for everyone. It is the result of a collaboration between 12 partners from 10 European countries and was coordinated by the Evens Foundation and EuroClio with funding from the European Commission.

Presenters

Eugenie KHATSCHATRIAN, Project Manager and Operations Coordinator, EuroClio

Marjolein DELVOU, Programme Curator, Evens Foundation

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16:30 - 18:00 - Plenary Session 1: “HISTORY EDUCATION: A SAFE BET FOR DEMOCRACY”

Moderation: Alex TAYLOR, European Journalist

Placing trust in history to reinforce democracy and its fundamental values seems a fairly safe choice. Yet, as with any venture, some risks remain: how can we ensure that history education truly reflects and supports these values? This is a crucial question because if we fail, history teaching risks becoming a tool for ideologies that run counter to democracy.

Panel

Joëlle ALAZARD, Chair of the Association of Professors of History and Geography (APHG), Lycée Louis-le-Grand, Paris

Niklas AMMERT, Professor of History, Pro Vice-Chancellor at Linnaeus University, Sweden; Member of the International Network of Historical Consciousness and Democracy (INoHiDe)

Lise BUTLER, Doctor in Modern History, Senior Lecturer in Modern History, City St. George’s, University of London

Eva-Clarita PETTAI, Doctor in Political Science, Free University of Berlin and Director of Studies at the Europäische Acadamie of Schleswig-Holstein

Villano QIRIAZI, Head of Education Department, Council of Europe

END OF DAY 1

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THURSDAY, 16 OCTOBER 2025

09:00 - 09:30 - Plenary Session 2 “ECONOMIC CRISES IN HISTORY TEACHING:

WHAT SUPPLY, WHAT DEMAND?”

Moderation: Raul CÂRSTOCEA, Professor of History, Maynooth University

This session will enable those involved in the production of the second OHTE Thematic Report on Economic Crises in History Teaching to present its main findings. The audience will be encouraged to take part in the discussions through interactive tools, focusing on how economic crises are taught in history education across Europe.

with

Steffen SAMMLER,

Historian at the Leibniz Institute for Educational Media I Georg Eckert Institute and senior lecturer at the Technical University of Braunschweig; co-ordinator of the group of experts responsible for drafting the second OHTE Thematic Report

Ann-Laure LIEVAL,

Member of the OHTE Scientific Advisory Council, Professeure agrégée of History & Teacher Trainer, Lycée Fénélon of Lille

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11:00 - 12:30 - Plenary Session 3 “THE COST OF FORGETTING: WHY ECONOMIC CRISES SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN HISTORY”

Moderation: Olena PALKO, Assistant Professor at the Chair for East-European History at the University of Basel, Switzerland; Chair of the OHTE Scientific Advisory Council

Based on the findings of the OHTE’s second Thematic Report on Economic Crises in History Teaching, this session will provide the opportunity to discuss in-depth the place of economic crises and economy in history teaching and why this is relevant for learners. Through concrete examples and diverse perspectives, we'll see that economic crises have played a major role throughout history in forming our modern societies, in all their facets.

Panel

Marco COKIC, PhD Student in Economic History, LSE | London School of Economics and Political Science

Francesco BOLDIZZONI, Professor of Economic History, University of Palermo

George PAGOULATOS, Greek Ambassador to the OECD, Professor of European Politics and Economy at the School of Economics of the Athens University of Economics and Business, and Visiting Professor at the College of Europe

Aliette QUINT, Chair of HENSOLDT Nexeya France, Representative of Plus Europa

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12:30 - 13:00 - Closing Session “5 YEARS OF OHTE – INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF HISTORY TEACHING”

Conference Report: Student rapporteurs

Closing words:

Marja RUOTANEN, Director General of Democracy and Human Dignity, Council of Europe

Pap NDIAYE, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of France to the Council of Europe