Attended this conference under the Mobility grant scheme. Without this grant I could not have attended due to the effects of my slight disability. Over the 3 main days of Conference most events and workshops were based in the European Parliament building in Brussels, a very appropriate venue. The main theme of the Conference was History and Hope; Learning for Change.
As the only delegate from Northern Ireland and indeed the whole of Ireland it gave me a chance to explain and discuss the importance of History teachers in my country and the challenges of teaching history even today in what is still a divided society. Some of these issues were discussed in my workshop on Whose memory counts, which I mentioned the recent controversy in Belfast over the Bobby Sands statue. During the Conference I also took part in workshops about teaching controversial Historical figures such as Leni Riefenstahl. Having written a text book on Russian history, was able to have a valuable input into the group workshop on using cartoons to teach Russian History today.
Another of the group workshops that I participated in was on the drafting of the Hope Manifesto. This was an ongoing process that continued throughout the Conference and the final draft Hope Manifesto was presented during the final session of Conference to those delegates present. Finally Conference allowed to meet old friends from previous Conferences and allowed to me to make new friends from some of the many EU countries that were represented at the Conference. Special thanks for the support and help from all the EUROCLIO team at Brussels 2026.
Jim McBride
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