History Education at the Council of Europe’s Post

Mission accomplished. Four very intense years as part of the (founding) Scientific Advisory Council of the Observatory for History Teaching in Europe came to an end yesterday in Paris, for me and my ten colleagues. We started during COVID - online and unsure - and weathered some unexpected crisis in this infant project: the invasion and war in Ukraine, the expulsion of Russia from the Council of Europe, the head-spinning decline in the valuing of liberal democracy, the rule of law and the primacy of human rights. Getting the project off the ground - with 4 annual conferences, 2 thematic reports and first general report, being represented in the History Education Forum, HistoLab, and World Forum for Democracy, in addition to a myriad of regional events throughout Europe - was the achievement of its super-Secretariat, led by the insanely competent and eternal optimist, Aurora Ailincai. Meeting and learning from the various European countries, and accessing information collected by them, gave me much more nuanced understanding of the importance and the role that History teaching has throughout the continent. I am grateful to my colleagues at SAC, a diverse body that represented the many places in which history is taught (not just the classroom) and the many bodies that learn history (not just middle and high schoolers), and wish the incoming SAC much success.