Human rights education at Holocaust memorial sites across the European Union: An overview of practices

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Resources

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OCM Datasheet

Intended Audience

Museums, those working with memorial sites, and educators.

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

2011

“Most European Union (EU) Member States have institutions whose task is to preserve the memory of the Holocaust and its victims. Many of these institutions offer educational programmes that extend beyond the Holocaust itself and allow visiting groups, particularly young people, to reflect on contemporary human rights issues.

This publication aims to support such institutions, as well as educators, in identifying ways to achieve a more thorough understanding of the Holocaust and of human rights – ways in which the past can stimulate critical and self-critical reflection on the present.

It examines the role of memorial sites and museums, drawing on findings from the FRA project Discover the past for the future – A study on the role of historical sites and museums in Holocaust education and human rights education in the EU. It is also based on interviews with representatives of selected memorial sites and museums.

The publication provides examples of the different ways in which memorial sites link the history of the Holocaust to human rights – whether by means of educational programmes addressing human rights directly or by raising in a more general way the issues of the dignity of human life and equality of human beings.” (p.3)

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SDGs LINKAGES

The resource is most closely related to SDG 4.7 (Education for Sustainable Development), SDG 4.A (provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments), SDG 10.2 (empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all), SDG 11.4 (protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage), SDG 11.7 (provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces), SDG 11.B (supporting Disaster Risk Reduction), which contribute towards SDG 16.1 (reduce violence and deaths everywhere), SDG 5.2 (preventing harm to women and girls), SDG 16.2 (preventing harm to children), 16.3 (promoting the rule of law), 16.6 (effective, accountable and transparent institutions), 16.10 (access to information and protect fundamental rights), and SDG 16.B (promote laws and policies for non-discrimination and sustainable development).

As the resource can be used to inform educators’ practice to support Education for Sustainable Development, it supports SDG 4.4 (skills for work). The focus on the need for partnerships supports SDG 17.17 for multistakeholder partnerships.

Click on the SDG Target to discover Our Collections Matter indicators

SDG 4.4: Increase the Number of People with Relevant Skills for Financial Success
Our Collections Matter indicators:
Number of young people and adults in skills-development activities and programmes drawing on collections, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.
Increase in number of young people and adults in such programmes.
Number and proportion of staff who have received training in the last year, to better support their contribution to the SDGs.
Programs and processes in place to ensure the availability of a skilled workforce.
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SDG 4.7: Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship
Our Collections Matter indicators:
Numbers of people in each type of programme drawing on collections from different demographic groups.
Increases in numbers of people in each type of programme from different demographic groups.
Proportion of people involved in such programmes in relation to overall audience size.
Evidence that learners have acquired knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development.
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SDG 4.A: Build and Upgrade Inclusive and Safe Schools
Our Collections Matter indicators:
Number and proportion of education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive.
Proportion of education facilities that provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all.
Number and type of initiatives to improve effectiveness of learning environments.
Support given to other education facilities to make them more inclusive and effective.
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SDG 5.2: End All Violence Agains and Exploitation of Women and Girls
Our Collections Matter indicators:
Collections development, to ensure collections can be used as a basis for programmes that aim to raise awareness of, and reduce, all forms of violence against women and girls.
Number of educational, awareness-raising and partnership programmes drawing on collections that aim to reduce, prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
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SDG 10.2: Promote Universal Social Economic and Political Inclusion
Our Collections Matter indicators:
Collections development to ensure that collections effectively meet the needs of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.
Number and proportion of educational and participatory programmes that promote participation irrespective of social or other status.
Numbers and proportions of people making use of collections in relation to the demographic of the local population.
Numbers and proportions of people involved in focused programmes aimed at promoting social, economic and political inclusion.
Numbers and proportions of people from different demographic groups involved in decision-making processes relating to collections and collections-based institutions.
Number and types of partnerships that build relationships with marginalized groups, individuals and communities.
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SDG 11.4: Protect the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage
Our Collections Matter indicators:
Total expenditure (public and private) per capita spent on the preservation, protection and conservation of all cultural and natural heritage, by type of heritage.
Plans, policies and procedures in place for the safe use of collections for a variety of purposes, protecting and safeguarding both collections and those who use them.
Plans, policies and procedures in place for the identification, safeguarding and protection of cultural and natural heritage at risk.
Collecting programmes in place to protect, safeguard and make use of cultural and natural heritage, addressing the needs of communities and stakeholders, and ensuring that collections can be an effective resource for sustainable development.
Number and diversity of educational, awareness-raising, research programmes, and partnerships that aim to strengthen protection of cultural and natural heritage.
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SDG 11.7: Provide Access to Safe and Inclusive Green and Public Spaces
Our Collections Matter indicators:
Numbers of people accessing collecting institutions from different demographic groups, notably women, children, older people and persons with disabilities.
Increases in numbers of people accessing collecting institutions from different demographic groups.
Measures taken to remove barriers to access green and public spaces.
Extent of green space provided by collections institutions.
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SDG 11.B: Implement Policies for Inclusion, Resource Efficiency and Disaster Risk Reduction
Our Collections Matter indicators:
Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030a.
Disaster Risk Reduction strategies and plans in place, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, to ensure collecting institutions and collections are factored into planning, and contribute effectively to Disaster Risk Reduction.
Collections-based institutions included in local plans for social inclusion, resource use, and Disaster Risk Reduction.
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SDG 16.1: Reduce Violence Everywhere
Our Collections Matter indicators:
Collections development that relates to violent crime, and violence of all kinds, and the relationships between violence and mortality.
Number of educational, awareness-raising and partnership programmes drawing on collections that aim to reduce violence and related mortality.
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SDG 16.2: Protect Children from Abuse, Exploitation, Trafficking and Violence
Our Collections Matter indicators:
Collections development that addresses issues relating to child exploitation and violence.
Number of educational, awareness-raising and partnership programmes drawing on collections that aim to reduce exploitation, trafficking and violence against children.
Policies, plans and procedures in place to protect children from all forms of abuse, violence and exploitation.
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SDG 16.3: Promote the Rule of Law and Ensure Equal Access to Justice
Our Collections Matter indicators:
Collections development that relates to the rule of law, equality before the law, and justice for all.
Number of activities drawing on collections, for example educational, research and partnership activities, that promote the rule of law at national and international levels, and that promote a culture of lawfulness, and the right of all to justice.
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SDG 16.6: Develop Effective Accountable and Transparent Institutions
Our Collections Matter indicators:
Proportion of the population [audience/users/non-users] satisfied with their last experience of public services.
Access to information, and accountability policies and mechanisms, in place.
Effective institutional arrangements, both for own working and for working in partnership with other sectors, in place.
Plans and arrangements in place for extraordinary circumstances such as natural and human-caused disasters.
Effective arrangements in place to fulfil legal and social obligations and responsibilities.
Effective arrangements in place for transparent communication and reporting of institutional performance.
Effective arrangements in place for transparent decision-making and accountability.
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SDG 16.10: Ensure Public Access to Information and Protect Fundamental Freedoms
Our Collections Matter indicators:
Adopt and implement constitutional, statutory and/or policy guarantees for public access to information.
Plans in place, and plans implemented to enhance public access to information relating to collections.
Plans in place, and plans implemented to support fundamental freedoms, in line with human rights, national and international agreements and legislation.
Plans and procedures in place for public access to information relating to the operation and management of collections-based institutions.
Complaint mechanism in place for public to use where public access to information and fundamental freedoms not supported or fulfilled.
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SDG 16.B: Promote and Enforce Non-Discriminatory Laws and Policies
Our Collections Matter indicators:
Proportion of population [audience/users/non-users] reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed in the previous 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under international human rights law.
Number and proportion of policies that incorporate sustainable development considerations, in the full sense of recognizing all three of social, economic and environmental considerations.
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SDG 17.17: Encourage Effective Partnerships
Our Collections Matter indicators:
Amount of United States dollars committed to public-private and civil society partnerships.
Number and/or increase in number, and diversity of local, national and regional multi-stakeholder (public, public-private and civil society) partnerships that address the SDGs drawing on collections, or that otherwise involve collections-based organisations and institutions.
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