Looking Ahead: Follow up ideas for the project How We Shape Our Past

At the end of the Weimar seminar, participants, working in small groups, developed ideas for future events. These were based on »How we shape our past«: trying to build upon the insights gained, making use of the potential of the organisations involved and aiming to overcome conceptual weaknesses.

One group suggested creating a second »How we shape our past« project around national holidays: People from different countries would invite each other right then and explain the background and relevance, in particular the event commemorated and the way this is being done, to the partners.

Others imagined a second round of the project as intensive work with experts of different backgrounds in order to provide material and ideas for future activities in different countries.

Then there was the idea to create a »How we shape our past« project around movies. The idea: We would screen movies presenting history from different countries in other countries and have a debate on their impact on our idea of the past.

The »psychologist’s couch« imagined interviews with people on the role of the past in their everyday life.

»How we shape our present« was imagined as an analysis of cartoons and media projects shaping the image of people from different countries today – and as a discussion with journalists and politicians about it.

»The culture of protest« could be a series of events on the ways, the means and the value
of protest, in particular dealing with different revolutions which have taken place in Europe at different times.

A street art project could explore the usage of contested space in different European cities and explore the subcultures behind them.

Finally, under the title »finding common ground« creative people from different countries could create audiovisual content supporting the development of a »We«.