Start & End Date: 01.08.2018 – 31.01.2020
Place: (Germany)
Participating Countries: Estonia, Germany, Greece, Croatia, Portugal
Project Partners: CULTURE GOES EUROPE (CGE) – Soziokulturelle Initiative Erfurt e.V. (coordinator), Documenta Center for Dealing with the Past, Eesti Mälu Instituut / Estonian Institute for Historical Memory,
UMAR – Uniao de Mulheres Alarnativae Resposta Assiociacao, United Societies of Balkans Astiki Etaireia
Number of Participants: 414
Grant Amount: 98.530 € Europe for Citizens
General description:
The project ”Staring at Goats – Propaganda, Scapegoating and ‘the Other’ 1918 – 2018͞” aimed to de-construct the process of forming of the identity of ‘the Other’ over the course of the last 100 years. To do so it discussed the role of language in that process, enable European youngsters and adults alike to recognise and resist exclusionary and discriminatory practices and raise awareness about hate speech and its consequences by using history education and international campaigning tools. CGE Erfurt e.V. and its partners in Croatia, Estonia, Greece, and Portugal implemented a total of 15 events, beginning with a preparatory meeting in July 2018 and concluding with the presentation of the project’s findings in November 2019. Between those milestones, a campaign as been developed by the participants of the Summer School ”Propaganda, Scapegoating and ’the Other’ 1918-2018”, that aimed to highlight the similarities of group-based discrimination and propaganda from World War I until today. Following an active understanding of history, this campaign also targeted today’s misconceptions and -constructions of ‘the Other’ by populist forces across Europe and was implemented by the participants between autumn 2018 and summer 2019 with support from the project consortium. To do so, each partner conducted at least two one-day events that highlighted local aspects and histories in their respective cities of Erfurt, Lisbon, Tallinn, Thessaloniki and Zagreb. As the campaign wound down in the autumn of 2019, the knowledge and issues covered over the course of the summer school, campaign and its local events were collected by the project coordinators and made available in the form of a booklet. The project findings have been presented to the public during its final event in Erfurt on the 21.11.2019.
You can find the online campaign here: https://www.facebook.com/staringatgoats/
The project was implemented with the support of the Europe for Citizens programme of the European Union
The events, an overview:
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[ap_tab title=”Kickoff Meeting”]
Participation:
The event involved 10 citizens, including 2 participants from the city of Erfurt, Germany, 2 participants from the city of Thessaloniki, Greece, 2 participants from the city of Zagreb, Croatia, 2 participants from the city of Tallinn, Estonia, 2 participants from the city of Lisbon, Portugal.
Location / Dates: The event took place in Weimar, Germany, from 14.10.2018 to 19.10.2018
Short description: During the Kick-off meeting the following topics were discussed: project timeline, task division envisioning whole course of the project, spring school organization and logistics, coordination of local events, budget, documentation and reporting.
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[ap_tab title=”Spring School”]
Participation:
The event involved 52 citizens, including 9 participants from the city of Erfurt, Germany, 9 participants from the city of Thessaloniki, Greece, 9 participants from the city of Zagreb, Croatia, 9 participants from the city of Tallinn, Estonia, 9 participants from the city of Lisbon, Portugal.
Location / Dates: The event took place in Mühlhausen, Germany, from 06.03.2019 to 13.03.2019
Short description:
The Spring School consisted of two phases, the first focused on the historical background and methods of history education, and the second on the creation of different materials for the upcoming project campaign. During the Spring School participants created materials which were used for the FB campaign and local events. The materials included comics, images, videos, and blog posts. The event was conducted by a team of project managers, facilitators and artists from the five partner organisations using non-formal methods.
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[ap_tab title=”Local Event Germany 1″]
Participation:
The event involved 6 citizens, including 6 participants from the city of Erfurt, Germany.
Location / Dates: The event took place in Erfurt, Germany, on 14.06.2019
Short description:
During the event we went with an international group of students and volunteers to the local remembrance site “Topf und Söhne” to visit a special exhibition “Angezettelt” on the role and power of sticky notes for propaganda over the last century and more. After visiting the exhibition, we discussed and evaluated the exhibition with a facilitator from the museum.
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[ap_tab title=”Local Event Germany 2″]
Participation:
The event involved 13 citizens, including 13 participants from the city of Erfurt, Germany.
Location / Dates: The event took place in Erfurt, Germany, on 24.06.2019
Short description: This event was a collaboration between CGE Erfurt e.V. and known German activist Irmela Mensah-Schramm that took place at the “Topf & Sons” remembrance site in Erfurt with local youngsters in their last year of school or first year of study. Over a day of workshops, the participants visited the “Angezettelt” – exhibition, and learned and reflected on the forms of propaganda over the past century and today. While Ms Mensah-Schramm focussed on current events and politics, the Staring at Goats team focussed on showing historical examples and showcasing the similarities of propaganda across differet times and regions of Europe.
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[ap_tab title=”Local Event Germany 3″]
Participation:
The event involved 10 citizens, including 10 participants from the city of Erfurt, Germany.
Location / Dates: The event took place in Erfurt, Germany, on 22.10.2019
Short description:
This event was a collaboration between CGE Erfurt e.V. and the youth group of the Die Schotte Theatre, in Erfurt. Over the course of an afternoon, the team of Staring at Goats and the young theatre group explored and showcased the possibilities of the format of improvisational theatre for the purposes of historical and civic education.
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[ap_tab title=”Local Event Croatia 1″]
Participation:
The event involved 43 citizens, including 43 participants from the city of Zagreb Croatia.
Location / Dates: The event took place in Goli Otok, Croatia, on 09.07.2019
Short description:
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the first group of prisoners to Goli Otok, the Goli otok association “Ante Zemljar” and “Documenta – Center for dealing with the past” organized a commemoration on the island on Tuesday, once again remembering prisoners and all victims of political violence in Croatia, Yugoslavia and Eastern Europe during the Informbiro period.
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[ap_tab title=”Local Event Croatia 2″]
Participation:
The event involved 20 citizens, including 20 participants from the city of Zagreb, Croatia.
Location / Dates: The event took place in Zagreb, Croatia, on 25.07.2019
Short description:
The second public event organized by “Documenta – Center for Dealing with the Past” took place in the Human Rights House in Zagreb. The lecture about women involved in Croatian fascist movement during the1930s and 1940s was given by Dr. Phil. Martina Bitunjac, Research Associate at the Moses Mendelssohn Center at the University of Potsdam. The lecture was given as a part of the seminar entitled “Women at War – Victims, Observers, Perpetrators”.
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[ap_tab title=”Local Event Estonia 1″]
Participation:
The event involved 44 citizens, including 44 participants from the city of Tallinn, Estonia.
Location / Dates: The event took place in Tallinn Estonia, on 25.07.2019
Short description:
The seminar and poster art workshop in Tallinn took place as part of the summer school programme organised by the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory. After a presentation on the history and importance of Soviet propaganda posters, artist Erik Loncar led a workshop on how to re-frame propaganda to positive and tolerant messages. Each participant composed a message and scenario for their poster and by learning to use drawing techniques, created a poster calling for tolerance. At the end of the seminar, the posters were also presented to the whole group.
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[ap_tab title=”Local Event Estonia 2″]
Participation:
The event involved 43 citizens, including 43 participants from the city of Tallinn, Estonia.
Location / Dates: The event took place in Tallinn, Estonia, on 15.11.2019
Short description:
On 15th of November 2019, the Estonian Institute for Historical Memory organized a visit for students to Patarei prison, where they got to know more about the red terror, scapegoating of social groups and repressions against them. After the visit to the museum, we organized a discussion about violations of human rights and hate speech in the Soviet Union. Our aim was to remember and to be able to see similar tendencies nowadays.
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[ap_tab title=”Local Event Portugal 1″]
Participation:
The event involved 19 citizens, including 19 participants from the city of Lisbon, Portugal.
Location / Dates: The event took place in Lisbon, Portugal, on 25.10.2019
Short description:
UMAR organized, a guided visit to the Aljube Museum of Resistance and Freedom, along with a showing of the theatre play “E eles não racharam” (“And they didn’t break”) about clandestinity and resistance to the Portuguese dictatorship, a precious opportunity since it was only publicly shown during two days. Right after this play, our group had the opportunity to have an exclusive guided visit to the Aljube Museum by a historian.
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[ap_tab title=”Local Event Portugal 2″]
Participation:
The event involved 46 citizens, including 46 participants from the city of Lisbon, Portugal.
Location / Dates: The event took place in Peniche, Portugal, on 30.10.2019
Short description:
During the visit to former political prison in Peniche, the participants were accompanied by Joao Neves and Francisco Braga, both former members of the anti-fascist resistance against the dictatorship, with Mr. Braga being a former political prisoner at the Peniche prison. Over the course of the visit, the participants learned more about the history of the site, a former military fort, then a political prison and now a national site of remembrance, as well as about the intricacies and politics of the setting up of a museum such as te National Museum of Resistance and Freedom.
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[ap_tab title=”Local Event Greece 1″]
Participation:
The event involved 20 citizens, including 20 participants from the city of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Location / Dates: The event took place in Thessaloniki, Greece on 12.10.2019
Short description:
The aim of the workshop was to inspire local youngsters to engage with history and shared historical events across Europe to reflect on their own circumstances and the similarities they have with others across national borders. Over the course of the workshop, the participants were introduced to the Staring at Goats project, its aims and outcomes and used this as a first stepping stone to engage with civic education and history education through international opportunities such as the Europe for Citizens – and Erasmus+ programs.
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[ap_tab title=”Local Event Greece 2″]
Participation:
The event involved 25 citizens, including 25 participants from the city of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Location / Dates: The event took place in Thessaloniki, Greece, on 21.11.2019
Short description:
The aim of the second workshop in Thessaloniki was for the participating local youngsters to use modern and non-formal methods to reflect on hate speech and propaganda. This was done especially with reference to and the use of the comics that were created during the Spring School. Here again, Staring at Goats served as the discussion- and reflection start on not just how propaganda and hate speech impact the world, but also on how we can educate people about it.
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[ap_tab title=”Local Event Greece 3″]
Participation:
The event involved 50 citizens, including 50 participants from the city of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Location / Dates: The event took place in Thessaloniki, Greece, on 28.11.2019
Short description:
This workshop took place in the framework of an info day on international mobilities through the Europe for Citizens – and Erasmus+ programs. Following its title, the Staring at Goats project was used as a case study for Europe for Citizens projects and the possibilities it offers for both participants and organizers of international projects.
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[ap_tab title=”Concluding Partners Meeting”]
Participation:
The event involved 12 citizens, including 3 participants from the city of Erfurt, Germany, 3 participants from the city of Thessaloniki, Greece, 3 participants from the city of Zagreb, Croatia, 2 participants from the city of Tallinn, Estonia, 1 participant from the city of Lisbon, Portugal.
Location / Dates: The event took place in Erfurt, Germany, from 18.11.2019 to 20.11.2019
Short description:
Over the course of three days, the project partners evaluated the project, its various events as well as the internal and external communication. Finally, a follow-up project was developed that was handed in to the European Remembrance strand of the Europe for Citizens program under the title “Goaded into Hate”.
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[ap_tab title=”International Conference”]
Participation:
The event involved 18 citizens, including 18 participants from the city of Erfurt.
Location / Dates: The event took place in Erfurt, Germany, on 21.11.2019
Short description:
On the 21.11.2019, the project consortium presented its findings and work to the broader public in the form of an international conference in which the project and its result were formally presented, over the course of an afternoon. Here, the historical and trans-national dimensions of propaganda, scapegoating and othering was elaborated on in a panel together with the Topf & Sons remembrance site, while the use of history education to combat current extremist political movements were discussed in a conversation with the headmaster of the Gemeinschaftschule am Roten Berg (a comprehensive school), Falko Stolp, before the event was concluded with a small concert of the Mizrach Trio klezmer band.
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