Changing Democracies

Changing Democracies, project initiated by Evans Foundation, explores how Europe’s living history might help us to understand the current crisis of democracy.


The project aims to contribute to building a shared European memory space, where histories and memories of communism, dictatorships, resistance, transitions, war and peace can be communicated and explored to help us better understand what processes are needed for democracy to fulfill its promises and how agency and active citizenship can be imagined in different ways. Gathered by local partners in their communities across the continent, these testimonies will be integrated into different outputs: an interactive website, a documentary, an educational resource pack, exhibitions etc. These will be brought to people around Europe who have never experienced life in a non-democratic system, aiming to enhance the dialogue around democracy across generations and cultures.

Brought together by the Evens Foundation and EuroClio, the Consortium includes organisations from ten different countries, encompassing project managers, event managers, financial administrators, historians, researchers (in oral history and peace), creatives (including designers and film producers), journalists, human rights activists and educators (teachers, teacher educators, textbook authors, and museum and art educators).

The project builds upon each partner’s existing research as well as their expertise and experience in working with diverse audiences. Between them, the partners are able to interact in 20 different languages – a key factor in collating a broad and diverse set of individual histories.

The project will begin at the local level, with each partner collecting stories in their region – Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Greece, Czechia, Romania, Lithuania, and Poland – representing almost half of the EU while focusing mainly on countries with more recent experiences of transition.

Changing Democracies is a two-year project funded by the EU, as part of the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV).

For more information please check our website changingdemocracies.eu

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