In the run up to the 2015 NECE (Networking European Citizenship Education) Conference, the NECE Focus Group “Exchange between Europe and North Africa” convened for the fourth time in Thessaloniki, Greece. This year, EuroClio was also invited to participate. On behalf of EuroClio, Jaco Stoop attended the meetings, which took place over the course of three days.

During the meetings, more than thirty participants—both members of the group and guests like EuroClio—from ten countries on both sides of the Mediterranean Sea discussed citizenship education in the a European and North African context. Because the topic of the conference was “‘Us’ and ‘Them’: Citizenship Education in an Interdependent World”, the discussions focused on processes of ‘othering’ and how to deal with this in citizenship education. Within these discussions, EuroClio aimed to point out the central role history education can play in citizenship education in general, and in dealing with ‘othering’ in particular.

Another, very important goal of the meetings was to exchange ideas and projects between the participants, and to provide an opportunity for networking between European and North African organizations. EuroClio was able to gain additional insights in the situation of history education in some Southern Mediterranean countries, such as Egypt and Tunisia, and also to exchange contacts and ideas for future projects in the Mediterranean Region.