Report by Ms. Montserrat Catà Lladó, City of Granollers, Spain
The Catalan Chapter of Mayors for Peace in partnership with the municipality of Santa Margarida i els Monjos organised on April 26 the II Conference: «Promoting the Peace Culture: Historical Memory as a Resource for the Promotion of Peace»
Local authorities, together with experts and academics, took part at the lecture and round table in order to present local initiatives related to historical memory and peace education. This conference provided the opportunity to continue the process of reflection and debate about how to construct a peace culture through historical memory, as well as to learn from each other’s experiences.
The municipalities of Vilanova i la Geltrú, Subirats, el Vendrell, Esparreguera, Santa Margarida i els Monjos and Granollers, a representative of the entity Associació Memòria i Història of the city of Manresa, and a peace and memory expert from the International Catalan Institute for Peace agreed on the importance of sharing experiences among local governments. They concluded that youth need to be included when creating new activities related to democratic history and that there is a need to construct strong synergies between the local policies of peace and democratic memory in order to build a strong democratic and inclusive society.
Photos: courtesy of the City of Granollers