Stories of Life
Presentation
Our life experiences constitute a large part of our being, and they generate different behaviours in relation to the people we are living with, or have lived with, as well as our attitudes towards conflicts. These tendencies and attitudes may generate violence or encourage coexistence. Thus, it is important to emphasize the idea of reciprocity.
Peace Building circles around multiple generators of Peace, ¡ among these the treatment of Life Stories as contributions toward Peace. To deepen this treatment and raise questions about how these Life Stories are perceived and received is one our biggest scientific and social challenges, especially when considering divided societies in our past, present and future.
Goals
- To contribute to Peace Building by recovering Historical Memory and by transcending the memory of the Bombing of Gernika in order to generate a Culture of Peace.
- To create working tools which promote the study of History as a Pedagogy of Peace.
- To spread knowledge about the field of Historical Recovery as a tool which contributes to the Culture of Peace by elaborating didactic material.
- To promote spaces for people who have suffered violence to meet and restore the value of that shared narrative as a Pedagogy of Peace.
Projects
In this field, projects and initiatives form two working branches:
1.- The Collective of Women and Men who Witnessed and Survived the Bombing of Gernika
Men and women who witnessed and survived the Bombing of Gernika are part of our Historical Memory, and they have shown how their life experiences are dedicated to the Pedagogy of Memory and the transmission of History as resources for Peace.
- The Pedagogy of Peace Through Memory: The Bombing of Gernika.
A didactic unit will be edited as a complement to the documentary “The bombing of Gernika. 70 Years Hereafter” designed to deal with the Bombing of Gernika as memory from a pedagogical point of view. It will treat the Bombing within the context of the Spanish Civil War and serve as a learning and exhibition tool in the field of education.
Financed by the Ministry of the President, Spanish Government, and the Gernika Gogoratuz Association. 2007-2008 - El Bombardeo de Gernika: The Gernika Bombing Story
Investigating, cataloguing and conducting interviews of survivors of the Bombing of Gernika as a substantial part of the documentary “El Bombardeo de Gernika : Gernika Story,” produced by Producciones IDEM (Idem Productions).
Financed by the Department for Social Affairs of the Basque Government, and the Gernika Gogoratuz Association, among others. 2006-2007.
2.- Memory and Narrative and the Pedagogy of Peace
The life paths of people who have suffered violence and their willingness to share their experiences with future generations make memory and its narrative substantial pedagogical tools in the process of Peace Building.
- Compilation, Analysis, Systematization and Publication of Personal Experiences as a Pedagogical Treatment of Terrorism, in the Basque Country as well as in Other Cases.
The goal of this project is to compile, analyze and systematize existing pedagogical documents concerning victims of terrorism on the formal as well as informal educational level.
To advance the knowledge of peace pedagogy and coexistence, reinforcing the value of life, the dignity of all people, the culture of peace, non-violence and solidarity.
Financed by the Basque Government Department for Attention to Victims of Terrorism and the Gernika Gogoratuz Association. 2006. - International Project for Intergenerational Dialogue Within the Framework of NIGEL (Network of Intergenerational Learning in Europe).
This project has contributed to the exchange of theoretical concepts and practical approaches of different European organizations in order to promote intergenerational learning in different contexts. We want to underline the work that we are developing in the area of exchange of experiences based on historical context, biographical memories and the culture of remembrance.
Financed by the Association of Learning Grundtvig 2, Sócrates Programme of the European Union and the Gernika Gogoratuz Association. 2003-2006
Activities
- Annual meetings of the Collective of Women and Men Surviving Witnesses of the Bombing of Gernika.
- Different meetings between the Collective of Women and Men Surviving Witnesses of the Bombing of Gernika and representatives of organizations which work in the field of Peace Building (Children of the War of the Basque Country, February 13th Association of Dresden, Germany, Peace Boat of Japan, etc.).
- International acknowledgement of the pedagogical work developed by the Collective of Women and Men Surviving Witnesses of the Bombing of Gernika with the receipt of the "Gernika Award for Peace and Reconciliation" during the 70th Anniversary of the Bombing of Gernika, on the 26th of April, 2007.
- International acknowledgement of their work with the receipt of the "Courage of Conscience Award" granted by the Peace Abbey organization of the U.S.A., on the 26th of April, 2007.
Publications and Audiovisual Material
- Gernika: El Bombardeo (Gernika: The Bombing.) Producciones IDEM (Idem Productions). In cooperation with Gernika Gogoratuz, 2007.
- El Bombardeo de Gernika: La Huella Humana (The Bombing of Gernika: The Mark of Men.) Gernika Gogoratuz, 1998.
- Kasper, Michael: Gernika y Alemania. Historia de una reconciliación (Gernika and Germany: The History of a Reconciliation), Bakeaz and Gernika Gogoratuz, Red Gernika 3, 1998.
- Cava Mesa, María Jesus (coord.): Memoria colectiva del bombardeo de Gernika (The Collective Memory of the Bombing of Gernika), Bakeaz and Gernika Gogoratuz, Red Gernika 1, 1996.
Contact
Anna León Herrero
Life Stories
María Oianguren Idígoras
Director of Peace Research Center