A few years ago I worked with the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds and oral historian Dr Tracy Craggs on a EU-funded partnership project exploring the concept of historical memory in adult learning. Tracy and I ran a 10-week course for adult learners on the history and memory of the First World War to test an EU-wide methodology being developed by the partnership which included colleagues from Spain, Cyprus, Poland, Slovenia and Italy. After the course, the participants created a temporary exhibition for the Royal Armouries on the memory of the First World War, exploring the concepts of memory and commemoration and asking why as a society we choose to remember some events and issues at the expense of others. 

The project follows on from a successful project to create a methodology for working with historical memory in secondary schools. I've summarised that project here and blogged about

the concept of historical memory and its relevance to museums here and here. 

At the end of the project Tracy and I ran an international conference on adult learning in the cultural sector at the Royal Armouries Museum where we launched the final project methodology. It was a real privilege to work with so many experienced colleagues from across Europe - we learned a lot, not just about our different national approaches to history and commemoration, but about our European neighbours and ourselves.