Memorialab. Social Construction of memory for promoting dialogue and co-existence in Basque Country.
(Museo de la Paz – Gernika, Spain)
MemoriaLab is a pioneering and innovative initiative promoting citizen dialogue and co-existence after decades of political and armed conflict in Basque Country. It does so by convening highly diverse citizen dialogue groups where memory is used as a way of raising awareness about how the conflict affected citizens’ lifes (social construction of memory). Its ultimate purpose lies on creating a safe and serene environment wherein lay citizens, social activists, local politicians and public civil servants who suffered the consequences of the conflict can revisit their past and update their belief systems and relational patterns in the light of the new context brought by the permanent ceasefire of ETA (Basque separatist terrorist group). A consortium compounded by three organizations implements this initiative: Gernika Peace Museum, Bakeola Center for Conflict Transformation, Gernika Gogoratuz Peace Research Center. It is funded and supported by the Peace and Co-Existence Secretariat of the Basque Government
along with local governments.
