The international roundtable Closing the Gaps: Memory, Prevention and Social Cohesion in Europe opened today in Sarajevo, bringing together practitioners, researchers, and policymakers from across Europe and beyond.
The event is co-organized by the War Childhood Museum, the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC), and the International Catalan Institute for Peace (ICIP), and takes place at Europe House.
The opening session featured welcome remarks by Ambassador Luigi Soreca, Head of the EU Delegation and EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Amina Krvavac, Director for Bosnia and Herzegovina at the War Childhood Museum, and Kristian Herbolzheimer, Executive Director of the International Catalan Institute for Peace. The session also included an overview of the roundtable by Silvia Fernández of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience.
In the opening keynote session, Hasan Hasanović, survivor of the Srebrenica genocide and Head of the Oral History Program at the Srebrenica Memorial Center, and Mô Bleeker, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect, reflected on the role of memory in fostering justice, resilience, and prevention.
Over the next two days, participants will explore how memory can move beyond remembrance to contribute to violence prevention, democratic resilience, and social cohesion. Through roundtable discussions and working groups, the program will address key challenges in current memory practices, including the exclusion of marginalized perspectives and the difficulty of translating remembrance into meaningful action.
The roundtable takes place at a time of renewed polarization, rising hate speech, and historical revisionism across Europe. In this context, the gathering aims to create space for critical reflection, exchange, and the development of more inclusive and action-oriented approaches to memory.
