European Memory of the Gulag – Extended Reality as an Educational Tool Erasmus Project

Project Title

European Memory of the Gulag – Extended Reality as an Educational Tool

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

Among the 20 million Gulag prisoners there were hundred of thousands of citizens of European countries. In contrast to the fact that people from many European countries have passed through the Soviet camps, there is a lack of general awareness about this common European part of history. The younger generation, especially in Western Europe, has little idea that something like the Gulag existed. Although the situation in Central and Eastern Europe is slightly better, it is also not satisfactory.

Moreover, hundreds of abandoned Gulag camps are still located far away in remote parts of Siberia, and they are almost inaccessible for visitors. There are no school excursions, no museums, and often even no information that it is a place of former camp.

The main aim of the project is to create a learning model based on ‘Extended Reality’ – virtual and augmented reality and new ICT technologies – of the Gulag camps and the history of Soviet repressions.

Our ambition is to increase awareness of totalitarian systems among young generations. Didactic application of the resulting educational tools using virtual and augmented reality will make it possible to increase the efficiency and attractiveness of teaching the 20th century history (and in other areas and subjects as well). It will be developed by a consortium of organizations from Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Czechia, which focus on the education and the topic of Soviet repressions against their nations. The leading organization is the Czech Gulag.cz Association, which has been developed a unique research projects of abandoned Gulag camps in Siberia. It is the only one organization in the World using modern archaeological methods in Gulag research and at the same time using new technologies to spread the information and results.

New educational tools will be developed by the best and experienced specialists in new technologies, archaeology, education and didactics. It will be disseminated in all involved countries and we hope to spread it also beyond its borders, to the whole European Union. We are sure that thanks to developing the tool Gulag XR we will reach following objectives:

– Raising awareness of young generation to the topic of Soviet repressions.
– Focus on common, European dimension of the history of the Gulag and Soviet repressions and therefore strengthening our common democratic values.
– Use of modern ICT technologies as virtual and augmented reality in schools.-
– Creation of a new pedagogical model of teaching contemporary history using AR and VR, which can then be used in other areas and subjects as well

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 334425 Eur

Project Coordinator

Gulag.cz, z.s. & Country: CZ

Project Partners

• WWW.SCIO.CZ SRO
• POST BELLUM SK
• KOLEGIUM EUROPY WSCHODNIEJ IM.JANA NOWAKA-JEZIORANSKIEGO WE WROCLAWIU
• Memorial Deutschland e.V