Modern technology and digital tools have become essential in today’s classrooms, aligning with how students learn through direct experience, interaction, and digital environments. Traditional lecture-based teaching is replaced by methods that encourage critical thinking, contextual understanding, and active democratic participation.

Tangible heritage is no longer just a subject of historical study, it becomes a tool for learning how history is interpreted, challenged, and represented. Everything from street names, buildings, and monuments to cemeteries and street art can be used as a visual and experiential stimulus for learning in democratic societies.

Digital heritage tools, when paired with critical and inquiry-based approaches, allow monuments to move beyond being static symbols—they become interactive sources of knowledge. Today, a wide range of platforms provide access to cultural heritage, from transnational databases like Europeana, Historiana, Cultural Routes of Europe, JUDAICA 2.0, Contested Histories, and the World Monuments Fund, to local digital platforms that explore diverse histories. Numerous independently created websites—such as Atlas Obscura or the Spomenik Database—offer fascinating narratives and lesser-known perspectives. While they can spark curiosity and provide rich storytelling, their educational factual reliability may vary and should be critically assessed before classroom use.

Contested Histories: An International Platform for Monument Controversies

Contested Histories is a collaborative initiative led by EuroClio (the European Association of History Educators) and the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR). Through its Monumental Challenges project, it has been setting a model for integrating digital heritage resources into school curricula across countries such as Denmark, Cyprus, Serbia, and the Netherlands.

More than 500 case studies from five continents cover a broad spectrum of sensitive historical topics: colonialism, slavery, racism, fascism, antisemitism, communism, authoritarianism, and sexual violence. These cases can be adapted into teaching materials, enriching classrooms around the world with global perspectives and historically grounded resources.

The project also developed twelve lesson plans that explore the complex and often overlooked role of monuments in public spaces. While some view monuments as symbols of national pride, others see them as reminders of unresolved injustices. In societies recovering from conflict or grappling with the legacies of colonialism and totalitarianism, monuments often reflect trauma and contested narratives.

The lesson scenarios are organized into six thematic units, each using concrete examples from different countries:

I. How Do Values Change Over Time?

• Monument to JP Coen, Hoorn, Netherlands
• Stefan Lazarević, Serbia

II. Media Literacy and Critical Source Analysis

• Robert E. Lee Monument, Charlottesville, USA
• Katyn Massacre Memorial, Poland

III. Conflict Resolution Skills

• Hans Egede Monument, Nuuk, Greenland
• Edward Colston Statue, Bristol, UK

IV. Multiperspectivity in Monuments

• Liberty Monument, Nicosia, Cyprus
• Indian Memorial, The Hague, Netherlands

V. How Would You Design a Monument?

• “Comfort Women” Memorial, Seoul, South Korea
• EOCA/Grivas Monument, Limassol and Paphos, Cyprus

VI. Teaching Controversial Histories in Sensitive Contexts

• “I Am Queen Mary” Monument, Copenhagen, Denmark
• RTS Building, Belgrade, Serbia

These scenarios draw on the Contested Histories case study library, offering material that can be used in subjects such as history, civic education, art, and interdisciplinary studies.

Beotura: A Local Digital Heritage Resource

Inspired by the international model, Beotura is a local Serbian project that received the 2024 Histolab Award from the Council of Europe for excellence in history education. Beotura offers a website and mobile app presenting Belgrade’s heritage in a way that encourages teachers to create lesson plans based on its digital collections.

Students were encouraged to research, photograph, and map thematic aspects of cultural heritage. More than 150 locations were documented and analyzed, not just for their historical importance, but for their symbolic, cultural, and social meanings. Public spaces were thus transformed into interactive, digital classrooms.

Lesson plans were developed using Beotura’s resources as part of the Onsite Remembrance Toolkit , created in collaboration with the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade (Center for Historical Research and Education), Education for the 21st Century, and Serbian teachers. The manual promotes democratic competences through memory sites, supports onsite learning activities, and showcases inspiring examples of educational practice. Scenarios span primary and secondary school levels and cover subjects including history, Serbian language and literature, social studies, art, geopolitics, and interdisciplinary courses.

Each scenario can be adapted for digital or physical settings:

• “Three Women in Difficult Times” (Geopolitics)

Follows the lives of three women from different ethnic and ideological backgrounds during WWII, connecting local memory sites with global themes of resistance and human rights.

• “War Memorials – Learning Peace” (History)

Uses military cemeteries and shared memorials to explore the foreign policy of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes after WWI.

• “From Fairgrounds to Camps” (History & Civic Education)

Engages students with the history of the Staro Sajmište concentration camp, encouraging critical examination of Holocaust and genocide narratives.

• “Echoes of the First World War in Serbian Literature” (Serbian Language and Literature)

Connects wartime literature with historical memory, encouraging students to reflect on collective remembrance.

All these scenarios use Beotura’s digital platform to allow students to explore history interactively, create content, and critically examine the past and its relevance today. These engaging, tech-supported approaches offer students a deeper understanding of memory culture and help turn abstract history into meaningful experience.

From Local Stories to Global Connections: Exploring the RTS Bombing Through Monumental Challenges

A inspiring example that links the Beotura project with Contested Histories is the lesson plan titled “Radio Television Building in Belgrade, Serbia “  developed as part of the Monumental Challenges project. This lesson focuses on the 1999 NATO bombing of the Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) building in Belgrade, a pivotal event surrounded by complex and sensitive issues related to its memorialization.

Designed to develop a range of critical skills and historical thinking concepts, this lesson encourages students to explore multiple perspectives on the memorialization of the NATO bombing of the RTS building. Through multiperspectivity and historical thinking, students deepen their understanding of the ethical dimension of history. They learn to identify specific historical phenomena related to the event itself and, more importantly, articulate different approaches to public and private memorialization linked to various memorials of the bombing. The lesson’s main focus is to recognize how political interpretations of recent, sensitive history influence its memorialization.

The central inquiry driving the lesson asks why the building of memorials for civil casualties of the NATO bombing of RTS has become such a sensitive and difficult issue. The aims are to help students recognize the political dimensions of memory and commemoration, develop empathy and critical thinking by adopting different stakeholder perspectives, and reflect on how monuments shape public understanding of historical events.

The lesson begins with a introduction, where students are introduced to the historical background of the 1999 NATO bombing through a variety of sources, including media coverage, reports, and contextual readings. Teachers emphasize the sensitive nature of the topic and guide students to understand the broader political and commemorative implications surrounding the event.

Ideally, the class activity involves a prior site visit to the RTS bombing location in Belgrade, or alternatively, a classroom simulation utilizing various digital resources.   In this phase, students research existing monuments, public memory practices, and analyze the visibility and symbolism of the site. This activity is designed to foster place-based learning and allow students to engage directly with the physical or virtual memorial landscape

Following this, students participate in a group roleplay lasting between twenty and thirty minutes. They are divided into four stakeholder groups representing :

• Families of RTS victims (This group is dealing with particularly emotionally sensitive content, as they represent the families of the victims who have deep personal connections to the event, having lost their closest relatives. At the same time, they also represent those who took the initiative to erect the monument through private efforts questioning not only the illegal action of NATO, but also the role and accountability of the Serbian and TV authorities during the bombing.)
• State institutions (This group should focus on giving plausible arguments why a proper memorial has yet to be built by the state or municipality, despite the annual state commemoration of the RTS building bombing. These commemorative practices, widely publicized and broadcast by national media, emphasize not only the civilian victims but also portray the state itself as a victim and its policy as righteous and right.)
• NATO country officials (This group should take the role of the present-day officials representing the states that took an active part in the NATO bombardment campaign. They are supposed to review the nature of acting against the broadcast institution that resulted in killing civilians and offer a possible memorial or concept of commemoration of innocent victims and open the question of accountability).
• Tourists visitors (The position of tourists/visitors should represent the objective and neutral, emotionally or politically unbiased perspective to the memorial site and monuments as external observer or passerby. They are supposed to determine the visibility of the memorials, identify proper monument markings, labels, and level of significance– all details which contribute to the culture of remembrance.)

Each group explores a different narrative, guided by prepared texts that help them investigate issues of memorialization and historical accountability.

The lesson then moves into a thirty to forty-minute discussion and reflection session. Here, student groups present their perspectives, respond to the central question, and engage in collective dialogue. The session concludes with individual reflection, where students step back from their roles to offer personal insights on how such events should be commemorated in contemporary society.

Students’ groups should start in plenary with consecutive presentations of different viewpoints, focusing on specific designated tasks, and the  Key question in the following order (1. Families of the victims 2. State institutions 3. Officials of NATO 4. Tourists/visitors). The teacher’s role would be to conduct and coordinate presentations helping students with guidelines and sub-questions if necessary. 

The final sequence should enable students to step out and take distance from their previously allocated perspectives/roles in order to give general reflections and make overall conclusions as adult students with the possibility to actively participate in various civic and societal contexts. Students should split from their formative groups and participate in discussions individually. They should present their personal viewpoints on the current situation and the concept of public commemoration of this event, ensuring their reflections capture the full historical complexity and sensitive dimensions involved. 

Additionally, as homework, students could design their own model of a memorial, including the focus of commemoration, the style, the message and the overall design of the monument, or memorial complex that should be offered to the state or municipal authorities as a creative solution for a of still missing proper landmark that is still missing

Throughout the lesson, multimedia content such as videos, reports, and news archives enrich the learning experience. Students are encouraged to explore online sources, supported by additional photos and materials that facilitate both remote and classroom-based study.

By involving students in exploring local history through digital and field-based learning, projects like this demonstrate that monuments can become more than physical structures; they transform into platforms for dialogue, reflection, and social transformation. Whether through mapping heritage, designing monuments, or engaging in role-plays, students take on active roles in rethinking history and the meaning of public space itself.

Re-examining the role of these places in learning is not merely a creative challenge; it is a vital step in preparing students for democratic participation and critical engagement with the complex world around them.

In May 2025, EuroClio and Europeana welcomed six cultural heritage educators to The Hague for a co-creation session as part of ‘Creating Lessons with Cultural Heritage’. The project seeks to dive into the untapped wealth of cultural heritage available through museums, archives and other cultural institutions to create ready-to-use materials for the classroom.