About us

Introduction

 

In a globalized world, it is increasingly important to be aware of both history and various interpretations about it, not to mention their influence on politics and events in the world today. As a response to these challenges, Historians without Borders in Finland (HWB) was founded at the initiative of Erkki Tuomioja, PhD, MP, Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, on 17 June 2015 in Helsinki. The purpose of the organization is to further public discussion about history and to promote the use of historical knowledge for peace-building and conflict-resolution.

According to its statutes HWB seeks to address the role of history in conflicts and to bridge the gap between the academia and policy-makers. 

Through an international network of experts, HWB aims to

  • promote and deepen general and comprehensive knowledge and understanding of history;
  • promote open and free access to historical material and archives;
  • promote interactive dialogue between different views and interpretations of history to bring closer diverging views of the course of historical events;
  • support efforts to impede the abuse of history to foster conflicts or to sustain enemy images and distorted myths, and to contribute to the use of history in defusing and resolving conflicts.
head_bg1
big_bw_2

HWB seeks to achieve these objectives by organizing public and expert discussions, participating in general debate in the media, carrying out research and publishing on the theme as well as by taking part in different conflict-resolution processes.

 

The idea is to create an international network of experts who can both independently and in cooperation actively promote the HWB objectives in their own countries and communities. This network will work as a basis for a fixed international committee and, eventually, an official global organization.