In 2002 the government of West Flanders decided to unite all initiatives around the war subject in a provincial network, “ Oorlog en Vrede in de Westhoek” [War and Peace in Flanders Fields]. The initiative is also supported by partners in the Westhoek region itself (museums, associations, local committees, etc.). In the lead up to the remembrance period 2014-2018 the network is fully devoted to the aspect “Learning from the war”. It is important here that the story of the war is adjusted to a justified remembrance and an obvious peace message. The network wants to guarantee that the initiatives that they support are of the highest quality.

For this reason the network decided to develop a Touchstone '14-'18 (or 'Assessment points for peace education based on remembrance'). The inspiration source was the mission statement around high-quality remembrance education which was drafted by the “Bijzonder Comite voor Remembrance education” (BCH)* [Special Committee for Remembrance Education]. An appeal was made to a very diverse ‘brainstorming group’ of heritage staff, experts, teachers, educational staff,…. The basis remained the touchstone of the BCH, only the interpretation was adapted. Van Alstein, M. & Nath, G. , 2012, 14-18 van dichtbij, inspiratiegids voor lokale projecten over de Grote Oorlog, 2005; STUDIO GLOBO, “Voorbij de kleuren” [Past the colours], DATUM and the comments of “Kleur Bekennen” [Confess Colours] were of great assistance in this.

Download the Touchstone '14-'18 here in pdf.