International interdisciplinary conference devoted to the analysis of the relationship between space and historical memory, the uses of the memorial heritage and the treatment of memorial spaces in public policies. The conference will consist of an opening session and then three thematically structured sessions, with three presentations and then three workshops for each. Experts from several European and American countries will participate as lecturers. The conference is aimed at researchers and professionals, as well as legacy management technicians and activists from the social networks who are interested in the broad field of urban memorial space.

Organized by:
Center for Study of the Francoist and Democratic Eras (CEFID) of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

With the cooperation of:
• Barcelona History Museum (MUHBA)
• Democratic Memorial of the Catalonia's Government
• Heinrich Böll Stiftung Cono Sur

CONTENTS

The treatment, preservation and resignification of memorial spaces, the conflictual relationship between the citizenry and them, and their inclusion in or exclusion from the democratic legacy are all matters of great importance, laden with symbolic weight in the configuration of public memory, both national and international. Interest in this topic relative to memorial spaces has been expressed in the growing demand for information, analytical criteria and concrete action, in a vast literature, and in a proliferation of exhibitions, cultural initiatives and various territorial actions.
With the aim of fostering the exchange of knowledge and approaches toward the treatment of these spaces, CEFID has called an international conference with the title Urban space, memory, and citizenry: Restoration, transmission and resignification of the democratic legacy.
Toward these ends the conference will bring together the experience of various groups acting in this area, in both Europe and the Americas. It will also concern itself with the use of new technologies in the determination of and dialogue with the spaces, and the various intellectual reflections that contribute to the understanding and the use of this legacy. To these ends the conference is aimed at researchers and professionals, as well as legacy management technicians and activists from the social networks who are interested in the broad field of urban memorial space.

STRUCTURE

The conference will consist of an opening session and then three thematically structured sessions, with three presentations and then three workshops for each.

Opening session: General presentation on the contents of the conference.

First session: Policies

This session is composed of lectures and workshops that will present reflections and actions relative to the public policies on the urban memorial legacy—and, to a lesser extent, the rural as well—and the diverse nature of the spaces in the public memory.

• A workshop on an international experience.

• Two simultaneous workshops on national experiences.

Second session: Landscapes and residences

This session will include lectures addressing the major memorial activities in the spaces, urban or otherwise, and assessing their whole development process –from their gestation (origin and reasons for the project) to the conflicts and output that they have yielded, their success or failure, and their relation with the original projects.

• A workshop on an international experience.

• Two simultaneous workshops on national experiences.

Third session: Assaults

The final session will include lectures and workshops on the relationship between the citizenry and the discovery, appropriation, rejection and resignification of spaces related to democratic values, as well as on the conflicts in deciding on and restoring ethical legacy space.

• A workshop on an international experience.

• Two simultaneous workshops on national experiences.

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE:

Xavier Domènech, Martí Marín, Carme Molinero, Manel Risques, Francesc Vilanova, Ricard Vinyes, Pere Ysàs

PAPERS

Proposals for papers related to the conference topics are invited for submission. Papers which are accepted will be assigned to the appropriate session by the conference’s scientific committee. The papers will be presented at the conference in poster format, accompanying the written texts. The texts will be published in CD format. Deadlines for submission of proposals and final papers are as follows:

· Proposals: June 15, 2010. The proposals should include the following information: full name of the submitter, field or profession, work or research center, telephone number, email address, title of the paper and a brief summary of its contents (maximum 500 words). Notification of acceptance of proposals received will be made by June 30, 2010.

· Papers and posters: January 15, 2011. The text should be submitted in digital format as a Word file, and should not exceed 50,000 characters. The authors of the accepted proposals for papers will be duly informed of the guidelines for the poster format.

All submissions should be sent by email to the email address ce.efid@uab.cat

REGISTRATION PERIOD:

The registration period opens on September 1, 2010, and closes on January 15, 2011.