Dembra was developed by the Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies, the European Wergeland Centre and the Department of Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Oslo.
The Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies, the Rafto Foundation, The Falstad Centre, The Narvik War and Peace Center, Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue, and ARKIVET Peace and Human Rights Centre are tasked with implementing Dembra in different parts of Norway.
The centre conducts research-based work on anti-Semitism and racism with children, students and teachers. Creating teaching materials and training teachers are at the heart of its work. Every year the centre welcomes more than 8,000 children for various educational programmes. The centre has extensive experience of managing and supporting projects of a similar size.
Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue is a knowledge center and a meeting point for dialogue and peaceful conflict management. The center conducts peace and dialogue work both in Norway and internationally, and has experience from, among other places, the Western Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq and Poland. In Norway, Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue guides schools and municipalities in conflict resolution, as well as teaches and facilitates dialogue. The center promotes peace, human rights, dialogue and reconciliation through training, documentation and dissemination of experience-based knowledge. The venue is the Nansen School in Lillehammer.
The Arkivet Foundation is a national research and education centre which develops, disseminates and uses information to promote human dignity based on the events of World War II. The foundation is located in the former national archives building in Kristiansand, which served as headquarters for the Gestapo in Southern Norway during the war.
The Rafto Foundation is a non-profit, non-political organisation working to promote human rights. Its core activities include the annual Rafto Prize, ongoing projects involving the prizewinners, and the teaching of democracy and human rights. The Rafto Prize is given to persons and organisations who stand on the front line in the fight for human rights and democracy. The foundation was established in 1986 to commemorate the human rights work of Professor Thorolf Rafto.
The Narvik War and Peace Centre is a non-profit foundation that researches, documents and disseminates on issues related to war and conflict. The story of the Centre starts with the German attack on Narvik in 1940, the battle of Narvik and the occupation that followed. However, we also work with issues not related to the Second World War (WWII). The Centre has a particular focus on the rules of war (IHL) and human rights. The Narvik War and Peace Centre was founded through a merger of the Nordland Red Cross War Memorial Museum (est. 1964) and Nordnorsk fredssenter (est. 1990). It is the northernmost of seven Norwegian peace- and human rights centres funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Education.
The Falstad Centre is a centre for education and documentation. It is based in the main building of the former SS camp Falstad from World War II. The Falstad Centre develops and disseminates information about prisoners of war and human rights through documentation, research and teaching.
Ministry of Education and Research in Norway.
The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training.
In 2017, the HL-Center was also assigned the task of developing educational resources for teacher training, in cooperation with teacher training institutions.
This led to the establishment of Dembra LU for teacher education, which connects various teacher training institutions in a network to enhance teacher students' professional competence related to the prevention of prejudice, discrimination, and group hostility in schools.
Here are some of the collaborators we work with, and the institutions that have participated/are participating in research and development initiatives.
