This resource book is based on the experiences of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) Summer School in Turkey 2008. The book looks at different methodologies which can all be incorporated in Human Rights Education (HRE). It includes descriptions of methodologies used at the Summer School, its objectives, as well as giving examples of the different types of methodologies. They are naturally focused on human rights; the games help improve participants’ knowledge of human rights, they show how conflict resolution have to be based on communication and cooperation, and they show how vital an understanding of human rights in everyday life is.
The resource book includes an introduction to the EMHRN and its Summer School, and it then looks at three types of HRE; games, videos/films and role-playing.
The chapter about using games in HRE illustrates the importance of understanding human rights, through games such as “Thinking about Identity, Discrimination and Solidarity” in which participants experience being gagged and bound, and have to communicate without speech and hand signals. The second game used in this book is “colourful”, which is a board game where cooperation and empathy play a large role.
The second chapter about using videos and films in HRE firstly looks at film screenings, and how these can be used to highlight human rights issues, in addition to opening a discussion afterwards. Secondly, the book explores the “Camera Distribution Project”, which was a project introduced by B’Tselem, with the aim of reducing human rights violations in the future by informing civilians about human rights and hands them cameras, after which they are told to film human rights violations. The films can then be used to document violations, which can furthermore be used in educational settings, or used to prosecute offenders.
The final chapter in this resource book is about role-playing, and the example used is a madeup country called Ruritania. With a brief explanation of the situation of Ruritania, the rest of the role-playing game is about conflict resolution and compromise. It teaches participants about the difficulties of conflict resolution, and highlights all the issues that need to be taken into consideration while cooperating in order to achieve the best results for sustainable peace.
Along with descriptions and recommendations of methodologies used, this resource book includes excellent ideas for different types of HRE methodologies, which can be used in both formal and informal settings and are aimed at all age groups.