With the veterans who fought in World War II gradually fading away, their stories and the memory associated with war events risk to be lost forever. To help prevent this from happening, Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) applications were developed for 11 of the 75 personal life-changing war stories that had been selected as part of the Brabant Remembers project. This paper presents the results of a study to understand whether AR plays a role in providing emotional engagement and memorable experiences to visitors using these apps. It concerns a case study relative to the monument in Breda commemorating General Maczek, a Polish general whose army liberated the city and the southern part of the Netherlands in 1944. The results of this study help understand whether AR enables people to emotionally engage with these stories and have memorable experiences, what will allow to remember them longer
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Many, many comparisons have been drawn in recent years between the current rise of (right-wing) populism and the financial crisis of 2008 that shook and continues to shake Europe to its core, and the tumultuous and horrifying events of the 1930s, which in the end resulted in the Second World War. A number of recent studies which (partially) focus on this decade carry ominous titles like To Hell and Back, The Age of Catastrophe and The Triumph of the Dark. Referred to by some historians as the second Thirty Years’ War, the period from the First World War to the end of the Second still continues to draw much academic and indeed public attention. In many cases, Germany deservedly plays a central role in the analysis, either in the form of the Kaiserreich or the ill-fated Weimar Republic and, of course, Nazi Germany. The five books under review here discuss European history between 1914 and 1950 in general, and that of Germany in particular, in this period. What do these books tell us about Europe’s and Germany’s path in the first half of the twentieth century, and what new insights do they provide? https://doi.org/10.1177/0265691418777981 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martijn-lak-71793013/
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Post-war urban neighbourhoods in industrialised countries have been shown to negatively affect the lifestyles of their residents due to their design. This study aims at developing an empirical procedure to select locations to be redesigned and the determinants of health at stake in these locations, with involvement of residents’ perspectives as core issue. We addressed a post-war neighbourhood in the city of Groningen, the Netherlands. We collected data from three perspectives: spatial analyses by urban designers, interviews with experts in local health and social care (n = 11) and online questionnaires filled in by residents (n = 99). These data provided input for the selection of locations to be redesigned by a multidisciplinary team (n = 16). The procedure yielded the following types of locations (and determinants): An area adjacent to a central shopping mall (social interaction, traffic safety, physical activity), a park (experiencing green, physical activity, social safety, social interaction) and a block of low-rise row houses around a public square (social safety, social interaction, traffic safety). We developed an empirical procedure for the selection of locations and determinants to be addressed, with addressing residents’ perspectives. This procedure is potentially applicable to similar neighbourhoods internationally.
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On the issue of Displacement and placemaking and selectivity of memories and narratives of WWII in Portugal by using Vilar Formoso's Museum as a case study.
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On the issue of Displacement and placemaking and selectivity of memories and narratives of WWII in Portugal by using Vilar Formoso's Museum as a case study.
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Europe is on the path, though rocky, to political and cultural unity. After World War II, relatively large numbers of immigrants moved to Europe and brought with them outside cultural customs and religions. The issue of multiculturalism in society has been on the political agenda for decades, but attitudes have changed drastically since 11th September 2001. Attitudes in relation to migrants, particularly those with a Muslim background, have become more wary and critical. Islam has become associated with violence and terrorism and fears have grown that migration exacerbates this threat to society. These societal developments pose a threat to intercultural education. This article explores the societal situation in the Netherlands and Germany using empirical data and elaborates how youth in the Netherlands and Germany evaluate their relationship with migrant, especially through the dimension of religious tolerance and acceptance.
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A tangible proof of the meaning and scope of human flourishing that can change not only organizations but also entire societies, is given by Robert Schuman, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs who launched the Schuman Declaration (1950) that gave birth to the EU. His leitmotiv was to be a faithful instrument in the hands of God in whichever circumstances. A strong personal relationship with God characterized his entire personal and professional life and implied the heroic practice of virtues. He strove for peace on the continent and therefore for reconciliation between France and Germany - countries that had been archenemies since the Treaty of Verdun (843). He previewed a peace project on coal and steel, former instruments of war. Schuman pursued a policy of reconciliation from the moment he became a member of the French Parliament (1919) and even during his captivity during the Second World War. His coherence of life was acknowledged by friend and foe and recognized also professionally. His profound Catholic faith brought human flourishing that changed not only French-German relationships, not only Europe, but the entire world. Schuman’s Europe would strive towards political unification through economic cooperation – as a means! – at the service of man and his transcendence so that man could flourish. These days man seems to be an instrument of the economy and politics instead of the other way round. A good moment to revive the person and thoughts of the Father of Europe.
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