Our mission
No child should be exposed to the idea that another person or group is inferior, least of all in their school textbooks. At the Conflict and Education Learning Laboratory (CELL), we are working towards an international agreement to reduce divisive stereotypes and discriminatory content in school textbooks and other educational media. By working with, and creating an active network of, a broad array of experts, decision makers, students, educators and practitioners, we are uniquely positioned to:
*Develop and support research which uses state-of-the-art research methodologies to identify and understand divisive stereotypes and their links to conflict, violent extremism, and discrimination;
*Generate an Information Hive of primary and secondary data on divisive stereotypes and discriminatory content, textbooks and other educational media, and conflict;
*Convene seminars, working groups, policy forums and debates, as well as large-scale, international conferences to bring together the latest knowledge from the scientific and policy communities;
*Lobby to reduce divisive stereotypes in educational materials at local, state, regional, and international policy venues.
CELL FOUNDATION & #WIKIGAP MAASTRICHT
CELL FOUNDATION's mission is to reduce divisive stereotypes and discriminatory content in school textbooks and other learning resources. We have detected a clear gender imbalance in the way the world's largest online encyclopedia has been constructed, a problem that creates a biased understanding of history by millions of students around the world.
Bringing the first #WikiGap event to the city of Maastricht is a 'must' for two main reasons: 1- It's in our foundation's spirit to reduce all forms of divisive learning and 2- We are a part of the Limburg community and, therefore, we are dedicated to the educational and cultural development of our region and the city of Maastricht.
#WikiGap is a campaign that gathers people around the world to add more content to Wikipedia about women experts, public figures and role models in various fields. We know this will be the first of many #WikiGap events in Maastricht and we are convinced our city will work hard to close this unacceptable educational and cultural gap and to bring about a more gender-equal internet.
