The Teaching of Historical Memory as a Tool for Achieving SDG 16 and Teachers’ Views on the Exile Memorial Museum (MUME) Routes

Abstract

This article analyses the educational role of historical memory in Spain in the context of Education for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. The main objective is to show the utilitarian value of historical memory as an enabling element to achieve SDG 16: “Peace, justice and strong institutions”. The study analysed focuses on a very specific heritage product, the exile routes of the Exile Memorial Museum—MUME (La Jonquera, Spain), through a series of semi-open in-depth interviews with teachers who visited the routes. Their responses were cross-checked with the learning objectives for SDG 16 in its three categories: cognitive, socio-emotional and behavioural. The results of this cross-referencing show that there is a significant relationship between the teaching of heritage in places of memory and the block of socioemotional learning objectives, and more specifically with the third category, related to the display of empathy and solidarity.