Colonial Legacies and Redress: A Digital Mapping Solution for Europe

Introduction

Colonialism is often seen as a chapter in history, yet its consequences – interwoven with structural racism and discrimination – continue to affect societies both inside and outside of Europe today. A growing number of institutional and civil society actors recognize the urgency of addressing these enduring legacies.

Efforts to Address Colonial Legacies

Their efforts encompass:

• Policy reforms
• Legal reforms
• Political reforms
• Historical truth-seeking processes
• Formal apologies
• Reparations
• Restitution of looted artifacts
• Memorialization
• Dismantling of colonial symbols

These measures and mechanisms, and the broader processes surrounding them, are commonly referred to as ‘redress’. However, these initiatives remain highly fragmented, with limited knowledge-sharing and lesson-learning across different contexts.

RedressHub Overview

RedressHub will bridge this gap. As an innovative online database platform, RedressHub will leverage advanced data technologies, interactive visualization tools, and participatory design to map and connect redress initiatives for colonial harms and their legacies across Europe.

Community Engagement

This platform will serve as a dynamic space for a broad user community to engage in groundbreaking cross-sector collaborative justice efforts. It will become an essential resource for:

1. Grassroots and community actors
2. Policymakers
3. Educators
4. Human rights practitioners
5. Many other stakeholders

These groups will learn about, support, design, and implement more meaningful and scalable redress initiatives across Europe—and beyond.

Transforming Insights into Action

RedressHub will thus transform the theoretical insights and methodological innovations from ERC-StG-804151 (Justice Visions) into practical, actionable tools that empower diverse stakeholders to acknowledge and address historical injustices and their lasting impact on contemporary societies.