The International Network gatherings held during the GariwoNetwork on November 27th and 28th marked a fundamental moment for Gariwo's continuous growth and, we hope, for all the representatives who joined us from nearly ten countries around the globe. What unfolded was not simply a coordination meeting, but a space and a framework intentionally created to let shared values and similarities emerge — something increasingly rare in today’s world, yet welcoming and embracing differences.
Drawing from themes later highlighted in the plenary session, the network reaffirmed itself as a community built on plurality: of memories, identities, political cultures, struggles, and languages. Plurality is not only a democratic pillar — it is a value at the core of every Garden of the Righteous. Local, culturally specific stories become universal because they speak the language of human dignity.
This workshop continues the journey started in June at the United Nations in New York, on the occasion of the 4th International Day for Countering Hate Speech. On that day, Gariwo was honored to be selected by the United Nations as a model of good practice — called to represent ethical coalitions that counter hate speech through active civic memory and solidarity.
At the UN headquarters, the Gariwo delegation launched an appeal for the international recognition of a International Day of the Righteous, and for the creation of new Gardens of the Righteous in all member states. The message was clear: in a world marked by polarization, hate, and violence — including online hate speech — the stories of the Righteous and the Gardens that honor them can become powerful tools of prevention, memory, and hope.
Against this backdrop of international diplomacy and global commitment, the November workshop allowed each representative to present the historical, cultural, or social reasons that made the creation of a Garden necessary in their own country. Their interventions revealed how deeply rooted and diverse these motivations are.
Gariwo and the International Network
The sessions began with common reference points: the values of the Righteous, the empathy and curiosity towards the Other, and our educational offer. These materials grounded participants in the moral horizon that guides Gariwo’s mission.
During the morning session on Friday 28th each representative then had the chance to introduced themselves and shared their work, presenting successful practices, difficulties encountered, and the motivations behind their Gardens of the Righteous.
Albania, where the Catholic University in Tirana is at the the core of educational activities about the Righteous.
Neve Shalom Wahat al-Salam, where coexistence and dialogue are lived daily and have inspired practices adopted in Milan.
Rwanda, where women lead efforts in reconciliation and societal rebuilding with SEVOTA organization.
Argentina, rooted in the legacy of the Madres and Abuelas who transformed grief into justice.
Iraqi Kurdistan and Jordan, where environmental justice becomes a moral frontier and a tool for peacebuilding in the region and among the citizenship with NWE organization and EcoPeace Middle East.
Warsaw, Thessaloniki, Marseille, and other sites where memory inhabits public spaces, transforming them into civic tools for democratic education, retracing symbolic places of the past century collective human memory, yet from a different perspective, which is the perspective of the Good.
And many others, including Gardens yet to come, as the project in San Marino, and civil society organizations and networks such as the Platform of European Memory and Conscience and the Edelstam Foundation, contributing research, diplomacy, and cultural insight even without a physical Garden.
A Fundamental Moment of Connection
What connects these diverse experiences is the belief that democracy survives where ordinary people choose moral courage. The international network is not a showcase — it is a laboratory where memory, education, and civic imagination meet.
This gathering was essential: a reminder of why this network exists and why individual stories and human connections matter. This gathering, built on listening and shared purpose, demonstrated that even across distances and different histories, the values that unite us are stronger than what divides us.
This workshop is only the beginning. We look forward to strengthening ceremonies worldwide, developing new international educational formats, supporting research and story-collection, and creating thematic clusters — from women’s courage to environmental responsibility.
These stories illustrate the power of plurality — not as fragmentation, but as a democratic value and a universal moral language. As reflected in the plenary session, the international network is the mirror of Gariwo in the world: through the specific, it expresses the universal. The Gardens are not places of death but places of hope, grounded in the “Gariwo method”: gratitude toward those who choose the good, the search for stories from below, and the belief that good generates inner wellbeing, not sacrifice. They show that the world can always be repaired through human action, even by fragile individuals.
This meeting reaffirmed that the international network is not a showcase — it is a living laboratory. A space where memory, education, and civic imagination come together, and where democracy is cultivated not only in institutions but in gardens, schools, and public squares.
For Gariwo, this workshop was a moment of inspiration, recognition, and connection. In a time when common ground is difficult to find, we wanted to offer a space where similarities and shared values could surface with clarity — responsibility, empathy, human dignity, and moral courage.
This is only the beginning. In the coming years, we aim to strengthen international ceremonies, expand educational programs, support local research initiatives, and develop thematic clusters on women’s courage, genocide prevention, environmental justice, and dialogue across conflict lines.
Together, through this network, our goal is to transform memory into civic action and build a global moral alliance for the future.