The conference “Peace Education in BiH: Dialogue, Recommendations, and Successful Models” presented the results of the peace education program that the Nansen Dialogue Center (NDC) Mostar has been implementing for many years.
Every year, around 1,000 students and 70 teachers actively participate in this program. According to NDC Mostar’s Project Manager, Vernes Voloder, in today’s world, where divisions prevail, peace education has no alternative.
“What we aim for is to integrate the values of peace education—promoting tolerance, respect for others, and embracing diversity—into the educational system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We want to teach younger generations how to build resilience against ethnonationalist narratives that influence our society,” said Voloder.
He emphasized the need for greater investment in education, stating that education is the only true and meaningful response to the chaos prevailing in the world today.
Edisa Adžović, Grant Manager of the SMART Balkan project, added that the peace education program has focused on three cantons: Herzegovina-Neretva, Central Bosnia, and Zenica-Doboj.
According to her, significant results have been achieved in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, and the program will continue in the future.
“We are very pleased that the successful cooperation with the Ministry of Education of HNC continues. Another memorandum has been signed, and we are happy to hear that 1,000 students go through this program each year. The curriculum and methodology developed through this initiative have become an official extracurricular curriculum within the educational system,” said Adžović.
Marija Ćavar from the Mostar Institute for Education spoke about the effects and significance of this education.
“Teachers and educators are trained in key concepts of peace education, which they can implement beyond the formal curriculum. The important thing is that they receive education for their professional development and later apply it in different ways—whether through workshops for parents and students, school projects, or similar initiatives,” said Ćavar.
The Mostar conference on peace education was held as part of the project “Advocacy for New Educational Practices”, supported through the SMART Balkans project, implemented by the Center for the Promotion of Civil Society from Sarajevo in cooperation with partner organizations from North Macedonia and Albania. The project is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.
