What does peace education look like in a community that has experienced conflict and continues to live with its consequences?

As part of the research activities of the DANUBE PEACE project, SPIN/Okret spoke with Huso Razić, a school pedagogue and Deputy Head of the High School in Stolac, Bosnia and Herzegovina. His experience offers an important practitioner perspective on peace education, intercultural dialogue, young people’s participation and the challenges of building stronger social cohesion in a post-conflict society.

About Huso Razić

Huso Razić is a school pedagogue who has served for the past five years as Deputy Head of the High School in Stolac, a town in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Stolac experienced significant ethnic conflict during the 1990s, particularly between Croat and Bosniak communities. Today, the high school continues to operate with two curricula, one in Croatian and one in Bosnian, meaning that students can still be separated along ethnic lines.

Following a period in which the school experienced peer violence and ethnic tensions, extracurricular activities and pedagogical workshops focusing on dialogue, peace, tolerance, human rights, prejudice, identity and stereotypes were introduced. Over the years, students have also participated in peacebuilding programmes and international exchanges.

Today, Huso facilitates workshops, dialogue sessions and inclusive activities involving students regardless of the curriculum they attend, contributing to intercultural understanding and stronger relationships within the school and wider community.

We spoke with him about the challenges that remain, the role of education and culture, and what is needed to strengthen peacebuilding in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

What are some of the most important peace-related challenges facing your community today?

One of the biggest challenges is the continued presence of divisive political narratives, particularly during election periods. Public discussion often returns to ethnic divisions, hate speech and interpretations of the wars of the 1990s instead of focusing on concrete issues affecting people’s everyday lives.

Young people are particularly affected because they grow up surrounded by polarised narratives that can influence how they understand other communities and how they see the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

For lasting peace, public dialogue needs to become more balanced and respectful. Remembering the past is important, but this should be based on facts, truth and mutual respect rather than political manipulation.

Young people should also be encouraged to develop critical thinking, conduct their own research and become active participants in society. When young people learn to think independently and engage constructively with their communities, they can become an important force for peace.

What role can culture and cultural heritage play in bringing communities together?

Cultural heritage has significant potential for peacebuilding because it can represent something shared by different communities. It can provide a foundation for dialogue, cooperation and mutual understanding.

At the same time, heritage and historical narratives can also be presented in ways that reinforce divisions. When cultural sites, traditions or parts of history are treated as belonging exclusively to one ethnic group, opportunities to recognise the country’s shared cultural richness can be lost.

Education faces similar challenges, particularly when history is predominantly presented through separate national perspectives.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has an exceptionally rich cultural heritage and diversity. These should be used as resources for connection. Promoting shared heritage, intercultural dialogue, cultural tourism and more inclusive historical narratives can contribute not only to peacebuilding but also to stronger social cohesion and long-term community development.

Where do you see opportunities for greater intergenerational dialogue?

Different generations still interact through families, community events and cultural traditions, but there is also a noticeable gap between younger and older generations because of their different experiences, perspectives and values.

One important opportunity is to involve young people more actively in community decision-making. At the same time, more intergenerational cultural and educational activities could create spaces where younger and older people learn from each other’s experiences.

Such activities can help strengthen mutual understanding, community development and social cohesion.

Which peacebuilding initiatives have made a particularly strong impression on you?

One initiative I consider particularly successful is the Peacebuilding Leadership Program, organised by the Folke Bernadotte Academy together with local partners in Mostar and Sanski Most.

The programme brought together participants from different ethnic backgrounds and created opportunities for dialogue, learning and relationship-building. Activities included pedagogical workshops for teenagers and students, work on trauma and intergenerational trauma, the use of literature to connect communities, and activities addressing hate speech, harmful narratives and misinformation.

Experiences like these demonstrate that meaningful dialogue and direct interaction can reduce prejudice and strengthen trust.

Similar opportunities should be expanded through schools, youth programmes, seminars, training courses and summer camps. Bosnia and Herzegovina already has experienced practitioners and many positive examples that can provide a foundation for further peacebuilding work.

What kind of cooperation could strengthen peace education in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider region?

Stronger cooperation is needed between schools, universities, youth organisations, cultural institutions and local communities, both within Bosnia and Herzegovina and across the Western Balkans.

Cross-border exchanges, workshops, summer camps, cultural events and youth projects are particularly valuable because they give people opportunities to meet directly, challenge stereotypes and encounter different perspectives.

Educators and community leaders also need further training in areas such as peacebuilding, intercultural dialogue, conflict transformation, media literacy and trauma-informed approaches. Access to educational resources, financial support and opportunities to exchange practices with colleagues from other communities and countries are equally important.

Especially in an environment where divisive narratives remain present, young people need strong critical-thinking skills and safe spaces where different perspectives can be discussed respectfully.

Can digital tools contribute to peace education?

Digital tools can certainly support peace education, particularly by making information and opportunities easier to find.

For example, an interactive map could help people discover peace education programmes, workshops, youth exchanges, training opportunities, community initiatives and organisations working on reconciliation. It could also provide practical information about upcoming activities and ways to become involved.

However, digital tools have their limits.

Sensitive topics such as trauma, reconciliation, emotions and dealing with the past require meaningful human interaction. Digital platforms can provide information and raise awareness, but they cannot replace trust-building, face-to-face dialogue and safe spaces where people can openly share their experiences.

For this reason, digital resources are particularly valuable for information, networking and outreach, while the deepest impact of peace education still comes through well-facilitated human encounters.

What should future peace education focus on?

For Huso, several themes deserve particular attention: dealing with the past, reconciliation, empathy, intercultural dialogue, critical thinking, trauma awareness, mental health and peaceful conflict resolution.

These topics are not always easy to address, particularly in communities where the consequences of conflict remain present decades later. Yet avoiding them does not make the underlying divisions disappear.

Peace education can contribute to a longer process of healing by helping people understand different experiences, question divisive narratives and develop healthier ways of communicating and resolving disagreements.

From local experience to regional learning

Huso’s experience in Stolac illustrates one of the central ideas behind DANUBE PEACE: peace education becomes meaningful when it is connected to people’s lived experiences and the realities of their communities.

DANUBE PEACE is an Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership bringing together organisations from Germany, Czechia, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. The project works to strengthen adult educators, cultural actors and communities through inclusive and intergenerational peace education.

Insights gathered from practitioners and communities across participating countries are helping the partnership develop practical educational resources that respond to real challenges across the Danube region.

Through conversations such as this one, we are not only documenting challenges. We are identifying experiences, practices and perspectives that can help build stronger approaches to dialogue, active citizenship and peace education.

Article originally published on project platform: https://danube-peace.eu/