Sustainable foundations to peace

 This youth exchange gathered around 30 participants from Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Ukraine, and Georgia, taking place from 22nd September (arrival day) to 1st October (departure day) 2024. The activities were held in Veli Lošinj, Croatia, on Lošinj, one of the most beautiful islands in the country. During the project, the young people worked on the umbrella topic of tolerance and building peace.

All partners come from countries with recent history of war, revolutions and lack strong democratic institutions. These consequences are profound – destroyed social capital, deep mistrust towards others and towards institutions, violence on a local level motivated by hatred of others and similar. The participants want to implement this project to learn about how they can be a part of the solution to create a more peaceful, tolerant and inclusive communities.

Objectives of the project:

1. Understanding the difference between positive and negative peace Negative peace refers to absence of violence and positive peace refers to building sustainable foundations to long-term absence of conflict. It involve creating institutions that are able to resolve conflicts in the society in a non-violent way. The participants will learn different approaches to understanding war but the majority of the project will be about understanding how to create systems that avoid violence in resolving conflicts and disputes between groups in the society.

2. Increase Tolerance and Inclusion: Participants will explore the formation and persistence of stereotypes and prejudices. Through workshops, they will experience both sides of stereotyping, fostering awareness and control over their use. The focus is on recognizing and mitigating discrimination to promote a more inclusive society, especially towards vulnerable groups like Roma, religious minorities, and refugees.

3. Improve the potential of young people to be the building block for developing peace in their communities Participants will distinguish between negative and positive peace, addressing direct and structural violence. They will learn mediation techniques to prevent physical violence and adopt a positive peace methodology with 8 pillars. Emphasis will be on creating conditions for sustainable peace and addressing issues like corruption and poverty. Participants will apply this methodology to analyze and propose solutions for problems in their communities, recognizing the pivotal role of young people in building lasting peace structures.