Sustainable foundations to peace

This youth exchange gathered 30 participants from Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Ukraine, and Georgia, taking place from 22nd September (arrival day) to 1st October (departure day) 2024. The activities occurred in Veli Lošinj, Croatia—located on Lošinj, one of the most beautiful islands in Croatia. Throughout this project, young people explored the umbrella topic of tolerance and peacebuilding.

The project’s primary aim was to empower young participants from countries recently affected by war, revolutions, and weak democratic institutions, enabling them to become proactive agents of positive change in fostering peaceful, tolerant, and inclusive communities. Participants developed essential skills, knowledge, and methodologies for understanding, addressing, and mitigating conflicts and divisions within their societies.

Objectives of the project:

  1. Participants gained a clear understanding of the difference between negative peace (absence of direct violence) and positive peace (creation of sustainable systems to prevent violence). They explored various approaches to comprehending conflict dynamics and learned how to establish institutions and processes capable of resolving conflicts non-violently, thereby promoting long-term peace.

  2. Participants actively increased their tolerance and inclusion by examining the origins, persistence, and consequences of stereotypes and prejudices. Interactive workshops provided experiences of both sides of discrimination, fostering empathy, self-awareness, and sensitivity towards vulnerable groups, particularly Roma, religious minorities, and refugees.

  3. The project enhanced the participants’ potential to build sustainable peace by distinguishing between direct violence and structural violence. Young people acquired practical mediation techniques for conflict prevention and management. Furthermore, they were introduced to positive peace methodology, which included analyzing and applying its eight pillars, such as good governance, equitable resource distribution, anti-corruption measures, and respect for human rights. Participants critically assessed local community issues, including corruption, poverty, and social injustice, and proposed actionable strategies to improve peace and social cohesion.

The project addressed essential needs, including increasing active youth participation in peacebuilding, fostering tolerance and inclusivity, improving mediation skills, and developing practical abilities for establishing sustainable and lasting peace within local communities.