At the invitation of the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution from Stadtschlaining, on 8 July 2015, I attended the International Summer Academy on “Civil Society and Conflicts” where I gave a lecture about the relationship of local peacebuilding stakeholders and external stakeholders intervening with the objective of building peace (without the use of force).
At the wonderful venue of Medieval castle where the Academy was held, before some 200 participants, I spoke about the experience gained in the twenty-year period since the end of the war until today. Because of the large number of questions, the time planned for my lecture was slightly extended, and in the evening, I spent about two hours with the Director of the Study Centre, Blanka Bellak, answering her questions and questions from the audience about my path as a peacebuilder. Of the 200 participants at the Academy, which has held in German, many were young people interested in participating in humanitarian missions and peacebuilding throughout the world, wile the other larger group were experienced practitioners and researchers of the Austrian and German peace scene.
For CNA, this invitation was an honour and an acknowledgement of our work, and the reactions to the story of what we do for reconciliation are a welcome and binding incentive to persevere.