Sunčica Đukanović

If you want to express your views openly and receive founded and constructive criticism, as well as give it out without fear of being judged, then this training with professionals in peace education is the right choice for you and you won’t be wasting your time.
Milići – Sarajevo, BiH

The significance of our intensive work over seven days is reflected in every personal story told and the by no means easy path through various identities and narratives that have been constructed and passed from generation to generation through various cultures of memory that were usually guided and are still guided by transgenerational trauma. The success of this training is in clearly understanding such narratives through just one right approach and one direction, the path to building an inclusive and indiscriminate culture of memory. This is undoubtedly the right approach when we want to convey experiences and go through all the phases, from reflection and self-reflection to critical examination, which is necessarily accompanied by disagreements about values and ideas, and this is what makes this training so intensive and why it needs such strong group dynamics. In this kind of atmosphere, we clearly distinguished good and bad patterns of behaviour veiled by “upbringing and tradition” and defined clear challenges we met through constructive exchange.

Thanks to this training, I became aware and formed a realistic picture of us young people in Bosnian-Herzegovinian society, which made me reflect on things that I hadn’t been aware were so closely tied to my identity, but apparently they were just waiting for the right moment.

When we talk about peacebuilding in post-conflict societies, it is clear that we are talking about the visible and invisible effects of war that are still very much present in our lives and that usually link to topics of extremism related to peacebuilding in our region. That is why I would recommend this training to anyone who wants to re-examine their own personal narrative and point of view, which is necessarily influenced by subjective elements. If you want to express your views openly and receive founded and constructive criticism, as well as give it out without fear of being judged, then this training with professionals in peace education is the right choice for you and you won’t be wasting your time.

Sunčica Đukanović

If you want to express your views openly and receive founded and constructive criticism, as well as give it out without fear of being judged, then this training with professionals in peace education is the right choice for you and you won’t be wasting your time.

Igor Drvendžija

…not to mention how memorable it is to share your stories with the rest of the group and often find understanding despite the fact that we come from different backgrounds.

Branislav Trudić

For years, this training has been true to the essence of peace education – providing support in creating a safe group atmosphere where many will engage for the first time in their lives in an empathy-based learning experience about the war and post-war past. I have nothing but words of praise for the inclusive segment of the training, both in terms of selecting participants of different profiles and in terms of enabling the participants to follow the entirety of the training in all the regional languages.

Anisa Pračić-Šehić

I highly recommend this for anyone wanting to push their own and then our collective social boundaries.

Vanja Šunjić

When participants from previous trainings told me about how it had changed their lives, even though I believed them, I could not fathom how a ten-day training could really do that.

Martina Barešić

…what had the biggest impact on me were the personal stories of all the people at the training. They enriched this entire training and gave everything an emotional dimension that is sorely needed in working on reconciliation and dealing with the past.

Ajša Tunović

A cathartic experience

Davor Obrdalj

I recommend the training to everyone, and I guarantee you won’t be the same again.

Edo Kanlić

If you want to experience catharsis, sign up for the training. Don’t take it lightly, it’s a serious endeavour. It’ll turn your experiences, beliefs and emotions upside down. Even five days after the training, I’m still trying to put together everything I experienced during those 10 days. Without wanting to sound pretentious, I will say that the training made me a better person. So go ahead, sign up!

Tamara Zečević

The Basic Training in Peacebuilding is something I recommend to everyone, whatever their profession, age or life experience. The training will give you an opportunity not just to see the bigger picture of the region and the country you live in, but also for some serious introspection…

Sara Velaga

I’ll remember this training as some of the happiest days in my life, because I felt complete, purified, aware and in touch with my emotions throughout the 10 days. I never had an extended family, but during the time we spent together, I found out that a family can be completely different people.

Nataša Filipović

Meeting different people, learning about their experiences and ways of thinking can go a long way to help mutual understanding.

Sibel Gutiq

This training helped me learn and understand more about myself and the people around me.

Emina Šehić

I would say my experience can be summed up as follows: being myself, peace and listening. Participating in this training allowed me to be myself for the first time, to talk and express my opinions the way I feel them, without fearing they would be judged. This brought on a sense of peace that […]

Valentina Petra Eterović Buble

Now I’m strong. Now I know how.

Ajdin Kamber

We sifted through our feelings, traumas, memories… How is it possible for schoolmates, neighbours, friends, even brothers, to become mortal enemies overnight. I got part of the answer at the training organised by the Centre for Nonviolent Action in Ulcinj.

Teodora Milosavljević

This training had just one downside. It set the bar unrealistically high for all others!

Teodora Sokolovska

I’ll never forget the enthusiasm of the trainers in transferring their knowledge, experiences and exercises. It wasn’t new for me, it just made me remember that all people carry within them different stories, different burdens and different baggage, and that we can learn something from everyone…

Slađana Popović Šipka

I’d like to point out that one of the things I said during the training was “I’d like us to be able to travel without fear, for me to come from Banja Luka to Bugojno and have coffee with Naima, and for her to do the same and come visit me.” Thanks to this training, my wish came true.

Amina Kaja

I’ve been to many trainings, but none are like CNA.

Vanja Stokić

I made friends, but real friends. People I still meet up with and sometimes we go on trips together. But also, I saw first-hand that I have a lot in common with people who seem nothing like me. That pain isn’t just mine, that others also share it. It might sound...

Omer Muminović

If I had to sum up the training in one word, it would be courage.

Žarko Stanimirović

If CNA ever invites you to attend their training, RUN to fill out the application form and hope you’ll be selected, because there’s strong competition. All you need to bring along is an open mind and a desire to socialise, and you won’t regret it.

Iva Baraba

This training is unique. There is nothing like it in our region that works towards peacebuilding with a similar approach. I participated in various seminars and study visits organised internationally, nationally and locally, but this training successfully brought together the issues facing our countries, the tools for dealing with them and the people for whom they matter!

Sunita Dautbegović Bošnjaković

There will definitely be an exchange of opinions, every participant will be afforded respect, there will be mutual listening, as well as mutual criticism and self-criticism. This means opening up topics that are painful and that we often “sweep under the rug”, but that prevent us from embarking on a constructive process of dealing with the past and building our societies on the values of peace.

Gordana Jocić

Above all, I think a form has been found for learning about nonviolence that makes a strong and lasting impression on the participants.

Darko Nestorov

It’s hard to describe the experience of the training, so I would recommend seeing it for yourself.

Mirsad Dreić

Even ten years later, the training leaves a strong impression of awakened awareness and understanding of others.