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.