Four Key Lessons from Southeast European Youth Peacebuilders

Bosnia and Herzegovina, more than three decades after the 1992–1995 war, continues to grapple with the legacies of division embedded in its education system and public memory. Ethnically segregated schools, competing historical narratives, and unresolved interpretations of the past remain common across the country and much of Southeast Europe. These divisions surface repeatedly in debates on school reform, commemorations, and nationalist rhetoric, shaping how young people understand identity, belonging, and history in their everyday lives. Silence around difficult questions and the absence of inclusive dialogue continue to reinforce mistrust between Bosniak, Croatian, and Serbian communities. In such post-conflict environments, where young people are often exposed only to their own community’s version of history, the search for belonging can take troubling directions. When schools and formal institutions fail to acknowledge young people’s experiences, doubts, and emotional realities, they leave space for simplified, manipulative, or extremist narratives to take hold. The lack of recognition and meaningful engagement can deepen feelings of invisibility, making young people more vulnerable to polarisation rather than equipping them to critically engage with the past. Against this backdrop, small community-based peacebuilding education initiatives have emerged as important spaces of possibility across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia. These initiatives bring together young people from different ethnic backgrounds to share personal stories, confront contested histories, and reflect collectively on their futures. Ethnographic research conducted over more than thirteen months with participants aged 18 to 26 revealed gradual but significant changes. These were not dramatic institutional shifts, but subtle, human-centred transformations that formal education systems have often struggled to achieve. Participants consistently described how being listened to with respect allowed them to feel recognised for the first time, loosening the hold of inherited narratives. Meaningful contact across ethnic lines challenged stereotypes and fostered empathy through shared experiences such as travel, visits to memorial sites, and everyday conversations. Encounters with stories of moral courage from the war years further disrupted entrenched mistrust, showing that compassion and solidarity were possible even in moments of extreme violence. Experiential learning, combined with structured and informal reflection, helped young people process complex emotions and develop new understandings based on lived experience rather than abstract instruction. These lessons highlight why community-based peacebuilding efforts matter today. While such initiatives often rely on external funding and operate on a limited scale, they demonstrate how peace is cultivated through relationships, shared stories, and honest engagement with painful histories. In an era of growing global polarisation and ideological extremism, the experiences of Southeast European youth underline the importance of creating spaces where young people feel heard, connected, and empowered. Their journeys suggest that investing in these small, relational settings can foster resilience, reduce mistrust, and support healthier forms of belonging that counter the appeal of extremist narratives.