Two mentorship workshops were successfully held as part of the project Creative Agents of Peace and Social Inclusion. The first workshop took place in Mitrovica, while the second was organized in Bujanovac, bringing together two diverse groups of young participants eager to explore the power of art and culture as tools for reconciliation and social inclusion.
Throughout the sessions, participants worked closely with experienced mentors, who guided them through concept development, feasibility analysis, and participatory planning methods. The groups engaged in collaborative exercises and brainstorming discussions, reflecting on how artistic expression can be transformed into tangible, impact-driven community initiatives.
One of the key components of the workshops was the exploratory city visits. Both in Mitrovica and Bujanovac, participants toured different neighborhoods, cultural centers, and public spaces that could serve as potential sites for their initiatives. These walks provided valuable insights into the local context, helping participants ground their ideas in the social and cultural realities of their communities.
Importantly, the final day of each workshop featured an in-person session of up to two hours. These sessions were fully dedicated to the participants’ initiatives: each group presented the concepts they had been developing, discussed feasibility and potential challenges, and worked collectively with mentors to refine their proposals into concrete, actionable plans. The focus was on ensuring that initiatives were realistic, community-driven, and aligned with the project’s overall objectives of social inclusion and reconciliation.
Through this process, participants identified specific activities, such as community art exhibitions, site-specific performances, concerts by multiethnic bands, poetry evenings, and other youth-led creative actions, that could be implemented in Mitrovica, Bujanovac, and beyond. By the end of the workshops, the groups had not only generated ideas but also shaped them into structured initiatives ready for further development and peer review.
These mentorship workshops represent an important milestone in the Creative Agents of Peace and Social Inclusion project, empowering young people from different backgrounds to become drivers of change. By merging creativity with civic engagement, the initiative ensures that art and culture remain powerful bridges for dialogue, trust, and reconciliation.
The project “Creative Agents of Peace and Social Inclusion” is implemented by NGO CASA and CDE Dolina, with the support of the Auswärtiges Amt through ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, Zivik Funding Programme.
