The CK13 Youth Center, Youth Initiative for Human Rights - Montenegro, and KVART Youth Center Prijedor invite you to apply for participation in the Regional Political School on the 90s: 'LOVE WILL SAVE US!', which will take place from September 15 to 21 in Sremski Karlovci for participants from Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. If you are between 18 and 30 years old and live in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Croatia, if you feel the need and have the will to change the world for the better - apply! Through this school, we aim to inspire you to participate in building fairer societies and sustainable peace in the region by establishing and maintaining new social relationships based on principles of reconciliation, friendship, and love as political principles for building lasting peace.

The school's name 'Love will save us!' - an anti-war graffiti from Zagreb - is our dedication to the loving policies of the 90s, policies that we continue.

How much do we know about the crimes committed in our name? Who are and what are our sources of information? How did the collapse of Yugoslav society into nationalism, war, and crimes happen and unfold? Why does this concern us young people today? What legacy do we carry? How and where do we learn about crimes? What do our parents and the state tell us? What do we say among ourselves?

War conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and countless victims of war crimes are not a 'dark past' that can be suppressed and forgotten. On the contrary, denial, forgetting, and ignoring of crimes are strategies for their perpetuation. In a social-political and existential sense, crimes persist today as personal and transgenerational trauma, as a past that we refuse to remember empathetically, informed, and responsibly, as a present we do not understand.

By bringing together young people from Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia, the goal of the Regional Political School on the 90s: 'Love will save us!' is to provide young people with credible sources of knowledge and testimonies about the crimes and places of suffering in Yugoslavia during the wars of the 90s, about the perpetrators, the victims and survivors, about the difficult and deep legacy of these conflicts and crimes that is passed on to present and future generations. Acquiring this knowledge will help young people better understand their present, as well as the origins and causes of what hinders their free self-realization as individuals and in community with other Others.

Through non-formal education programs and conversations with witnesses of the time, school participants will become acquainted with the historical and socio-political context and facts about the conflict, war crimes, and genocide in former Yugoslavia. At the same time, participants will learn about the challenges of seeking justice after the worst atrocities, learning about the concept and processes of transitional justice, facing the past, and the culture of remembrance. Finally, participants will meet their peers from the region, thereby deeply challenging and seeing through the prevailing policies of nationalist prejudices, exclusivity, and hatred that still keep the entire region in an untransformed past. We believe that by doing so together, we will be able to strengthen our own capacities to do good and succeed in thinking and creating paths to peace, which is possible only if we accept and do what is the measure of our humanity: promise eternal memory to the victims, promise justice to the survivors, promise peace to others and to ourselves.

LOGISTICAL INFORMATION The Regional Political School on the 90s: 'Love will save us!' will be held in Sremski Karlovci in Serbia from September 15 to 21, 2024. Accommodation in multi-bed rooms at the Radulovački Ecological Center, based on full board with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and refreshments during breaks, will be organized for all school participants. In accordance with non-violence policies and a vision of a different world, the food during the school will be vegan. The organizers of the school will cover the costs of accommodation, meals, travel, and necessary work materials. September 15 is the arrival day in Sremski Karlovci, and September 21 is the departure day. At the school, you can expect an intensive, thematic, and emotionally sensitive five-day program that requires a high level of motivation and readiness to actively participate. Each day is divided into two working blocks, morning and afternoon, and a thematic evening program. A memorial visit to Vukovar will also be organized within the school. PREGISTRATION AND SELECTION How to apply? If you are interested in participating in the Regional Political School, we invite you to apply by filling out the application form, which you can access by clicking the following link: Registration Form The deadline for applications is August 18, 2024. We will inform you about the outcome of your application by email no later than August 23, 2024. Selection criteria Considering the program and working methodology, we are able to select 30 applications. Preference in the selection will be given to individuals who demonstrate a high level of motivation for acquiring knowledge and peace activism in the justification of their application, as well as those who would benefit the most from the school. When making a selection, we will also consider criteria of geographical and gender representation. Please fill out the form comprehensively and clearly, as it is our main source in the selection process. Additional logistical information will be provided to you after the selection of applications. CONTACT For additional questions and information, feel free to contact us via email at: [email protected]

We look forward to your applications!

The Regional Political School is organized as part of the 'Right to Peace' project jointly implemented by the CK13 Youth Center from Novi Sad, Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Montenegro, and KVART Youth Center Prijedor. The project is supported by the regional program SMART Balkans - Civil Society for a Connected Western Balkans, implemented by the Center for Promotion of Civil Society (CPCD), Center for Policy Research and Creation (CRPM), and Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM), with financial support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NMFA).