Bridging Cultures Short Course

Bridging Cultures 2026 💙

Bridging Cultures is a seven-day short course organized by UWC Mostar, bringing together young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Slovenia, and Cyprus. Through dialogue, shared experiences, and collaborative learning, participants explore how to bridge differences, challenge prejudice, and build meaningful connections.

As our participants begin their journeys home, the Bridging Cultures team would like to thank each and every one of them for their openness, enthusiasm, and invaluable contributions. It was your willingness to learn, share, and connect that made this year's course such a meaningful experience.

We would also like to extend our gratitude to our guest speakers, facilitators, volunteers, and external partners. Your dedication, expertise, and support made this course possible.

A special thank you goes to our course coordinator, Iva Marinović, whose hard work, commitment, and care are at the heart of Bridging Cultures year after year.

Over the past seven days, we explored new perspectives, reflected on identity, learned about history, storytelling, and coexistence, and visited the War Childhood Museum in Sarajevo. Most importantly, we built friendships and connections that we hope will continue to grow long after this week has come to an end.

Thank you to everyone who was part of Bridging Cultures 2026. We wish all of our participants safe travels home and look forward to seeing the positive impact you'll make in your communities and beyond. 💙

Day 7 💙

Today, our participants reflected on their journey throughout the course, sharing their experiences and discussing the actions they plan to take in the future.

During the closing ceremony, each participant received a certificate in recognition of successfully completing the course.

Congratulations to all of our participants! The Bridging Cultures Team truly enjoyed spending these past seven days with you, and we hope you found the experience just as meaningful and memorable as we did. We wish you all the best on your future journeys! 💙

Day 6💙

Today, our facilitator Ellen led an engaging workshop on storytelling. Additionally, our coordinator Iva hosted a fun energizer called TV Show, bringing lots of energy and laughter to the group. In the afternoon, the winners of the scavenger hunt received their well-deserved prizes. We also enjoyed watching a hilarious video compilation from the scavenger hunt, created by our volunteer Nadja Jugović, which had everyone laughing together. 🎉📸

Day 5💙

Today we visited the War Childhood Museum. War Childhood Museum . Our participants engaged in an interactive workshop as well as walked around the museum and looked at the entire exhibition.

We also spent some time exploring Sarajevo and it was all in all a very nice fieldtrip.

Day 4💙

Today, our fascilitator Ellen conducted workshops about functional coexistance and memory. Our participants talked about identity and tried to look at it all from another perspective.

Our volunteers also made fun energizers as well as a very interesting scavanger hunt which will be specially shown.

We can't wait for our trip to Sarajevo in the morning!

Day 3💙

From workshops about Grafiti and History with our wonderful guestspeaker Bojana, to energizers held by our volunteers, to a wonderful visit to the Partisan cemetery and an educational walk with Maja from the Mostar Street Art Festival about grafiti - our participants had an amazing day today!

At the end, we got together to watch the world cup and support Bosnia all together.

We can't wait for tomorrow💫

Introducing our guestspeaker Bojana Dujković Blagojević💙

A little about Bojana: My name is Bojana. By vocation, I am a history teacher, but much more an activist. 

On day three of this year's edition of the UWC Mostar short course, I will guide you through the past, asking questions about how we remember and what the key drivers are toward understanding the past. 

We will together explore how history education and history textbooks are shaping the attitudes of young people towards the 'others'.

We will dive into photographs and graffiti about the 1990s events in the former Yugoslavia and look for a human perspective.

No need to be a 'history fan', but be aware that after this short course, you might be provoked to change your attitude toward history in school ;-) 

Looking forward to seeing you in Mostar.

Day 2💙 with our guest speaker Mirna Jančić Doyle!

We can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us...

We're introducing today's guest speaker Mirna Jančić Doyle!

A littke about Mirna: "My name is Mirna, and I come from Sarajevo.

I believe in education that brings people together and creates a safe space to explore difficult questions and different perspectives.

Much of my work has focused on education and civic engagement projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including development and governance roles at UWC Mostar. I have also worked as a visual and audio artist, exploring how we learn about history and 'others' in childhood. I am always curious about where our ideas and beliefs come from, and what helps people understand one another across differences.

During our workshop, we will practice skills that make peaceful coexistence possible. Together, we will explore self-awareness, curiosity, deep listening, and ways of expressing ourselves that create understanding even when we disagree.

I look forward to meeting everyone!"

We're honored to host Mirna at this years short course!

Here is a look into our Day 1 at this years course! 💙

For more pictures, feel free to also check out our Facebook profile💫