The Balkans from the War to Europe. South Tyrol as a place of encounter and dialogue. Bozen 15th-18th of May 2008. International Conference.
Four days of meetings and cultural events in Trento and Bolzano/Bozen, with the International Conference "Thirteen Years after Dayton" at the end. Participants will come from different placesof the Balkans: Srebrenica, Bartunac and Prijedor in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kraljevo in Serbia and Pec-Peja in Kosovo. The Mayor and the President of Municipality Council of Srebrenica will also be present.
Background
This proposal is meant to be part of the project “Adopt Srebrenica”, a wide initiative organised by the Bosnian Organisation Tuzlanska Amica and the Alexander Langer Foundation of Bolzano, Italy. The objective of the initiative is to promote a process of confidence building as well as a culture of peace, peaceful co-existence and non-violent transformation of conflicts in Srebrenica. An important outcome of the project will be the creation of a dialogue, research and documentation centre in the town of Srebrenica.
As a first step, from August 27th to September 1st 2007 an international week dedicated to memory was organised in Srebrenica. Participants included experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries, representatives of local organisations and civil society, interested people from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Serbia, Croatia, Poland and Belgium as well a survivor of the genocide in Rwanda.
The proposal
It was during this event that the idea was born to continue the dialogue by organising a similar event in a neutral place like South Tyrol, which has its own history of strong ethnic tensions. The cooperation with the European Academy of Bolzano is ideal, as it is an internationally recognised study and research centre especially in the field of ethnic conflict and minority rights.
The year 2008 will be a decisive year for Srebrenica, as municipial elections will be held in the month of October. For the Bosnian society and for the international community, 2008 will be a year of reflection about a possible reform of the Dayton Agreements and a year dedicated to the search for solutions to the ethnic and nationalist tensions still representing an obstacle to a peaceful and multi-ethnic future for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The days in Bolzano will combine some closed working group, dedicated to politicians and activists from Srebrenica and BiH, with public events, conferences and artistic performances.