An International Basic Training Workshop on the Learning to Live Together was organized in Sarajevo – Bosnia & Herzegovina on the 20 – 23 February by Mosaik Association – GNRC Bosnia & Herzegovina with the support of GNRC Europe and the Arigatou International – Ethics Education for Children office in Geneva.25 participants came together from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Spain and Portugal from different cultural, religious (Muslims, Christians) and professional (teachers, psychologists, social workers, volunteers who work with children – GNRC members) backgrounds.
At the end of the workshop, participants designed customized action plans and programs on ethics education to implement in their contexts. Participants’ individual and collective implementation plans also reflect interest to add value to their work using the Learning to Live Together manual to connect their programmatic work with ethics education. In Bosnia-Herzegovina most of the teachers planned to focus on programs for preventing discrimination and promoting reconciliation among different religious groups of children, in order to diminish bullying, violence and ethnical tensions between in schools. The participants from other countries, most of them coming from NGOs, planned to use the manual in intercultural projects, for the promotion of child rights and to strengthen the relationship between children and their parents.
Participants were satisfied with the learning gained and expressed their commitment to use the programme to promote mutual understanding and respect in their countries and share their work. A concrete follow-up strategy is being designed to support this new community of practice.
Special thanks to the trainers of the workshop, Ms Laura Molnar, GNRC Eastern Europe Coordinator, Ms Angeliki Aroni, trainer on intercultural education and Ms Vera Leal, Ethics Education Program Officer, Geneva Office.