From August 22nd to August 31st, 2023, the 15th Summer School of Peace, an educational volunteer camp, was held. This year, the School was held in a slightly different format than previous years. In addition to staying in Banja Luka, the participants and facilitators spent part of the Summer School in Vittorio Veneto, so this year's School was held in two countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Italy.
As in previous years, the participants of the Summer School were young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Italy. The first six days of the Summer School were held in Banja Luka, while the last three were held in Vittorio Veneto. During their stay in Banja Luka, the participants had the opportunity to participate in workshops related to this year's topic, "Culture and identity in the service of peacebuilding", where they learned with the facilitators about the issues of identity, peace, and intercultural dialogue, through the use of interactive methods and tools. In addition to the workshops, three volunteer activities were also implemented, which included the arrangement and painting of the canopy and entrance of the Agricultural Cooperative Livac, painting and arranging balcony fences in the Social Center of Caritas of the Diocese of Banja Luka "Ivan Pavao II" - Home for older people, and cleaning and arrangement of the library at the "Marija Zvijezda" monastery. On the last day of the School in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the participants visited Jajce and the surrounding picnic areas.
During their stay in Vittorio Veneto, participants and facilitators took part in volunteer activities, visited the weaving and carpentry workshops of Caritas Vittorio Veneto, which operate according to the principles of social entrepreneurship, visited Caritas Treviso, got to know their volunteers and learned more about their activities. In addition to the programmatic part of the School, the participants had time for a tourist visit of Vittorio Veneto and Treviso guided by the host. The last evening of the visit was devoted to folkloric dances. Hence, the Summer School participants and young people from Italy and Brazil danced to the music and rhythms of folkloric dances from all three countries.
The Summer School of Peace is a long-term project jointly implemented by Youth for Peace, Caritas Banja Luka, and Caritas Vittorio Veneto. The Summer School is traditionally held every August in Banja Luka, and from this year, also in Vittorio Veneto, Italy.
