During the past weekend, from 18th to 20th November 2022, a seminar "Political education of young people" was held in Sarajevo in cooperation with the organization Youth for Peace and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Sixteen young people, who come from cities and towns throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina such as Sarajevo, Mostar, Pale, Bihać, Brčko, Zavidovići, Donji Vakuf, Derventa, Tuzla, Gračanica, and Gradačac attended this event. During the seminar, with the Youth for Peace facilitators, participants discussed the topic of political literacy and why it is important to us, analyzed how political campaigns can influence peacebuilding processes, and were rethinking about how to be a responsible citizen in a democratic society.
Our invitation to be guest lecturers at the seminar was answered by assoc. prof. Amer Osmić, Ph.D. and prof. Sarina Bakić, Ph.D. from the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Sarajevo, and prof. Emina Dedić-Bukvić, Ph.D. from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo. Amer Osmić discussed critical thinking and political literacy with the participants, as well as the results of research on the political involvement of young people, while Emina Dedić-Bukvić spoke about the connection between peace and political education, with reference to the creation of educational policies. Sarina Bakić spoke about the connection between political socialization, culture, and education, using concrete examples from our reality in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The seminar ended with a reflection and evaluation session, where young people had the opportunity to evaluate the sessions, focusing on the facilitators, lecturers, and the methods and approaches used during each of the workshops. In addition, the participants could also suggest which topics are of interest to them and which the organizers should take into account when preparing for future educational activities. Youth for Peace wants to shape its work in accordance with the needs of its participants, therefore the opinion of young people will definitely influence the selection of topics and the way of organizing future educational content.
