Some local communities in the Western Balkans face more long-term consequences from the wars than others. Some communities have gone through particularly brutal war experiences, while some are located in the border region between states. Many such communities remain ethnically divided, with little cross-communication between people on the different sides. Peacebuilding processes on the state level can be jeopardised by events evolving in such communities.

The Nansen Dialogue Network sees the importance of working with dialogue on different levels, to ensure sustainable, lasting peace. We have initiated dialogue between local politicians and administrative leaders in several municipalities, and actively cooperates with counterparts of the different professional groups from other parts of the region and from Norwegian municipalities. The aim is to establish contact between professionals on the same level, who face similar challenges in their everyday lives.

Examples of municipality projects are: Political cooperation and development in Bujanovac and Presevo municipalities in Southern Serbia, in cooperation with Lillehammer municipality in Norway; dialogue processes between political leaders and administrative leaders in Mitrovica Kosovo Polje, and Oblic in Kosovo; and dialogue between local political leaders and business leaders in Sandzak, the bordering region between Serbia and Montenegro. Pljevla municipality has established contact with the municipalities of Lom and Vågå in Norway, in order to explore possibilities for closer contact and cooperation. There is also an on-going project involving the newly established Ombudsman office in Vojvodina, where the experiences of the Norwegian Ombudsman office are used as reference. For more information, see the websites of NDC Serbia, NDC Montenegro, Kosovan Nansen Dialogue and NDC Bujanovac.