One of the negative consequences of the wars in former Yugoslavia is increased ethnic division in the entire region. Fear and distrust prevent people from engaging with people from other ethnic groups in their local communities. As a result, a system of mono-ethnic schools has evolved in the educational system. In most cases, parents move their children to schools where only children of their own ethnicity are being taught. In other communities, children belonging to different ethnic groups are taught in the same building, but on different shifts. Thus, children grow up without contact with children from other ethnic groups than their own. In the long run, the ethnic divide can increase as a result of this practice.

Two municipalities where the Nansen Dialogue Network is involved in dialogue projects in ethnically divided local schools are Vukovar in Croatia and Jegunovce in Macedonia. Target groups for these projects are: parents, children, teachers, local authori-ties and educational authorities on the state level. The aim is to re-establish contact between teachers, parents and children, and jointly address the challenges related to the children’s schooling. For more information, see the websites of NDC Osijek and NDC Skopje.

In Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Nansen Dialogue Network cooperated with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), on integrating human rights education and minority rights into the school system. The overall objective was to stimulate to minority return in war torn areas through preparing the school system for a multi-ethnic reality. For more information, see the websites of NDC Sarajevo, NDC Banjaluka, and NDC Mostar. 

In Montenegro, the Nansen Dialogue Centre has initiated two different educational projects, School of Democratic Leadership for politicians belonging to different political parties, and Nansen School of Dialogue for teachers of the social sciences. For more information, see the website of NDC Montenegro.