BYGG BROER IKKE MURER

BYGG BROER IKKE MURER HBV og Dzemal Bijedic University of Mostar s internasjonale sommerskole i Mostar, Bosnia & Hercegovina Ved Lars Petter Soltvedt, PhD Høgskolen i Buskerud og Vestfold

Synspunkter fra studentene Er det mulig å få både i pose og sekk? Svaret er JA. Jeg hadde aldri trodd at det var mulig å oppleve så flott natur, fine mennesker, vakre byer og samtidig få 7.5 studiepoeng. Disse siste 14 dagene har vært veldig lærerike og Balkan er topp! Begge disse kursene setter fokus på hvordan verden virkelig er. Det blir tydeligere enn noensinne hvor heldige vi er som er født og oppvokst i Norge. Jeg vil avslutte med å si at dette var verdt hver eneste krone. Kursene sammen med alle opplevelsene, i tillegg til 7.5 studiepoeng er en så bra deal, at du ikke burde la sjansen gå fra deg, sier Ingebjørg Halvorsen. Selve opplegget er en perfekt kombinasjon av skole, sosiale sammenkomster og sightseeing. I begge kursene Sosialt Entreprenørskap og Human Rights tilegner du deg kunnskap som du får bruk for videre i utdanningen din. Det gjelder spesielt dersom du har planer om å fortsette på en mastergrad, fortsetter Ingebjørg. Sommerskolen er et flott og lærerikt tilbud som jeg på det varmeste anbefaler mine medstudenter. Bosnia er et utrolig vakkert land, men krigen har satt sine spor, avslutter Ingebjørg.

Hvilken verdi for studentene fra Balkan? After the first two years of organizing the summer school, the organizers observed positive impact on students. Students broadened their knowledge, improved communication and presentation skills, overcame the limitations that oppressed society imposed on them, and gained different perspective to problems analysis and solutions in their environment. Therefore, we are certain that multicultural environment of the school, through socializing, theory and practical exercises, has broaden the perspective of students as well as challenged their way of perceiving the Bosnia and Herzegovina society today.

Hvilken verdi for Mostar? The most evident proof for such a statement happened in February, when TV Liberty aired TV show called Perspektiva, that is its second episode when a teenage Croat boy called Ante from Mostar, said that 'due to fear of being recognized as a Croat he might get into trouble 'over there' and that he could recognize a Bosniak person by the face texture, colour of his/her face, which is when it comes to Bosniaks, at least in Mostar, is darker than the skin colour of Croats'. This is a direct indicator that the situation in Mostar, is particularly difficult and that any effort aimed at creating chances to change the perspective of the way young people are thinking and which will result in challenging their every day habits is welcomed.

Hvilken verdi for B&H generelt? The need to act in such a direction was evident immediately after the general election in 2014 where we were witnesses of the triumphant victory of right wing parties. Poor turnout of voters during the 2014 elections, where out of 3,227,543 registered voters in Bosnia and Herzegovina only 1,616,960 of them voted is evidence enough of a need to continue with the efforts of educating young people regarding social awareness and responsibility which are founded on the knowledge regarding human rights and social entrepreneurship.

Hvilke verdi for institusjonene i B&H? As the only higher education institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina that is conducting its classes in all three official languages in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dzemal Bijedic University of Mostar (UNMO) is promoting tolerance, human rights and social awareness as pillars of civil society development. International Summer School in Mostar provided us already during the first year of the summer school with the possibility to take the institutional approach in dealing with these issues. The second edition of the summer school was another joint effort of Buskerud and Vestfold University College and UNMO. For the third edition we are planning to involve University of Mostar (SVEMO) as well as University of Banja Luka (UNBL) in order to include all three constituent peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Tilslutt; Hvordan kan man se slike sommerskoleopphold i konteksten av å sende studenter på utveksling generelt? På hvilken måte har dette en verdi sammenliknet med ordinære utvekslingsopphold? Blir det «for enkelt», utgjør det et fullverdig alternativ eller et godt supplement til semesterutveksling? Burde ikke dette i større grad vært finansiert av lånekassen eller andre når det kan inngå i studentenes gradsstudium hjemme?