From strangers to friends: How young people are building bridges across the Western Balkans
Through the Superschools programme, young people from across the Western Balkans are discovering that dialogue starts with a simple conversation, a shared experience and the willingness to see beyond borders.
For many young people in the Western Balkans, borders are not only lines on a map. They enclose memories, narratives and assumptions inherited from the past. Decades of political tensions and conflict have left behind divisions that continue to shape how communities perceive one another.
But a new generation is creating opportunities to write a different story — one built not on distance, but on encounters.
When Emmanuel Murati, a student at Asim Vokshi High School in Tirana, joined the Superschools exchange programme, he expected to discover a new country. Instead, he discovered something far more important.
"Before meeting everyone, it was easy to focus on our differences. After spending time together, I realised that we have far more in common than we think."
The "Shared Ground – Untold Stories" exchange, which brought together students from Asim Vokshi High School in Tirana and JU Gimnazija Kotor in Montenegro, encouraged participants to explore shared histories, challenge stereotypes and discover the stories that often remain untold between neighbouring communities. Yet for Emmanuel, the most meaningful lesson came from simply spending time and everyday moments together. Slowly, unfamiliar faces became friends.
"We laugh at the same things, face similar challenges, and share many of the same dreams."
It’s realisations like this that are at the heart of Superschools, a regional school exchange programme created by the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO). Through exchanges between schools across the Western Balkan Countries, the programme promotes reconciliation, intercultural learning and dialogue by giving young people something simple yet often missing: the opportunity to meet.
The idea is simple but powerful: when young people have the opportunity to meet their peers from neighbouring communities, they can challenge assumptions and build relationships based on direct experience rather than inherited perceptions.
Over the past five years, the programme has supported 348 school exchanges, bringing together nearly 5,000 students from almost 350 schools across the Western Balkans.
Behind every exchange is a different story, yet many share the same conclusion.
For Eli, a student from the Vocational Education and Training School in Kamëz who participated in an exchange with a partner school in Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the experience was transforming.
"Superschools changed my perspective. I realised that we are much more similar than different, and today I have more friends from the Balkans than from my own country."
Asked to describe what the programme means to him, Eli's answer was simple:
"For me, Superschools is a family without borders."
This growing community of young people came together once again from 14 to 19 May in Zlatibor, Serbia for the Superschools Youth Camp, marking RYCO’s tenth anniversary and five years of Superschools. Through workshops, teamwork activities and shared experiences, participants strengthened friendships while learning the importance of cooperation, trust and inclusion.
The week culminated in the Superschools Regional Education Conference on 18 May, where students, educators and institutional partners reflected on the programmes achievements and the role education can continue to play in strengthening dialogue across the region.
Superschools is part of the multi-donor project "Western Balkans School Exchange Scheme", co-financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) together with the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO).
By supporting young people to meet, learn and grow together, the programme is helping transform inherited stereotypes into lasting trust and cooperation across the region.
