WESTERN BALKANS – Young people from the Western Balkans are invited to apply for a workshop in storytelling and fact-checking on topics of transitional justice, truth-telling and memory. We are inviting young people from any discipline who are interested in these topics to submit a proposal to join us at this workshop.
Storytelling is crucial to the process of transitional justice because it has the power to reveal atrocities and hidden personal memories that can be used to encourage the further sharing of similar experiences and expand knowledge of these narratives. For victims of war crimes and atrocities, storytelling has a healing aspect, as it gives them a voice and provides recognition of their experiences and traumas.
The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN is organizing a three-day interactive workshop at which participants will examine truth-seeking and reconciliation as an exercise in storytelling. The workshop will be led by BIRN’s award-winning journalists and editors and will examine how to avoid the trap of producing stories that trivialise war crimes and victims’ experiences and foster impunity. Participants will also learn how to create safe, non-partisan and compassionate space for victims who are sharing their stories.
Following the workshop, BIRN will provide funding and mentoring to participants to produce their own oral history video stories.
The workshop will be held in line with the current coronavirus health regulations.
BIRN and its partner(s) are supported by RYCO within the 4th Open Call for Project Proposals co-financed by the European Union.