We are excited to announce the call for participants for our NECE Lab „Working with polarised groups in civic education“ in Sarajevo 11-14 June 2025.

For this train the trainers workshop we are looking for experiecend facilitators and trainers, who deal with polarised groups in their group and would like to apply the results of the NECE Lab to their own trainings.

The NECE Lab is organized by THE CIVICS Innovation Hub in cooperation with EUSTORY and Körber-Stiftung. The three days event brings together practitioners from the field of non-formal civic education, trainers who are engaged in finding solutions to the challenges of (affective) polarization, and experts who are involved in developing modules for teacher training

The aim of the event is to support practitioners in civic education in navigating a reality which is marked by affective polarisation and rising anti-democratic sentiments across Europe. Participants will gain a deeper insight into different forms of affective polarization and will learn from experts in the Western Balkans but also beyond about best practices for managing polarization in youth work.

Participants will engage in discussions with representatives of local organisations from Bosnia as well as international practitioners who have developed impactful approaches to addressing and moderating highly emotional, complex and polarised issues, and to initiating and sustaining difficult conflict dialogues.

We invite practitioners from the field of non-formal civic education, such as multipliers, facilitators, trainers, and experts within academia or civil society organizations, who deal with polarization in their work to apply and share their experience. This train-the-trainer exchange will elaborate on how to strengthen the role of teachers and facilitators working with young people in environments characterized by distinct or growing national, ethnic, political, religious or cultural affiliations.

The travel costs (usually up to max 300 EUR economy class return ticket) and accommodation will be covered by the organizers.

Make sure to apply on time, as available spots are limited. We eagerly await your application to discover together new methods of dealing with polarized groups.

Extended deadline for applications: 6 May 11.59 PM CET.

For more information about NECE, please visit nece.eu.

For questions regarding the application please contact dorogi@thecivics.eu