About

About UWC Mostar

In many aspects, the action of UWC in Mostar is the apotheosis of the UWC vision and purpose.

At UWC in Mostar, the students actively reach out to all communities to assist in the healing process, build bridges, and work towards a brighter future. We support many local initiatives that work across the city’s communities, visit and assist at the local refugee camp, and in a range of other projects, we take our efforts further afield. We empower students to develop their ideas as well as to maintain the core activities that are now so well established.

The celebration of diversity and the promotion of intercultural and international understanding are at the core of our mission. Our goal is to make education a force to unite people, nations, and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.

UWC Movement - History

UWC was founded in 1962 with the vision of bringing together young people whose experience was of the political conflict of the Cold War era, offering an educational experience based on shared learning, collaboration, and understanding so that the students would act as champions of peace. We remain committed to this goal today, but have expanded our reach to embrace the tensions and conflicts that exist within as well as between societies.

We welcome students from a deliberately diverse range of backgrounds and experiences. At UWC, diversity extends to differences in socioeconomic background, culture, race, and religion as well as nationality. UWC students are united in their commitment to positive social action to build a more equitable and fairer world. The United World College in Mostar is registered as a private school under the laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The legal founder of the UWC Mostar is the Foundation Education in Action. UWC Mostar is governed by the College Board and is led by the College Head.

For more, see this timeline.

UWC Mostar - Context

UWC Mostar was and is the first UWC with the explicit aim to contribute to the reconstruction of a post-conflict society, and also the first to be housed within an existing national school. The college is based within the striking Austro-Hungarian building of Gimnazija Mostar. Our students are secondary school students belonging to all ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as students from the nearby region and further abroad, all of whom live, study, and serve the community together. UWC Mostar enriches the UWC movement by adding its unique aim: “To equip the next generations of young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the knowledge, skills, leadership qualities and international values, necessary to bridge the still existing ethnic divisions and move their country into the 21st century.”

We aim to reach and to influence those young people in Bosnia who are seeking to shape their future in a society that has yet to come to terms with its past. They are the future of the country and its hope for reconciliation. Furthermore, the UWC Mostar broadens this special mission by offering the same opportunities to the young people from all over the world, especially those coming from other post-conflict countries, particularly from the Balkans.

UWC Mostar educates students to learn and appreciate their differences, at the same time promoting equality, tolerance, and critical thinking. All students live, study, and serve in the community together, creating a unique example of integrated education in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. We aim to offer a convincing classroom model of integrated curriculum, thus offering a model for broader educational reform in the country and the region.

History

In September 2006, the Initiative of United World Colleges (UWC) and International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) in Bosnia and Herzegovina founded the United World College in Mostar (UWC Mostar), with the aim of demonstrating a quality educational model which will serve as a reference for the process of educational reform in the country.

The Initiative of the United World Colleges and the International Baccalaureate Organization proceeded with a pioneering initiative in Bosnia and Herzegovina – to develop a template for a convincing classroom model which could open new avenues for the country’s education system. The Initiative relied on the 40 years of experience of the United World College movement in working with pupils of different national, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. The Initiative also leaned on the 40 years of experience of the IBO in molding an international secondary school syllabus, which is valid for countries and peoples around the world.

From the beginning, the UWC-IBO Initiative in Bosnia and Herzegovina was planned to proceed in incremental stages. The start-up period of 18 months (March 2005-August 2006) was designed to run preparatory activities and develop the political and financial support for the Initiative. The start-up period was designed in two parts: first, to determine the feasibility of the Initiative, and second, to carry out the full implementation of it in September 2006.

The United World College in Mostar (UWC Mostar) officially opened its doors to students from Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad on 25 September 2006 as the 12th of all the UWCs. The College was officially inaugurated by Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, the President of the United World Colleges, on 22 May 2007. The first generation of 88 students came from more than 30 countries around the world.

Foundation Education In Action

The Foundation Education in Action is a non-governmental, non-political, and non-profit organization registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Foundation is a successor to the UWC-IBO Initiative in BiH, which established the UWC Mostar in 2006.

The Foundation’s mission is to provide the next generations of young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the knowledge, skills, leadership qualities, and international values necessary to overcome the ethnic divides and move their nation into the 21st century.

Founders
Elisabeth Rehn Lamija Tanović
Chair of the Governing Board
Pilvi Torsti
Members of the Governing Board
Jasminka Bratić
Ivan Lorenčič
Adriaan de Mol van Otterloo

The work that led to the founding of the UWC-IBO Initiative in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to the opening of UWC Mostar as part of it in 2006 was legally first organized under the representative office of UWC Adriatic in BiH. In 2006, a non-profit organization was registered in Finland to govern the work as an independent legal entity, as no state level legal solution in BiH was available. In 2011, the Foundation Education in Action was registered under the new law in BiH, which was at the national/state level.

Foundation regulations, aims, and activities – summary

The Foundation is registered as a non-governmental, non-political, and non-profit organisation. It operates within the entire territory of BiH by the applicable laws and regulations. The Foundation is entered in the Register of Foundations of the Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 20.12.2010 (ID 4201612480001). The founders of the Foundation are Elisabeth Rehn and Lamija Tanović.

The Governing Board of the Foundation is the highest authority of the Foundation. It has 4 members. The first chairman and members are appointed by the Founder. The members are appointed for a four-year term with the possibility of re-appointment. The election of the new Board members is conducted by the current members of the Board. The Board members then propose a new Chair and select one among them.

Some of the aims and activities are:

– achieving a peaceful and sustainable future in BiH and the region through education

– contributing to educational reform in BiH and advocating for contemporary teaching and learning methods in the curriculum

– educating students from Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries within the UWC Mostar

-encouraging liaison and cooperation with other IB schools in BiH and the region to establish a network of schools committed to the same aim

-connecting young people to develop mutual understanding and cultural, religious, and national tolerance;

-organizing events and activities between IB and non-IB schools in BiH and the region;

-organizing summer school courses for students and educators

– running the Centre for the Professional Development of Educators, which will organize workshops, study visits and conferences for educators, including teachers, head-teachers, and other persons or institutions connected to the field of education.

Governance

The United World College in Mostar is registered as a private school under the laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The legal founder of the UWC Mostar is the Foundation Education in Action. UWC Mostar is governed by the College Board and is led by the College Head.

The United World College in Mostar was established in 2006. It is governed by a College Board comprising of up to 13 members, representing the Founder (the Foundation Education in Action), college staff, parents, UWC International, alumni, and others.

The College Board’s responsibilities include appointing the College Head and advising and monitoring the Head’s work, adopting policy documents, approving the annual working plan and budget of the school submitted by the College Head, adopting annual financial reports by the college, and being directly responsible to UWC International for adherence to UWC criteria and standards.

The College Head is responsible for the executive management of the College, with the support of the Leadership Team, which includes coordinators for Academia, Advancement and Outreach, Finance and Administration, Pastoral Care, and Co-curriculum.

Founder
Foundation Education in Action

Chair of the College Board
Ivan Lorenčič

Members of the College Board of the UWC Mostar 2023-2027

1. Jasminka Bratić (Deputy Chair)
2. Fleur Meijs (Permanent Proxy for the Chair)
3. Elvira Dilberović
4. Andrew Bennett
5. Mirna Doyle
6. Sandra Ann Thomas
7. Anja Weiss
8. Mia Glamuzina
9. Damir Čobo
10. Josipa Gotovac
11. Adriaan van der Linden
12. Tetyana Samiliv

Additional members of the College Board Subcommittees:
Philine Nau

Non-voting members
Head of College, Student Representative.

College Board Contacts:
College Board Secretary: [email protected]
Chair of the College Board: [email protected]