Young heritage professionals from 13 countries will gather in Bosnia and Herzegovina to explore cultural heritage, post-conflict recovery and resilience.
HIDR - Centre for Peace and Heritage and International Forum Bosnia announce the 21st International Summer School Youth and Heritage (ISSYH21), organized in partnership with ICCROM from July 23 to August 7, 2026, in Sarajevo, Mostar, and Stolac. The programme joins 18 young heritage professionals from 13 countries, with several of the participants from conflict-affected countries supported through ICCROM funding.
The internationally recognized ISSYH is an intensive three-week programme of lectures, field visits, training workshops, and practical projects designed and led by Bosnian and international experts, including ICCROM and partner organizations working actively in emergency response, heritage conservation and recovery.
Participants from around the world will engage with the experiences of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the destruction of cultural heritage during conflict to the approaches developed to support its recovery. Combing site-based learning, dialogue, and hands-on training, they gain practical insights into how heritage conservation, recovery, and reconstruction can contribute to resilience, reconciliation, and sustainable peace. The programme recognizes that heritage derives its meaning from the communities that create, value and sustain it.
The 2026 edition builds on two flagship initiatives launched in 2024: the Heritage Documentation Studio (HEDS), developed in collaboration with ICCROM, which uses digital documentation tools such as photogrammetry, 3D modelling, LiDAR and GIS to document Stolac's heritage; and HeritageWISE, which assesses how traditional and Indigenous knowledge can inform climate adaptation and the recovery of seasonal rituals and historic water systems.
For the first time, ISSYH21 introduces strategic foresight as a cross-cutting approach, drawing on ICCROM expertise throughout the programme. Rather than a standalone module, foresight is embedded within the learning experience, encouraging participants to anticipate emerging risks and plausible futures for heritage sites and communities, and to develop adaptive, forward-looking strategies that respond proactively to change.
From a tent camp to a global learning platform
What began in 2005 as a tent camp where young volunteers worked together to help restore the war-damaged town of Stolac has evolved into an internationally recognized learning platform. Over the past two decades, ISSYH has welcomed more than 1,000 participants from over 40 countries, creating a global network of heritage professionals committed to recovery, resilience, and peacebuilding. Since then, the programme continues to demonstrate that investing in young professionals is one of the most meaningful ways to build a more peaceful and sustainable future.
This conviction is at the heart of the ICCROM Strategic Plan 2026-2031 and its CARE Vision to Conserve, Activate and Recognize heritage in all its forms. CARE is more than an acronym – it is an ethic that reminds us that heritage is not something we simply conserve. We must also activate it so that it contributes to people's lives and livelihoods, recognize the diverse knowledge, values and perspectives that give it meaning, and empower people to become its stewards and champions.
This International Summer School brings this vision to life. Here, heritage becomes a catalyst for dialogue, recovery, resilience, social cohesion, and socio-economic growth.