April 29, 2025
This event was implemented by the NGO Terraforming, a local partner in the project. It was a
workshop called: Everything will be fine: refugee experiences from Serbia – The Past to the
Future Workshop. This event is the first WP4 workshop in Serbia. The lecturer was the founder
and director of the NGO Terraforming, Miško Stanišić, who himself went through a difficult
refugee experience related to Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The workshop was conducted
in the premises of the University Library in Belgrade. The workshop was also assisted by local
partners of the NGO Atina, who brought migrants from the “Krnjača” migrant reception center.
All participants spoke English language. There was great interest in this workshop, but the space
did not allow for more than 53 people (60 including the local project management). At certain
points in the workshop, some of the attendees (especially people who were already in the library)
stood to the side, next to the chairs.
At the beginning, all those present were welcomed by the Director of the University Library,
PhD professor Aleksandar Jerkov, emphasizing the importance of this project for our society and
especially the academic community that the library represents.
After that, Miško Stanišić took the podium with his storytelling. He shared his experiences as a
refugee with such power and honesty that everyone in the room was completely captivated. We
emphasize that he is a professional with extensive international lecturing and educational
experience, primarily in the field of the Holocaust, but also in the field of refugees and migration
in general. With his organization Terraforming (which, besides Serbia, has its representative
offices in both Sweden and the Netherlands), he led and participated in various international
projects. Furthermore, he was awarded for his contribution to the Holocaust Studies by the most
relevant world institutions in the field. At the very beginning of the workshop, the lecturer
interacted with all those present, asking them quiz questions – initially of a general type, and later
moving on to those related to the situation of displacement from their native environment. Then,
he moved on to storytelling about his own situation, as a refugee from Bosnia, first in Serbia, and
then in Sweden. Finally, he pointed out some of the most significant global activists in the field,
who were migrants themselves, including a famous Swedish musician. It was to the tune of his
music that the workshop’s final message came: Everything will be fine. At the end, all those
present enthusiastically emphasized how much this workshop meant to them, and two people
from the audience performed so emotionally that there were tears and support on the spot.
According to all those present (some of them were also present at the workshops as part of WP
3) – this was the best workshop in the project so far.
At the very end, the gathering continued with coffee and refreshments. Some attendees also
participated with the organizers in creating the Video Pills of the project (can be seen at the end
of the project website’s home page), emphasizing their satisfaction with being present at this
workshop and the importance of the MILAGRO project.
