As the evening sun set over Sarajevo and bathed the walls of the Yellow Fortress in golden light, they met for the first time: young people from Bulgaria, Germany, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina. For one week, they would learn, understand, remember and grow together. And Sarajevo, this city of a thousand stories, immediately set the tone.

As the call of the muezzin and the bells of the churches rang out over the old town, the group heard what has defined this city for centuries: a tapestry of sound and diversity. It was a first indication that here, in the heart of the Balkans, borders do not divide, but intertwine.

The vision behind DYON – and why this boot camp was created
This is precisely where the story of DYON, the Danube Youth Organisations Network, begins.
DYON is a new European youth movement that arose from the desire to not only give young people in the Danube region a voice, but also spaces where that voice can grow. Today, the network brings together 49 youth organisations from all 14 Danube countries – from Germany to Ukraine – and was officially recognised by the EU Danube Region Strategy in 2024.

DYON has a clear mission: Europe should not just be administered, but renewed – with the ideas, energy and courage of a young generation.

The idea for this network, and thus also for the first boot camp, was born in 2018 at the Agapedia Youth Camp in Ellwangen – when Stefan Barth, director of the Agapedia Foundation, and Mirella Sidro, journalist for Danube Connects magazine, met.
There, the idea was born to one day organise a European boot camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina: a country that stands for diversity, resilience and dialogue like no other.

Seven years later, the vision became reality.

In the summer of 2025, 23 young people from seven countries came together for the first time – ready for a week that turned out to be much more than just a camp. It became a process of shared remembrance, learning and growth.

1. Breathing history: Sarajevo and its diversity
The week began with a gesture that is almost symbolic of the DNA of this country: a joint visit to the Yellow Fortress at sunset. The Sarajevo skyline glowed as the call of the muezzin and the ringing of church bells overlapped – a sound that immediately showed the participants what an extraordinary city they had landed in.

The next day, historian Dr Eli Tauber, one of Bosnia’s most prominent Jewish voices, led the group through the old Jewish cemetery. Amidst weathered gravestones, he spoke of a friendship between Jews and Muslims that had lasted over 500 years – of mutual protection, neighbourly coexistence and the uniqueness of a place where diversity was not a theory but everyday reality.

The young people suddenly saw Sarajevo in a different light: not just as a city, but as a living archive of European history.

2. Srebrenica: Remembrance, Responsibility, Empathy
The next stage took the group to Srebrenica – a place whose name echoes throughout Europe. But they did not come just to mourn.

Bosnian-Romanian director Ado Hasanović had invited them to the Silver Frame Film Festival. A festival he founded to give young people from the region new perspectives: creativity instead of reduction to trauma, future instead of stagnation.

The participants became the official jury of the Green Short Movie Award, together with the Goethe-Institut and German filmmaker Juliane Ebner.
In their workshops, they learned to analyse films, recognise narrative structures and not only see stories, but read them.

Ado explained to them what Srebrenica means to him:
Srebrenica is not just pain. It is a city full of heart, talent and future.

The visit to the Srebrenica Memorial Centre was probably the quietest moment of the week. Among the names, the photographs, the personal belongings, memory began to become tangible.
The encounter with the mothers of Srebrenica was particularly moving. Their words about love, dignity and unshakeable humanity left an impression that will last longer than any workshop session.

At the end of this chapter, Ado invited everyone to dinner at a traditional restaurant on the banks of the Drina, the river that separates Bosnia and Serbia here – and at the same time connects them. There, the young people learned how to roll Bosnian tita and burek, a traditional stuffed dough dish. By this point at the latest, it was clear that the group had become a living network – each person a neuron, connected to the others, ready to create something great together.

3. Nature that connects: From Lake Boračko to Umoljani
The third chapter took place in the country’s unique natural surroundings – and showed the young people another side of Bosnia.

At Lake Boračko, at the foot of the majestic Prenj massif, they were welcomed by Muamer Klino, President of the International Police Association Sarajevo. There they discussed peace, responsibility and what it means to be a bridge builder between generations, countries and perspectives.

A highlight was rafting on the emerald green Neretva, one of the last unspoilt wild rivers in Europe. Its ancient Celtic name, Nera Etwa – ‘the divine one that flows’ – took on a whole new meaning on the water.

Finally, they hiked to Umoljani, one of the oldest mountain villages in the country, and followed the trail of the legend of the petrified dragon. Bosnian myths, young faces, a European future – an unexpectedly harmonious picture.

Conclusion – A week that became a “we”
At the end of these intense days, the young people had touched history, understood memory, experienced nature – and found each other in all of this.
They came from seven countries. They left as a community.

The phrase that DYON carries became tangible during this week:

Flowing together – growing together.
It wasn’t just a motto. It was an experience.

The Danube as Europe’s line of the future

DYON is more than a network.
It is a movement that connects the youth of the Danube region – across borders, across languages, across memories.
The first boot camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina was the beginning.
Baden-Württemberg and Bulgaria will follow in 2026. Then Czechia.
A new country every year. New stories every year. Every year, a new generation that thinks ahead for Europe.

Like the Danube itself:
always in motion, always connecting, always flowing.
To where the future is created – from courage, encounters and the will to grow together.

Mirella Sidro,
Sarajevo