The Sarajevo Study Trip concluded a few weeks ago, with a group of 30 students from the University of Bologna and SAIS Europe participating. Here at the CCSDD blog, we have decided to highlight the experiences of a few of this year's participants.

Today we start with Patrick Molloy.

Patrick is a current SAIS Europe student working towards his MA and concentrating in Energy, Resources and the Environment. Read up on some of his impressions from the trip:

1. Why did you choose to participate in the Sarajevo Study Trip?

I went on the Sarajevo study trip because I have always been interested how post conflict countries attempt to rebuild the social and economic fabric of a country. I have previously lived in Northern Ireland and have seen the extensive challenges that multigeneration conflict has caused. I was very interested to see how my understanding of this conflict compared and contrasted with that of Bosnia.

2. Share some of your highlights (meetings, speakers, etc.) with us:

I thought that our meetings with the Charge D'affaires of the EU mission and the meeting with the Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Affairs were very useful for getting a broad understanding of the trajectory of the country as well as where progress is being made. I also thought that, the trip to Srebernica was particularly important in trying to understand the Bosnia Herzegovina of today.

3. What future challenges for Bosnia and Herzegovina did you learn about?

Many of the divisions that exist are linked very heavily to ethnicity and religion. These division are probably the most substantial challenges, as they seem to have reached into practically every facet of life in Bosnia and appear to be undermining  the capacity of the country to progress.

4. How did the trip relate to your studies and future professional ambitions?

Unfortunately, the lessons from this trip, that are transferable, relate to the difficulties and challenges that exist in many countries round the world. In particular, many resource rich countries face regular political and miltary unheval and as such, it is important to try to understand the challenges in trying to address these and the potential threats to post conflict stability.​

5. Did you enjoy meeting Unibo students?

It was great to meet student from Unibo and it was nice have some different perspectives and backgrounds that they brought to the trip.