Synergies between public policies and programs

At the national level, the Commission for the Coordination of Youth Issues operates under the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Commission’s mandate is to coordinate youth-related policies and facilitate cooperation among sectors important for young people, including education, culture and social inclusion. It supports analysis, proposes strategic priorities, promotes harmonization of plans and encourages cooperation across governance levels.

There is also the Department for Culture and Science within the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which operates as a coordinating body both in relation to the entities and Brčko District. It is responsible for coordinating cultural programs, aligning entity-level plans, and representing the country's cultural policy on the international stage through high-level institutional collaboration. 

However, Bosnia and Herzegovina currently does not have a single state-level youth strategy. Instead, youth policies are developed at the entity and Brčko District levels. This reflects the constitutional arrangement and requires coordination among ministries (including culture, sports, education and youth), as well as horizontal cooperation across policy areas.

In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Government, at the proposal of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports, initiated and drafted the Youth Strategy for 2025–2034. The strategy is designed to adopt a systemic approach to youth issues, including culture, education, social care and participation, and was developed with input from young people, the Youth Council of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and civil society partners such as the Institute for Youth Development KULT.

In Republika Srpska, the Culture Development Strategy 2023–2030 provides a long-term framework for the development of the cultural sector, including objectives related to accessibility, participation and modernization of cultural institutions. While the strategy has potential for cross-sector cooperation with education and youth policies, a dedicated action plan has not yet been adopted.

This process exemplifies a cross-sectoral synergy between culture, youth policy and other social policy areas, which is intended to promote coherent support for youth participation in cultural life alongside education, employment and civic engagement (see Chapter 1.3).

Programs like Erasmus+, implemented by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH, link education, youth mobility and cultural exchange, fostering skills, intercultural understanding and creative innovation among young people. The program supports institutional cooperation between educational and cultural bodies across the EU and Western Balkans.

Funding of culture in Bosnia and Herzegovina takes place at several levels of government and in accordance with constitutional competences (MDG-F, Culture for Development, (2010), GAP analysis of administrative data sources from areas of cultural policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Draft, p. 35-36):

• 3.13% National level,

• 64.98% Entities, Cantons and Brčko District,

• 11% Cities,

• 20.90% Municipalities.

Since 2014, Creative Europe funding has supported the Sarajevo Film Festival and numerous cultural institutions, including OKC Abrašević and various arts centers, to bolster youth creativity, cultural identity, and economic development in the creative sector. The program channels over EUR 5.5 million toward youth-related artistic initiatives across Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Partnerships between the culture and creative sectors, youth organizations and youth workers

The Western Balkans Youth Cultural Fund (WBYCF) is established and managed by the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO). This fund offers grants (EUR 3,000–6,000) to support youth cultural activism and creative solutions aimed at pressing social and political issues. It offers a platform for synergies between cultural practitioners, youth organizations and creative professionals. The Fund provides grants to young cultural practitioners and youth-oriented civil society organizations, supporting cultural activism, creative solutions to social challenges, and cross-border cultural cooperation in the region.

Workshops like “From idea to project: How culture contributes to peacebuilding?” bring together young artists, cultural practitioners and youth workers to build competencies, draft proposals and connect creative initiatives with funding sources such as WBYCF. These activities foster collaboration between the cultural sector and youth actors on shared cultural and social goals.

Across Bosnia and Herzegovina, non-governmental cultural organizations and youth centers serve as collaboration hubs where young creatives, cultural professionals and youth workers interact. Notable organizations involved in these cultural and youth-focused initiatives include OKC Abrašević (Mostar), Europe House Sarajevo, the Pavarotti Music Centre (Mostar), and the World Music Centre (Mostar). These organizations often work with youth workers, educators and institutional partners to run programs that enhance young people’s creative skills while connecting them to broader cultural networks.

“The Art of Understanding” is an interactive project within the Joint Regional Program “Dialogue for the Future-Fostering Dialogue and Social Cohesion in and between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Republic of Serbia.” Under the project, youth from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro participated in drama and music workshops in Tuzla. The initiative fostered intercultural dialogue and social cohesion among young people through collaborative creative expression.
The youth arts organization Svitac from the Brčko District actively collaborates with educational and cultural institutions, hosting multidisciplinary workshops, summer camps, and community arts initiatives aimed at reconciliation. These partnerships demonstrate how culture and youth engagement can be interwoven with local governance and volunteer structures.

Public cultural institutions, ministries and international partners often collaborate to implement cultural programs with youth participation. For example, Creative Europe-funded projects, supported jointly by the EU delegation and local cultural institutions, foster partnerships between cultural organizations, festivals (e.g., film and arts festivals) and youth groups, promoting networking, knowledge exchange, and cultural entrepreneurship.

The implementation of synergies and partnerships often depends on public funding streams and coordinated institutional support, including funding and coordination through the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (e.g., Erasmus+, youth policy coordination), support for Western Balkan regional cooperation initiatives (e.g., RYCO programs) and public collaboration with EU cultural funds and international networks that link local youth projects with international partners.