The third edition of the memory walk dedicated to the peacebuilders of Gorski Kotar was held in Mrkopalj and Tuk on 19 September 2026, organized by the Initiative On the Pathways of Gorski Kotar Peacebuilders, of which the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Rijeka is also a member. Held in observance of the International Day of Peace, the walk brings together participants to remember key moments of resistance to wartime violence in the Gorski Kotar region during the 1990s and to pay tribute to members of the local community who worked to preserve peace in their communities.
This year’s walk commemorated the 35th anniversary of the removal of the barricades in the Bjelolasica area. Around 70 people took part, including 30 teachers, educators and other education professionals from Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, who attended the Peace School programme in Fužine from 17 to 20 September. Both the commemorative walk and the 2026 Peace School were supported by the Robert Bosch Stiftung.
The memory walk began at the Cultural Centre in Mrkopalj, where participants were addressed by Josip Brozović, Mayor of the Municipality of Mrkopalj, and Dr Valentina Otmačić, Deputy Head of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Rijeka. The group then proceeded to the house where Franjo Starčević, the renowned peacebuilder from Mrkopalj, once lived. There, Nada Glad, his close associate and the author of a book about him, shared her reflections with the participants.
At the next stop, by Franjo Starčević’s grave in the Mrkopalj cemetery, the walkers were welcomed by pedagogue Renata Lisac, who shared her memories of Franjo. Two former facilitators in the 1990s Peace School, Igor Crnković and Marin Lukanović, also shared their recollections. Crnković emphasized that their experiences at the Peace School and their collaboration with Franjo Starčević had shaped them as people.
The group also heard a brief address from Milan Kosanović, the father of an ethnic Serb girl from Jasenak who had attended the Peace School in 1994. As he placed a candle on Franjo Starčević’s grave, he said: “Thank you, Franjo, because if it hadn’t been for you, perhaps none of us would be alive today.” Accompanied by Bob Dylan’s song Blowin’ in the Wind, the group then continued towards Tuk.
At the “Bijele Stijene” mountain lodge in Tuk, where an important meeting of municipal leaders from across Gorski Kotar took place in 1992, resulting in an agreement to pursue active peace, participants heard the recollections of Milan Mamula, who was the lead of the Jasenak local community at the time. It was he who welcomed Franjo Starčević on the “other side” of Bjelolasica when Franjo decided to cross the barricades and seek peace through dialogue with his neighbours.
This September, participants once again returned home from the Pathways of Gorski Kotar Peacebuilders inspired by the realization that peace can be preserved even under the most difficult circumstances. This is a highly needed message of hope in today’s deeply uncertain times.
