ADRC PUBLISHES A PUBLIC OPINION RESEARCH ON THE DISTINCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN KOSOVO SERBS AND ALBANIANS (‘’CAN WE UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER?“)
8:00 | subota, 2. februara, 2019
On Thursday (31.01.2019), Alternative Dispute Resolution Center published the public opinion research ‘’Can we understand one another?“. Focused on the distinctions of the communication between Kosovo Albanians and Kosovo Serbs, the research assesses the existing level of interaction in Mitrovica region, examines the role the language plays in inter-ethnic communication and seeks to understand the share of language in community-based polarization and the preservation of ethnic identity.
The programme managers of the ADRC (Lazar Rakić and Zana Syla) presented the document and the key – results in the launching event of the research, held on 31st of January in Mitrovica, in the presence of an audience of over 50 citizens, representatives of Embassies in Kosovo, international organizations, civil society, and media. The presenting panel revealed among others that around 40% of Kosovo Albanians from South Mitrovica and young Serbs (aged 16-25) from North Mitrovica feel bad or relatively bad when they hear Serbian, respectively, Albanian language; only 13.9% of residents of South and North Mitrovica speak each other’s languages, and 23.70% of Albanian and Serb respondents from South and North Mitrovica would learn the language of the other community.
The presentation and dissemination of the concrete publication were followed by the airing of a multimedia material (that covers and presents one part of the qualitative research in a creative and engaging format), and open interactive discussions with the audience.
‘’Can we understand one another?“ is the result of a 6 – month long quantitative and qualitative research conducted in the municipalities of South and North Mitrovica that involved around 1050 participants and contributors. It is associated with the ‘’Challenging Narratives“ component of the project ‘’Mediation Center Mitrovica“. Through this component, the ADRC aims to identify, analyze and unfold the antagonistic and crash point narratives of the communities from both sides of the Ibar River, in order to overcome the language barrier on the themes examined and present the standpoints of the communities to one another. It represents one of the approaches of the ADRC that contributes to the reconciliation efforts and processes in the Mitrovica region.
Supported by the Swiss Embassy in Kosovo and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Kosovo.
Find the public opinion research here:
http://mediation-mitrovica.org/publications/public-opinion-research-can-we-understand-one-another/
Find the multimedia material here: