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Photo credit: Jonada Jashari - https://www.elizabethgowing.com/ |
A day before our meeting with Elisabeth Gowing, while preparing for the pre-meeting briefing, I was not quite sure what to expect. By Friday afternoon (13 June), however, that uncertainty had turned into genuine curiosity. Reading about her achievements, especially her NGO work and her strong involvement in Kosovo despite her British background, made me excited to learn more. I assumed the session would focus primarily on her nonprofit initiatives, but I was surprised to find that she placed greater emphasis on her role as an advisor on community affairs in the Kosovar government.
Elisabeth Gowing’s path brings together education, activism, and storytelling in a way that felt especially relevant to Peace Lab Kosovo. She began her career as a primary-school teacher before moving into education policy in the UK, and in 2006, she relocated to Kosovo. Since then, she has been deeply involved in public life, not only through writing and media but also through civil society and government work. Her books, translations, and podcast reflect her commitment to sharing stories, while her founding of an NGO, work with other organisations, and training efforts show how she connects narrative with action. Her role as an advisor on community affairs within the Kosovar government adds another dimension to her engagement.
The meeting followed the usual structure, starting with a self-introduction, and continuing with the Q&As. She put a lot of emphasis on her current job, because she explained that she had to be less involved in her activist work in order to keep her integrity in her advisory role. She highlighted some significant projects that she was working on, such as verifying diplomas from (mainly Serbian) institutions that are not officially recognised by Kosovo. Nevertheless, I noticed that she walked around the word “recognition”, and accentuated the word “verify’ instead, which confirms how powerful language can be. She also discussed the importance of storytelling in peacebuilding because of its crucial shaping of narratives. While she acknowledged that it could be used negatively to frame a narrative, she insisted that it was also essential in empowering agents of social change by incentivising them to tell their stories and inspire others. This argument struck me, because I always used to associate storytelling with the manipulated framing of narratives, but this challenged the idea that storytelling should inherently be opposed to trust.
Furthermore, when Elisabeth Gowing told us about how she founded the Ideas Partnership NGO, I was really touched. She explained how she was walking in the Ashkali neighbourhood when a woman asked her for help with her injured son. After going to the doctor together, she came back regularly to provide her with the medicine her son needed. While doing so, she started to know her daughter as well, who could not go to school because she missed the first few years, and was not able to catch up. She then decided to offer her help to teach her, and the girl asked whether her friends could join as well. Once organized, she started teaching a class of 23 children, and other volunteers started to join, making the NGO emerge.
Nevertheless, while her British background allows her to have a perspective which is less entrenched in the deeply rooted ethnic divisions, we were still able to notice some tensions. For instance, she is fighting for the marginalised communities, which include the Serbs, and she mentioned having meetings (herself, or the PM) with Serbian social actors or NGOs, although these are usually kept secret for their safety.
In conclusion, this guest lecture was really interesting in opening up my perspectives. Learning about her experience in the Kosovar government, as well as her media and civil society work reshaped my outlooks on Kosovo and peacebuilding. In particular, her insights from the government and her NGO made me gain nuance in the roles of the actors and their dynamics within Kosovo. Regarding peacebuilding, her idea of storytelling shifted my opinions on the concept and the implications of its usage.
The meeting followed the usual structure, starting with a self-introduction, and continuing with the Q&As. She put a lot of emphasis on her current job, because she explained that she had to be less involved in her activist work in order to keep her integrity in her advisory role. She highlighted some significant projects that she was working on, such as verifying diplomas from (mainly Serbian) institutions that are not officially recognised by Kosovo. Nevertheless, I noticed that she walked around the word “recognition”, and accentuated the word “verify’ instead, which confirms how powerful language can be. She also discussed the importance of storytelling in peacebuilding because of its crucial shaping of narratives. While she acknowledged that it could be used negatively to frame a narrative, she insisted that it was also essential in empowering agents of social change by incentivising them to tell their stories and inspire others. This argument struck me, because I always used to associate storytelling with the manipulated framing of narratives, but this challenged the idea that storytelling should inherently be opposed to trust.
Furthermore, when Elisabeth Gowing told us about how she founded the Ideas Partnership NGO, I was really touched. She explained how she was walking in the Ashkali neighbourhood when a woman asked her for help with her injured son. After going to the doctor together, she came back regularly to provide her with the medicine her son needed. While doing so, she started to know her daughter as well, who could not go to school because she missed the first few years, and was not able to catch up. She then decided to offer her help to teach her, and the girl asked whether her friends could join as well. Once organized, she started teaching a class of 23 children, and other volunteers started to join, making the NGO emerge.
Nevertheless, while her British background allows her to have a perspective which is less entrenched in the deeply rooted ethnic divisions, we were still able to notice some tensions. For instance, she is fighting for the marginalised communities, which include the Serbs, and she mentioned having meetings (herself, or the PM) with Serbian social actors or NGOs, although these are usually kept secret for their safety.
In conclusion, this guest lecture was really interesting in opening up my perspectives. Learning about her experience in the Kosovar government, as well as her media and civil society work reshaped my outlooks on Kosovo and peacebuilding. In particular, her insights from the government and her NGO made me gain nuance in the roles of the actors and their dynamics within Kosovo. Regarding peacebuilding, her idea of storytelling shifted my opinions on the concept and the implications of its usage.
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