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Business activity may offer a new space of peaceful coexistence in which the different collectives can take on new roles and discover the possibility of leaving a violent past behind them. We would like to highlight the case of Bosnia with a strong component of the reconciliation dimension.

The Mostar Bridge was built in 1663 and destroyed in 1993 by the Croatians who were laying siege to the Muslim population of Mostar, concentrated on the east side of the city. With the financing of World Bank and other donors and with the support of Unesco, the bridge was faithfully reconstructed. Consequently, the economic and social activity of the historic quarter was reactivated to the benefit of craftspeople, retailers, tour operators and hotel owners.

However, the benefit of this civil engineering project most appreciated by its beneficiaries was the joint nature of the project, as both the Bosnian and Croatian communities in the city participated in both its execution and its benefits. The company that was awarded the project contributed to this by hiring local labour and subcontracting local companies, supported by a masonry school and a project management unit co-directed by a Croat and a Muslim Bosnian that was brought under the umbrella of the Mostar Town Hall¹².

What is called “reconciliation in the workplace” can never be a forced process; instead it should have the approval by all the parties involved. In the majority of cases, a job means earning a stable means of subsistence, which in turn enables family structures to be maintained and violence to be abandoned. It also means abandoning political ideas or convictions that were a life project.