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Escape the Bureaucracy

Article

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a decentralized state consisting of two entities, one district, ten cantons, twenty-four cities, and one hundred and twenty municipalities. Such a large number of different levels of government bodies leads to confusion, as citizens are not always sure which of these levels they should turn to in order to address a particular issue (municipal, city, cantonal, entity, or state). Therefore, it often happens that citizens’ complaints and suggestions are rejected only because they are addressed to a level of government that is not responsible for their problem.

Given that this problem leads to a waste of time and money for both citizens and officials, EDVACAY fellows Anes Hodžić, Elma Kodro, Emina Obradović, and Erma Kurtović believe that currently, the most effective way to solve this problem would be the education of students. Knowing that people learn best and adopt new knowledge through play and when it is incorporated into some fun activity, our fellows decided to educate Bosnian youth by using a game based on the concept of an escape room.

The training is conducted in a fun way using an escape room in which participants use logic and knowledge about the political system of Bosnia and Herzegovina to solve certain puzzles that lead them to the goal. The goal of the game is to reach a pre-set goal determined by an engaging storyline. Ultimately, players will have fun but at the same time learn the tasks of different institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

By educating the younger generations of citizens, we will be able to introduce them to the political system of Bosnia and Herzegovina and institutions at the municipal, city, cantonal, entity, and state levels and their competencies. We will also be able to encourage them to participate in political life.


Meet the Escape Room Playing Teams


‘Chance for Us’ Workshop

Team members Elma Kodro, Erma Kurtović, and Anes Hodžić were invited to present their civic campaign at the educational training “Chance for Us”, held from September 4-6 in Sarajevo and organized by the Boris Divković Foundation. The “Chance for Us” project consists of four trainings held in Sarajevo, Mostar, Trebinje, and Tarčin, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). This project is intended for young candidates in the upcoming local elections from the Sarajevo Canton and Herzegovina-Neretva Canton.

On the second day of the training, thirty participants had the opportunity to try out the escape room prepared by the team. After a short lecture aimed at getting the participants acquainted with the Bosnian bureaucracy, an introductory film was shown explaining how the escape room works. After that, the participants were divided into several groups, and their escape from the bureaucracy could begin! At the end of the workshop, the young candidates were delighted with the educational character of the escape room and expressed a desire to participate in other games that the Humanity in Action fellows will create in the future.

This project is generously supported by: