That was the Mini-Van Tour 2025!

The (once again) biggest Mini-Van Tour to date has been successfully concluded!
The tour included visits to eight cities in six different countries (Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, and Austria) with the aim of cross-community work and social inclusion through interactive sports activities and capacity building.  

The Mini-Van Tour visited eight cities this year – Ferlach (AUT), Gradiška (BiH), Doboj (BiH), Zagreb (CRO), Bujanovac (SRB), Pristina (KOS), Plav (MNE) and Nikšić (MNE). It was also the first time that we successfully included a tour stop in Kosovo expending our network in the region even further. In collaboration with local partners and trained workshop facilitators, our team successfully implemented planned activities and directly engaged thousands of children and youth, coaches, teachers, parents, and other citizens of these cities.
Each location visited by the Mini-Van Tour represented a unique story addressing the idea of working in divided communities and bringing people together. Through all the stops and interactions with the local population, we gained valuable insights into their communities and the challenges they face, which we will strive to address in our future activities.

David Hudelist, who is the project manager of all three projects involved “would like to thank everyone who was part of this beautiful story, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration and engaging in further activities with all of the established partners and new friends. During this tour I learned a lot about this unique region and people bringing back plenty of ideas for the future”.
The Mini-Van Tour team travelled for 20 days in total battling scorching heat in the most northern tour station Ferlach and snow in the most southern tour station Pristina. The tram travelled in a van equipped with our Streetkick (an inflatable football pitch), microsoccer (1-on-1 football field), fairplay workshop-stations, as well as a variety of other fun and educational activities through which they could discuss topics relevant to their local communities.

Apart from football, the Mini-Van Tour also included many other sports such as basketball, volleyball, badminton, horseback riding, freestlye football and table tennis. Besides sports activities, children could enjoy music stations with dancing, drawing together and fun educational games and of course lot of conversations and discussions. fairplay workshops were an integral part of the program, providing children with the opportunity to learn about the importance of fairplay and respect.

“The Mini Van Tour gave us a rare insight into how different communities live and connect. We didn’t expect to change the world with one activity, but we did create safe spaces for children to play, learn, and take their first steps toward openness and understanding. Sometimes, inclusion begins right there — in public spaces that are finally shared.” says Mirna Hrapovic as coordinator of the tour.
Bojana Balevic, from the local partner organization in Bujanovac (SRB) added that “the Mini Van Tour was a unique opportunity for children from different communities to learn, cooperate, and build friendships together. Through sports and various activities, they showed that differences do not divide but connect people. It was inspiring to see the children functioning together as a united community, radiating energy, team spirit, and mutual support.”

The Mini-Van Tour was part of the projects Football Zajedno (Football Association of Montenegro under the UEFA HatTrick V program), Sport Together (co-funded by the Erasmus+ Sport program) and Game Changers (funded by the European Union). All of the projects focus on promoting equality, human rights, and combating nationalism and segregation. The tour was organized by the local organisations "Igrajmo Zajedno" Initiative (iZi) from Sarajevo and the fairplay initiative from Vienna and in close collaboration with local partners, sports clubs, and non-governmental organizations.