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History
In 1990 Sharon Himsl, an American woman dedicated to peace issues, was invited to the U. S. Institute of Peace to meet with leaders in the relatively new field of conflict resolution: Herbert Kelman of Harvard University, Ron Fischer, President of the Canadian Institute of Peace, and Chris Mitchell of George Mason University. Here she first learned about the tremendous potential of preventing violent conflict. While most work was being done at the adult level, she soon became convinced that it was the young people, the new generation, who should be mastering the skills of conflict management. To say that the methods were too complex would be to short-change youth, she felt.
Sharon distributed books and other teaching materials to university libraries and schools in countries at imminent risk as well as to schools and churches in the United States. Encouraged by the progress of the program for young Israelis and Palestinians designed by Vermont organization Seeds of Peace, she pursued an idea which had simmered in her mind for some time: a summer peace camp for young people in Eastern European war-torn countries. She envisioned both study and useful practice of skills dealing in conflict management and post-war reconciliation.
 In January 2001, after negotiations with the staff at the European University Center for Peace Studies (EPU) in Stadtschlaining, Austria, Sharon established contact with their sister organization in Vukovar, Croatia, site of horrendous violence and war during the 1990s. This peace institute, called VIMIO, was looking for assistance in healing the deep ethnic wounds between Serbs and Croats within their community. Almost ten years after the Dayton Peace Accords, Vukovar remains a volatile and strictly segregated city (see photos). In the summer of 2002, Stadtschlaining became home to the first Youthbridge peace camp with young Serbian and Croat participants from Vukovar.
Youthbridge is a United States registered non-profit organization 501(c)3 and has "Verein" (Registered association) status in Austria. The organization is run by five directors based in the US, Germany, and Austria, and relies almost exclusively on volunteer work.
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 -- what's new ---Zwischen den Fronten
-Durst nach Frieden
-IFA Approves Youthbridge Projects
-U.S. Awards Grant
-5 Jahre zivik
-Benefit Event in Berlin
-Benefizabend in Berlin
-Croatian President
Stjepan Mesic
-Generali-Award 2005
-Friedensinitiative
Judenburg
-- current links ---austrian peace service
-skatepark.org
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