How schools are contributing to truth-seeking, social cohesion and active citizenship in Sri Lanka. The civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ended in 2009, with total defeat of the LTTE and many thousands of civilian casualties. With the election of a new government in 2015, efforts are being made to address the ethno-religious and cultural tensions that led to the war. We have investigated how schools are contributing to...

Cultural heritage in peacebuilding This presentation was given at the Conference Dinner on May 5, 2017

Business, Peace and Interfaith Understanding; Concepts and Practice of Positive Peace: Overview of the Conference, Business, Peace and Interfaith Understanding; Concepts and Practice of Positive Peace: Overview of the Conference,

Discussion on whether offline and online participatory budgeting processes could foster positive peace in Colombia and, if so, under what circumstances. After fifty years of war, Colombia is about to start the implementation of an ambitious peace deal between the Government and the FARC-EP guerrilla. Participation is one of the most used words in the agreement between the parties, and peacebuilding in the local areas will depend on the active participation of citizens in more than forty...

Young participants from a conflict-affected town express their ideas about peace, which contrast starkly with the country’s dominant optimism. In the aftermath of the ‘no’ victory in the Colombian peace plebiscite, great emphasis has been placed on youth movements’ push for peace. Violent groups in Latin America are largely made up of male youths. In my documentary made during 9 months of fieldwork: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT_BqPT9E-U), a short section of which will be shown,...

On peace-building in The Peace Community of San Joseì de Apartadó The Peace Community of San Joseì de Apartadó is a peasant farmer community in Urabaì subregion who declared themselves 'neutral' to the Colombian armed conflict in 1997. One of the most emblematic victims’ groups in the country, they have been alternately glorified and condemned, but this paper, based on five years’ ethnographic work, shifts the human rights frame with which they have typically been viewed and proposes a gaze...

Outline some of the conceptual and practical difficulties regarding the clearance of Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) and reflect on the implications for states and populations in transformation. Fifteen to thirty percent (15-30%) of armaments fail to function when deployed: these include missiles, rockets, shells, mines, bomblets and carrier munitions. Direct violence does not fully cease - and, perhaps, conflict transformation cannot truly begin - until the explosive remnants of war (ERW)...

John Curtis will describe the destruction of tangible and intangible cultural heritage in Iraq, beginning with the first Gulf War in 1991 and continuing to the ravages of ISIS in 2014-2017. John Curtis will describe the destruction of tangible and intangible cultural heritage in Iraq, beginning with the first Gulf War in 1991 and continuing to the ravages of ISIS in 2014-2017. He will review the mostly unsuccessful attempts to protect that cultural heritage, and examine what prospects there...

This talk uses first person interviews to present the on-the-ground attitudes to peace in post-ISIS Iraq. The international community, led by America, regularly proclaims a commitment to the integrity of Iraq, a country bitterly and often violently divided along sectarian-ethnic lines (Arab Sunni, Arab Shia and Kurdish). This talk uses first person interviews to present the on-the-ground attitudes to peace in post-ISIS Iraq, after first sketching the post-invasion events which led to the...

Empirical insights from four country studies (Myanmar, Pakistan, South Africa and Uganda) on the topic of youth agency for peacebuilding. I am presenting empirical insights from four country studies (Myanmar, Pakistan, South Africa and Uganda) on the topic of youth agency for peacebuilding, and the role of non-formal and formal education in fostering or hindering such spaces. I reflect on the processes of knowledge generation about youth peacebuilding agency across diverse conflict-affected...

Increasing resilience against violence is the aim of Aegis Trust’s peace education programme in Rwanda. Increasing resilience against violence is the aim of Aegis Trust’s peace education programme in Rwanda. Achieved through building empathy, critical thinking, trust and commitment to action, the programme was integrated into the Rwandan National Curriculum in 2016. Aegis works with the Rwandan Education Board to train teachers and develop learning and teaching resources. Rwandan educators...

On the Global Peace Index, developed by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) - the world's leading measurement of country peacefulness. The Global Peace Index, developed by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP, is the world's leading measurement of country peacefulness. Through this, IEP has also created the first global, quantitative approach to measuring Positive Peace based on the social factors that have strongest statistically significant relationships with the absence of...

The evolution of thinking on peacebuilding in DFID, and the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. The evolution of thinking on peacebuilding in DFID, and the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. Building on Goals 1-15 – on ending poverty, building strong economies and infrastructures, promoting access to health, resources and work, inclusivity, combating climate change, protecting ecosystems - Goal 16 aims to “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable...

Negative Peace is when violence has stopped, but the underlying issues remain unresolved. It is thus often seen as an unsustainable peace, since violence may erupt again. Negative Peace is when violence has stopped, but the underlying issues remain unresolved. It is thus often seen as an unsustainable peace, since violence may erupt again. Positive Peace by contrast is when people and institutions have the ability to resolve or at least manage their differences without recourse to violence,...

Dr Denisa Kostovicova (LSE) gives a talk in the final plenary - Conceptualizing Peace. Part of the 2016 OxPeace Conference. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Professor Richard Caplan (Oxford) gives a talk in the final plenary - Conceptualizing Peace. Part of the 2016 OxPeace Conference. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Professor Peter Wallensteen (Uppsala, Notre Dame) gives a talk in the final plenary - Conceptualizing Peace. Part of the 2016 OxPeace Conference. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Polly Higgins gives a talk in parallel session D - Environmental Peace and Conflict. Part of the 2016 Oxpeace conference. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Dr Shonil Bhagwat gives a talk in parallel session D - Environmental Peace and Conflict. Part of the 2016 Oxpeace conference.

Jon Bennett gives a talk in parallel session C - Syria: governance, conflict and peace – two practical perspectives. Part of the 2016 OxPeace conference. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Richard Barltrop gives a talk in parallel session C - Syria: governance, conflict and peace – two practical perspectives. Part of the 2016 OxPeace conference. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Rupert Burridge (DPhil student, Lincoln College, Oxford) gives a talk parallel session B 'Verification in arms control; Issue-linkage in peace missions; Winning control after civil wars'. Part of the 2016 OxPeace conference. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Dr Annette Idler (Oxford) gives a talk for the first breakout session - Studying Conflict to Build Peace. Part of the 2016 OxPeace conference. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Dr Robert Johnson (Oxford) gives a talk for the first breakout session - Studying Conflict to Build Peace. Part of the 2016 OxPeace conference. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Prof John Gledhill (Oxford) gives a talk for the first plenary session -Studying Peace and Studying Conflict: Complementary or Competing Paradigms? Part of the 2016 OxPeace conference. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/