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The purpose of this paper is to spur further exploration of blockchain technologies for environmental peacebuilding, specifically through water management. Although the environmental peacebuilding field acknowledges the potentially transformative nature of frontier technologies, most existing studies do not address how such technologies can contribute to peacebuilding through improved natural resource governance. Using a theory synthesis research design, this conceptual paper connects these studies to discuss how blockchain technologies in water management may contribute to environmental peacebuilding through the efficient and transparent management of natural resources.

The authors use a conceptual approach and a theory synthesis research design to present potential mechanisms through which blockchain technology can potentially contribute to environmental peacebuilding.

The authors discuss the limitations in the literature on environmental peacebuilding, blockchain and water management, concluding that the third generation of studies should focus on the role of frontier technologies. This approach should especially address the negative consequences of technology for peacebuilding objectives. The authors argue that blockchain applications in water management can potentially contribute to environmental peacebuilding objectives in three ways: (i) creating a mechanism for confidence-building in low-trust contexts through automated and transparent water transactions, (ii) facilitating postconflict economic development through attracting capital and increasing the efficiency of water management and (iii) improving governance through greater transparency and local participation in natural resource management.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to conceptually explore the use of blockchain technology for water management in the context of environmental peacebuilding. The insights from this study can guide policymakers of conflict sides that focus on resolving issues such as lack of governance and low state agency.

Physicians' uniquely privileged social status gives them influence to help prevent conflict in addition to treating its victims. Yet the peacebuilding role of physicians has received little attention in medical education. In this paper, the authors tackle both and provide some concrete guidance to medical schools interested in taking it on.

Using Qualitative Description, a review of literature and expert interviews in violence prevention, peacebuilding, medicine and medical education, three statements are posited: improved healthcare may enhance the prospects for peace; there are mechanisms by which healthcare may potentially enhance peacebuilding; and medical education can be designed to support these mechanisms. A “peace audit” is developed against which to evaluate the efforts of medical schools towards peacebuilding. This audit is used to assess a medical school in Nepal that is invested in peacebuilding.

Medicine has a role, both in resolving conflict, and in preventing its occurrence. The experts believe that physicians have a responsibility to go further than treating the wounded and address the root cause of conflict: the structural violence of poverty and economic disparity.

This paper considers the mechanisms by which medicine supports peacebuilding, and the consequences of this for medical education. The literature to date has not dealt with this issue.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the idea of inclusion in women’s bottom-up peacebuilding in Ghana. Inspired by the growing importance of “inclusion” and “local empowerment” in the discourse and practice of local ownership in peacebuilding, this paper seeks to investigate the scope and degree of inclusion of key actors such as women and youth, and how that affects peacebuilding and sustainable peace in some conflict-affected zones.

This study adopts a cross-sectional case study design and qualitative strategy. It is based on semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions conducted with actors who have been engaged in grassroots peacebuilding in Ghana and West Africa. The analysis was largely inductive, identifying emerging themes and patterns in the research data.

The findings indicate that young women are usually absent or not engaged meaningfully in the mobilization of women and youth in the “inclusive” grassroots peacebuilding in Ghana. This is due to the prevalence of deep-seated cultural and political prejudices or stereotypes about women in the areas studied. As these local constructs and thus practices are difficult to change or challenge, peacebuilding non-governmental organizations (NGOs) usually deploy innovative ways by mobilizing socially constructed women’s positionalities – as “whistleblowers,” “cross-ethnic/cross-cultural actors” and “socially networked actors” – in ways that promote women in contemporary peacebuilding discourses and practices. Through mobilizing these stereotypes (to forestall possible provocation, especially from dominant actors or gatekeepers), peacebuilding NGOs have subtly positioned women centrally within a vibrant peace infrastructure in Ghana. Yet, due to the dominance of some patriarchal sociopolitical structures, only older women and young men occupy the spaces for women and youth’s peacebuilding.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is one of the first research papers to question not only the scope but also the degree of inclusion and participation of women in peacebuilding in sub-Sahara Africa. This has nuanced scholarly debates on the subject and encouraged the development of innovative programmes targeted at a more comprehensive gendered and youth-ed inclusion to address the inequality gap in peacebuilding discourses and practices.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the opportunities for future organizational and leadership research presented by positioning dialogue related to the #MeToo movement within a peacebuilding agenda. The #MeToo movement raised public consciousness about the pervasiveness of sexual assault and harassment in schools, workplaces and other institutions by an international social media campaign. However, subsequent discussions are often charged with hostility and outrage that result in divisiveness within workplaces and other settings that can further silence about these issues. The authors argue a community peacebuilding framework can create space to have difficult conversations to further the efforts of the #MeToo movement.

The authors will discuss the implications of a peacebuilding framework by the discussion of a case study in a rural setting to highlight the ways in which community conversations necessary to further the goals of the #MeToo movement.

A grassroots community peacebuilding framework can present opportunities for victims, offenders, family members and the community to voice expressions harms experienced and to enable processes of accountability. Promotion of a positive relational peace includes opportunities for education, skill development and conflict resolution that are healing and transformative for individuals and communities.

The systemic social and cultural change required to prevent sexual harassment and sexual assault must happen within face-to-face relationships within community dialogue.

The authors argue a critical relational peace lens offers an emancipatory framework that can initiate change from the bottom up to facilitate social healing and further the efforts of the #MeToo movement.

Grassroots peacebuilding invites a relational peace established by dialogue within communities. This dialogue is often not easy but is recognized as essential to establishing trust, resolving conflict and fostering community integrity.

In this paper, the authors offer a community peacebuilding framework to provide skill development and a vision necessary to host difficult conversations to inform the next wave of the #MeToo movement.

The purpose of this paper is to fill the gap in the research literature on how sport can be used more productively as a peacebuilding device in post-conflict countries.

This paper uses interviewing method that includes both semi-structured and unstructured interviews with trainers, instructors and children involved in implementing Open Fun Football Schools (OFFSs) in Kosovo.

Findings show that OFFSs have played a vital role in peacebuilding in Kosovo by bringing together people from different ethnic backgrounds in Kosovo, which contributed to social inclusion of Albanians and Serbs, and other communities by changing their initial attitudes toward one another.

The main research limitation is the usage of semi-structured and unstructured questionnaires instead of structured questionnaires, which would provide more generalized conclusions about the OFFSs. More research is needed on this topic to investigate the effect of similar programs in other country contexts.

The most important practical implication of the research is that conflict mitigation through football sports programs and activities can be used in other similar contexts by donors and the international community. OFFSs offer a hope for peacebuilding, and if adequately implemented can contribute to peacebuilding in post-conflict societies similar to Kosovo’s context. The positive attitude changes as a result of participation in the OFFS programs shows that these joint programs can promote better ethnic relations. There is a need for the expansion of such programs to reach more people.

The study provides an original contribution as there has been almost no prior research which actually measured the effects of OFFSs on change of youth attitudes through the integrated sport programs with different ethnicity in Kosovo.

The purpose of this paper is to argue for an integrative model of social enterprises (SE) and social marketing (SM) to usher in desirable change, instead of the currently adopted either/or approach. We offer the shadow framework to integrate these two paradigms in the context of peace-building organizations.

Using purposive sampling strategy, 19 cases of peacebuilding initiatives were identified and reviewed from secondary sources. Ashoka Fellows working in the domain of peacebuilding, along with a few other exemplary cases across the globe were considered.

We found an emerging typology of three forms in the organizational responses to peacebuilding initiatives: (a) pure charity-driven work, (b) dual structure of charity plus business enterprises, and (c) social enterprises with distinct revenue model.

Building upon previous theoretical research, we find a lot of merit in SEs adopting the SM toolkit. We contribute to theory building by showing the interaction between paradox theory and stakeholder marketing in the context of SEs dealing with wicked problems such as peacebuilding. Consequently, we propose a shadow social marketing (SSM) model that would camouflage the real offering of peace through an apparent offering that would be non-controversial in nature and result in moderate-importance small wins for the multiple stakeholders involved with conflicting interests.

From a managerial perspective, chances of success of the desired social change increases by complementing the efforts of SEs through the SM toolkit. Organizationally, although all the three forms of peacebuilding initiatives can benefit from systematic usage of the SSM, they need to reframe their efforts toward those that are not pro-peace, rather than preach to the converted. Consequently, the answer may lie in efforts at building cultural sensitivity to promote entrepreneurship amongst such target groups amongst such target groups in conflicting communities, with an organizational form that successfully marries SEs and SM.

Though previous scholarship mentions the need for finding complementarities between social marketing objectives and social enterprise missions, no paper yet has suggested a roadmap for achieving it. This paper highlights an integrative plan that, in this specific case of peacebuilding initiatives, or social enterprises in general, can leverage to evolve better organizational practices, improve financial sustainability and measurable impact to effect the desired social change.

The purpose of this paper is to link public relations to peacebuilding. Although scholarship has discussed public relations as relationship management, the nexus between public relations and peace building has been understudied. To address this deficiency, this research studies the negotiations between the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP separatist group that lead to the landmark peace treaty between the two entities that had fought for over five decades with thousands of deaths. Three research questions addressed the communication factors that contributed to the two sworn enemies – FARC-EP and the Colombian Government – finally sealing a peace agreement; the specific public relations strategies and techniques that led to relationship building between the two sides leading to the landmark peace agreement; and the use of the indicators of relationship building proposed by scholarship in the negotiations between the Colombian Government and FARC-EP.

The case study method was used and a purposive sample of news reports from three national newspapers at specific key dates yielding a final sample consisted of 504 articles was analysed. A codebook with deductive and inductive categories was developed specially to study the existing communication factors (RQ1), public relations strategies and techniques (RQ2), as well as contributions by relationship indicators (RQ3). Given the sensitivity of the issues, only secondary data could be relied upon for this study.

The results of RQ1 fall within the scope of Grunig’s (2001), Sriramesh’s (1992) and Hung’s (2001) notion of the personal influence model where the leveraging of individuals’ network is important to facilitate communication. Indeed, the relations already existing and established with third parties are revealed to be fundamental to the success of the negotiation process. As for RQ2, findings demonstrate that the Colombian Government used third-party mediation, principled and distributive strategies, while FARC-EP mainly used contending strategies. But results showed that both used compromising during the whole process, and that both transitioned from one-way asymmetrical strategies, such as principled or contending towards compromising along the peace talks. Finally, findings demonstrate evidence of the four indicators of the relationship and their link with public relations techniques. The most evidenced indicators of the relationship were trust, commitment and control mutuality. Trust was the indicator of the relationship the most evidenced in the Colombian case. The dimension was built during the whole process and evolved continually. Distrust was the total between the two enemies at the beginning of the pre-negotiation. However, as parties entered into a relationship, confidence and trust increased.

The inability to obtain primary data is the major limitation of this study. It was caused by the sensitivity of the topic.

This study links public relations to a very practical case that is also vastly understudied/underreported – peacemaking/peacebuilding – while also addressing communication by governments and civil society in Latin America – an area that is largely understudied.

This is the first study that links public relations with peacebuilding.

This paper aims to explain how peace research has influenced a re-conceptualization of the international relations (IR) notion of security and conflict, the nature of the global arena, how to effectively negotiate conflict resolution and strategies for peacebuilding. The paper argues that – although peace research had contributed to reducing the threat of interstate conflict – IR scholars have failed to recognize the need for a more inclusive theoretical strategy for dealing with the new challenge imposed by intrastate conflict.

The paper uses Cyprus as a case to compare the conflict management strategies of the liberal peace agenda and the integrative, multi-level, multi-dimensional approach to peacebuilding that is proposed by peace research. The Cyprus case is also used as an example of how the alternative approach to participatory political communication has moved the Cyprus situation off deadlock and in the direction of more promising outcomes.

The research reveals that although the liberal peace agenda (i.e. the state-centric and established diplomatic approach to conflict management) is effective in getting the two sides of the conflict to the negotiating table, it is inadequate in addressing the underlying cause of conflict; thus, in many instances, there is a reoccurrence of conflict and violence.

The paper is limited in its ability to place peace research within the context of theoretical developments in the field of IR (e.g. this is even more-so true in regard to researching international politics). Although peace research has made enormous contributions in reducing the threat of interstate conflict (e.g. it is acknowledged that peace research contributed to ending the Cold War, thus bringing about new perspectives on how the global arena is defined, the nature of conflict and the role of communicative action in global relations), there has not been a corresponding development in the theory and practice of IR.

The paper explains how recent developments in communication theory and information communication technology have altered the nature of the global arena and the factors impacting global social movements. Thus, the paper indicates factors that are vital to cross-border interactions, cross-border social movements and alternative approaches to interstate social-political activities that deserve further research.

The research analyzes the contribution to participatory political communication in conflict management, reconciliation and peacebuilding processes. The paper also highlights the role of alternative media as a component of the infrastructure for peace (e.g. in the Cyprus context, it provides a forum in which agents from an otherwise divided community can participate in establishing shared values and common objectives).

Cyprus represents one of the longest running conflicts and, in addition, one of the longest running peacekeeping missions of the UN. This paper explains how unique features of the peace research approach to peacebuilding contributes to producing more positive results in what has heretofore been a deadlock in the divided community of Cyprus. Thus, this paper provides an indication of how the lessons learned by peace researchers in the Cyprus micro context contribute to addressing macro-level IR challenges (e.g. north-south and east-west challenges that occur because of outlooks in the proverbial other).

This comparative case study looks towards the diverse approaches of higher education to support peacebuilding, from policy and philosophy to pedagogical practices, in conflict-affected and post-conflict settings. The achievement of global development goals is dependent on addressing access to quality education in conflict-affected contexts, including higher education. However, in settings affected by conflict, higher education is often perceived to be a luxury, not a necessity. This study, then, explores whether and how higher education might support peace and development through the unique perspective of the “three faces” of higher education in conflict contexts.

The paper is designed as a qualitative comparative case study. The research examines the work of university educators in two institutions in Afghanistan and Somaliland, highlighting the challenges and opportunities they face working in conflict-affected societies and their pedagogical responses to conflict. Data for the research were collected through in-depth interviews, documents, and digital artifacts with 12 university educators across the two institutions. The faculty teach a wide variety of subjects in the social sciences and humanities, subjects including and in addition to those specific to peace and development studies. To strengthen the interpretation of data, multiple coders were involved and intercoder reliability was conducted.

Findings indicate a number of challenges and opportunities that university lecturers and their institutions face in teaching for peace in conflict-affected contexts, particularly as it relates to the “three faces” of higher education to support, impede, or reveal the complicated nuances of peacebuilding in conflict settings. Member-checking was employed with participants to enhance the reliability of the analysis.

In the end, the paper contributes new empirical insights into higher education in conflict-affected contexts, particularly from the standpoint of faculty. Critical perspectives and implications for curriculum, pedagogy and research are offered.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how learners view peace and their role in peacebuilding. Peace is widely perceived as the absence of war and violence (Castro and Galace, 2010). The literature revealed that youths play an active role in peacebuilding. This study was designed to look into the journey of Grade 10 learners to becoming peacebuilders. Specifically, this sought answers to the following questions: What are the perceptions of the Grade 10 learners of peace? How do the Grade 10 learners contribute to peacebuilding? What are the learners’ dreams and aspirations for a culture of peace?

The research captured stories of the Grade 10 learners of a Filipino-Chinese school in Iloilo City who participated in the study voluntarily. The learners wrote an essay in one of their reflection sessions in social studies class completing the following phrases: Peace is …; I am a Peacebuilder …; My dreams and aspirations for a culture of peace …. The data gathered were analyzed following Creswell’s framework in data analysis in qualitative research which suggests a linear, hierarchical approach. The themes generated were interpreted as the final process of the data analysis.

Majority of the participants perceived peace positively rather than merely an absence of war. Peace means freedom. Moreover, peace improves society and brings in a new period of progress. Learners across cultures have common views of peace, and they believed that peacebuilding has to begin in themselves. Through positive action such as setting as a good example and influencing others to do the same, the learners contribute to peacebuilding. In times of conflict and misunderstanding, they act as agents of peace by being a mediator. During crisis in the community, they extended their helping hands to the needy wholeheartedly.

Consistent with the prevailing views of peace, learners perceived peace positively and negatively. It is interesting to note that most participants had a positive perception of peace, which demonstrated a more profound conception of the topic. Their broader perspectives on peace may have been influenced by the author, who taught the participants for two years and who began as a peace advocate and incorporated peace ideas into class discussions in some instances. The findings from this study might only be the tip of the iceberg and far from being definitive given the small number of participants and the researcher’s relationship with them, which may have impacted their responses and created some concerns about authenticity and anonymity.

This study upheld the claim of Gandhi that youths are agents of positive change (Del Felice and Wisler, 2007). Young people are potential peacebuilders. This study provided encouragement for the truth that we should not undervalue youth’s ability to effect change. This can prompt greater discussion among scholars about peace in general inside the group, which might be viewed as being ignored on peace studies.

The participants’ dreams and aspirations for a culture of peace went beyond just improving their own lives. They shared Gandhi and Rizal’s aspirations for a better world and a habitable Philippines. Their narratives exhibited that they wished for a common good, which was uplifting. Their expectations and aspirations might have varied because of their economic situation and cultural orientation.

Literatures revealed that youths play an active role in peacebuilding. In school, for instance, Jabor (2017) concluded that students are enablers and not only the prime recipients of peace process. In a bigger context, Del Felice and Wisler (2007) illustrated in their study how the youths spearheaded various organizations for the benefit of humanity. Despite the many attestations, the contributions of the youth to peacebuilding are still deemed understudied. Most of the studies were based on the dichotomous view of the youth: victims and perpetrators of violence (UNOY Peacebuilder, 2015).