Knowledge Generation and Sharing Programme


Programme Overview

One of the strategic goals of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) is to enable civil society partners from fifteen regions of the world to engage in processes of knowledge generation and exchange, to learn from the experiences of other regions, and to develop mechanisms for regular communication/exchange of such information. Peace Education has been selected by the partners as one of the key areas for exchanging ideas and lessons learned across the network. To facilitate this, a reference group was established in 2005 and has continued to develop into a dedicated working group for Peace Education which consists of practitioners, academics, representatives from Ministries of Education and their equivalents. Since then, the GPPAC Peace Education Working Group has been functioning as a platform for GPPAC regions to engage in the effective exchange of information, resources and lessons learned on Peace Education. The common platform established by the Working Group members facilitates connections between policymakers, academics and field practitioners working in the area of Peace Education. Key strategic areas for the Peace Education Working Group include building the capacity of regional educators and practitioners on Peace Education; exchanging Peace Education materials, manuals, and curricula; lobbying the Ministries of Education for the inclusion of Peace Education materials in national curricula; and organising international and regional conferences to learn and exchange ideas on Peace Education. The activities of the Peace Education Working Group are structured around two levels:

  • At the Regional Level, our work involves the generation and implementation of peace education activities by regional partners and the regional networks. The implementation of these peace education activities at the regional level contributes towards strengthening the regional network.
  • At the Cross-Regional Level, our work helps members of the GPPAC network engaged in peace education establish and utilise the tools for exchanging the knowledge generated at the regional levels. It also facilitates communication on the lessons learned with a broader audience of actors interested in peace education. Communication at this level is exemplified in the meetings of the Peace Education Working Group at both international and regional conferences.

Throughout 2008, the KGS/Peace Education Programme has contributed significantly towards strengthening GPPAC by building the links both at the regional and cross-regional levels, as well as between the regional and the global levels of the network.

 


Past Events

Progress in Gaining Official Support for Peace Education Programmes in Schools in Western Balkans: January - April 2009
In early January 2009 in Montenegro, the Ministry of Education of Montenegro signed a Memorandum on Cooperation with GPPAC Regional Secretariat for the Western Balkans, the Nansen Dialogue Centre Montenegro concerning the programme Support to Education System Reform Process in Montenegro. The memorandum includes exchange of materials, news, relevant info on capacity building, and research within GPPAC and South East European Mediation Forum (http://www.seemf.eu/).
In May 2009, the programme Support to Euducate System Reform Process in Montenegro, including Nansen School of Dialogue and School Mediation programmes got official certification by the Bureau for Education Services in Montenegro, which gives an institutional recognition to the programmes.
In April 2009, in Serbia, the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia released a letter to the Nansen Dialogue Centre Serbia stating official support for the continuance of the Mediation in Schools in the South of Serbia programme. This programme started in 2007 as part of Lillehammer-Bujanovac Schools' Cooperation Project with the aim of strengthening conflict resolution skills through the enhancement of non-violent communication.
With the participation of both teachers and students this programme is contributing to a safe school environment.
This beginning of a partnership of understanding and cooperation between the Ministry of Education and the schools provides great motivation for the region and is a positive step towards support for Peace Education curriculum being implemented in school in the region.
Added on 16 July 2009
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Peace Education Conference in Quezon City: 19-23 January 2009

In cooperation with the GPPAC-SEA Peace Education Working Group, the Center for Peace Education (Philippines) organised a workshop on peace education for 27 educators drawn from 8 countries in Southeast Asia from 19-23 January 2009. The workshop sought to equip a core of formal and community educators with the knowledge required to disseminate peace education; to encourage them to generate feasible action plans for implementation in schools, organisations and/or communities; to encourage the development of core teams capable of promoting peace education in each country; and to facilitate the development of the Southeast Asia Peace Education Network, which was started in September 2007. The conference also attracted representation from two Ministries of Education (Cambodia and the Philippines), and the regional Working Group is working to produce a training manual by the beginning of 2010 for trainees to use in their home countries.

Added on 12 March 2009

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Peace Education Conference in Nairobi: 2-5 December 2008
In its capacity as the Eastern and Central Africa Regional Secretariat for the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), Nairobi Peace Initiative - Africa (NPI-Africa) organised a Regional Conference under the theme, Peace Education in Eastern and Central Africa: "The State of the Art, Lessons and Possibilities" held in Nairobi, Kenya from 2-5 December 2008.

 

The conference was organized in partnership and collaboration with the GPPAC International Secretariat, The Global Campaign for Peace Education and Kenya's Ministry of Education.

To mobilise the participants, NPI-Africa cooperated closely with GPPAC regional focal points in order to invite relevant civil society members and to identify relevant officers within the ministry of education. With support from the efficient and cooperative offices of the Ministry of Education in Kenya, NPI-Africa was able to invite government officials and relevant educational institution members from Kenya.

The conference provided a forum for sharing experiences from various initiatives around the world and raised awareness for peace education in East and Central Africa. It charted ways for future collaboration and networking between informal and formal educators, Ministries of Education, UN agencies, teacher training institutions, researchers and civil society groups.

The great interest in peace education shown by Kenya's Ministry of Education and preparations of curriculum and materials in that direction after the recent political crisis and violence in Kenya made this conference very timely. It was also encouraging to have representatives from the Ministry of Education strongly involved who showed a keen interest in establishing future relations with civil society and increasing their efforts to promote peace education.

For more information please visit: http://www.npi-africa.org/conference.php

Added on 15 December 2008 

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Conference on Conflict Resolution Education in Ohio, USA: 27-29 March 2008

www.tri-c.edu/community/girc/conflict/default.htm

 

The root causes of conflict and the methods to prevent and intervene in conflict situations are interdisciplinary. So too is the need to address them collaboratively in both global and local communities. From child soldiers in Africa and the Americas to gangs in North America, collaboration is necessary to resolve these challenges with cultural and contextual sensitivity. GPPAC and the Global Issues Resource Center and Library, Office of Community Continuing Education, at Cuyahoga Community College are partnering with colleges and universities around the world; with local, national, and international non-governmental organizations; and with local, state, and national governmental agencies to host a five day International Summit on Conflict Resolution Education (CRE) in Cleveland, Ohio, USA with presenters from across the U.S. and 16+ countries. Click here to read more!

Added on 14 January 2008

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Peace Education Conference in the Balkans: 12-13 April 2007

As part of the GPPAC Knowledge Generation and Sharing Programme, the GPPAC network in the Balkans and the Global Secretariat co-organised a conference on Peace Education and Conflict Resolution in Schools on 12 and 13 April in Belgrade, Serbia. It was the first in a chain of regional consultations to be held throughout the network, and brought together experts, practitioners and policymakers from both within the region and around the world, and resulted in recommendations on policy changes to incorporate Peace Education into national curricula, research, evaluation and the quality and standardisation of programmes, experience exchange between teachers from various parts of the world, and much more. Click here to download the full conference report.

Added on 19 September 2007


Contact

For more information about the Knowledge Generation and Sharing Programme, or Peace Education in general, please contact programme manager Zahid Movlazadeh at z.movlazadeh@conflict-prevention.net.