Re-imagining peace as a whole
With 183 conflicts currently taking place around the world, the need for effective peacebuilding has never been greater. This urgency is acutely felt by 46,000 young people around the world, who have identified peace as their top priority in the report Youth Talks.
Visit LearningPlanet Festival, a joint initiative of the Learning Planet Institute and UNESCO, provides an appropriate response to this need. The Festival was created to celebrate International Education Day (January 24) and highlight transformative actions in the field of peace education. This year, for its sixth edition, in person in Paris and online worldwide, the Festival has brought together a global coalition of young leaders, educators, researchers and peace-builders to reimagine a peaceful future in a collaborative, innovative and pragmatic way.
Women's leadership in peace-building
By launching this vital conversation with an in-person roundtable at the Learning Planet Institute, “Generations United for Peace”, we bring together leading voices in women's leadership and peacebuilding to explore their vital role in conflict resolution, including Céline Bardet, President of We Are Not Weapons of War; ; Frédérique Bedos, founder and president of Projet Imagine ; Adeline Hazan, President of UNICEF France; ; Behishta Nazir, HEC Imagine Fellows ; Noha Voisin, student and UNESCO x Women@Dior fellow (2024-25). Their discussion highlights the transformative power of storytelling, the urgency of tackling inequalities from an early age, and the role of young women in promoting intergenerational solidarity for peace.
Nurturing the next generation of young peacemakers
Opening a worldwide online program, the “Cultivating the next generation of young peacebuilders - in the context of the UNESCO Chair in Learning Sciences” proposes a bold reimagining of peace education and education for peace. This panel explores ways to improve and increase the impact of peace solutions by fostering synergies between institutions, researchers, educators, field practitioners and young peacebuilders.
Co-written and hosted by Pavel Luksha, founder and director of Global Education Futures, this essential debate brings together world experts from UNESCO, academia, field practitioners and young agents of change, including Christopher Castle, Director of UNESCO's Peace and Sustainable Development Division; ; Prof. Hilary Cremin, Professor in the Faculty of Education at Cambridge University; ; Candice Mama, author and freelance speaker ; RinaMalagayo Alluri - Assistant Professor at the University of Innsbruck and UNESCO Chair in Peace Studies; ; Ilgin Pasli-Brombach, founder and executive director of planIMPACT.
- Read : Nurturing the next generation of young peacebuilders - A look back at the UNESCO Chair in Learning Sciences session
- Find out more about the session's key points and watch a full replay.
Transformative grassroots practices for positive peace
Two dynamic sessions, “In the MOOD for Peaceful Futures“, connect high-level conversations with impactful practices on the ground in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. These discussions are co-created and moderated by Pavel Luksha, founder and director of Global Education Futures. They highlight experienced peacebuilders who are true peacemakers, and show how they bridge gaps and meet unique challenges with resilience and creativity. Both sessions feature practices from the’Atlas of peaceful future practices, celebrating the ingenuity and impact of solutions on the ground, amplifying these voices and accelerating the cultivation of positive peace ecosystems.
As part of the in-depth cooperation between the Learning Planet Institute and Global Education Futures, supported by international partners, a joint initiative, the Peaceful Futures program, aims to train and empower hundreds of young agents of change around the world. At the heart of the program is the Atlas of Peaceful Futures, a dynamic, open-ended repository of transformative grassroots practices that promote “positive peace” within communities, economies and systems of governance.
The first part highlights a variety of voices from Asia, Africa and Europe, including Raghda ElHalawany, CEO of MasterPeace; ; Parul Jagdish, Global Impact Manager at AIME; ; Manjula Dissanayake, Founding Executive Director of the Educate Lanka Foundation; ; Kristine Arzumanova, President of the International Association of Mediators and Poly-experts (IAMPE); ; Ruphin Kungwa, Lead Weaver at YouthxYouth ; Kara Stonehouse, Meshworker and Graphic Facilitator at The Hague Centre for Innovation and Emerging Global Governance.
The second session presents practices from North and South America, with Catalina Cock Duque, president of the Fundación Mi Sangre ; David Gershon, CEO of the Empowerment Institute; ; Paula Drouin, founder and director of the ADR Learning Institute; ; Mandar Apte, Executive Director of Cities4Peace; ; Katia Ramos, executive director of the Câmara de Conciliação, Arbitragem e Mediação Intercultural (CCAMI).
- Read: ” In the MOOD for Peaceful Futures: Building global bridges for peace
- Find out more about best practices for peaceful futures and watch the full reruns.
Young people at the service of positive peace
The thrust of all the sessions - empowering young leaders as beneficiaries and co-creators, strategists and change-makers in conflict transformation - would not be possible without highlighting young change-makers, who bring positive peace to their communities. The 100% youth-led event, The Ripple Effect: Youth Driving Positive Peace Across Intersections, is organized with and by young people, including Elizabeth Chukwu, peace researcher and ambassador for LearningPlanet Peaceful Futures.
This session showcases inspiring initiatives in the field, celebrating the diverse contributions of young people around the world, including Weronika Knowska, a member of the board of directors of the Young Ambassadors for Peace network; ; Liana Liu Ioannides, Cypriot peace activist and peace builder; ; Dennis Lallienzuol Hmar, founder of the Bridge School Project; ; Christelle Barakat, researcher at the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS); ; Felipe Gobatto Scheibler, policy and research coordinator at Youth for TPNW ; Abhishek Vyas, co-chairman of the Cambridge Peace Education Research Group.
- Read : The ripple effect: young people at the heart of a peaceful future
- Find out more about young people's contribution to a peaceful future and watch the full replay.
Towards a peaceful future
In line with this global movement for change, the Learning Planet Institute and Global Education Futures are launching a joint initiative. - Peaceful Futures: Nurturing the next generation of young peacebuilders. In collaboration with international partners and leading experts, we aim to train and empower young leaders worldwide. Built around the co-design and acceleration of sustainable, scalable peace-building change projects adapted to their local contexts, the program is based on forward-looking strategic thinking, conflict transformation tools and a peace-oriented mindset.
