International Conference “INSPIRING PEACE IN TIMES OF WAR”

International Conference
"Inspiring peace in times of war - Citizenship education and peace education: between practices and policies"

“All of us in the academy and in the culture as a whole are called to renew our minds if we are to transform educational institutions-and society-so that the way we live, teach, and work can reflect our joy in cultural diversity, our passion for justice, and our love of freedom”

bell hooks

Concept and background

It is not easy to promote peace education and competences for dialogue when an aggression war is taking place in our continent, and everybody is required to show unconditioned support to the aggressed country. Nevertheless, cultivating the capacity to enter into a positive dialogue is more necessary than ever. One day, hopefully soon, the war will finish and people will have to start talking again, rebuilding not only the devastated physical infrastructure, but the foundations of a new culture of peace. It happened after the second world war, throwing the basis for what is now the European Union, it will happen again. 

The role of education is fundamental to reconstruct the capacity for dialogue, to build a new time of peace. Peace, dialogue, and democratic citizenship competences are often not developed enough at school, other priorities have prevailed for several decades.

The first mission of the Education Inspiring Peace Laboratory in Sanremo is to support the school system, teachers and learners in effectively cultivate these competences. In this moment, it is particularly important to remind that violence is often the result of lack of social and relational competences, of the incapacity of many individuals to accept that different groups, different cultures and different states have legitimate positions and interests, in a local context and in the international scenario.

Disqualifying diversity may easily lead to violence and war rather than opening the mind to positive transformation of potential and existing conflicts. Educating the new generations in a way that inspires peace, dialogue and positive conflict transformation is key to avoid not only future wars, but every form of physical and psychological violence that can be observed in everyday life. It is not only about new contents to be taught  referring to the forms and principles of our democratic states, but about applying participatory methods that educate to respect diversity and to apply democratic principles at school. Educating to peace and democratic citizenship should become a school project in every school, with its own specificities and approach.

Interested in participating? Hurry up and register here by 12th February!

Participants

The two-day event organised in Sanremo invites policy makers, school leaders, teachers and learners, experts from several parts of the world to share experiences, approaches and ideas on the theme of education inspiring peace.

What is Peace Games?

The ERASMUS + project Peace Games aims at developing citizenship, democratic and social competences by using the full potential of game-based learning. The project produced a Peace Games Catalogue, related Policy Recommendations and Guidelines for the teaching staff, in order to design specific learning paths. 

Structure of the conference

The event will take place in Sanremo (Italy) on 21st and 22nd of February. The event will include the ERASMUS+ project Peace Games Final Conference (21 February) and the Education Inspiring Peace Laboratory Annual Conference (22 February).

Day 1 - Peace Games Final Conference

During the Peace Games Final Conference the project results will be presented and two panels of experts involving policy makers, researchers, experts, education professionals and game designers will address the issues related to peace education.

Day 2 - EIP Lab Annual Conference

The EIP Lab annual conference is the association’s most important event of the year. During the EIP Lab Annual Conference, a panel of experts will discuss the most important trends of citizenship education policies and practices. During the event, the different projects and educational tools (for policymakers, teachers, researchers and education officers) will be presented. A set of interactive parallel sessions will also give all participants the possibility to share their views.

Find out more about the event!

Interested in the event? Download the Provisional Agenda of conference and learn more about it!

Do you want to attend the event (in Sanremo or virtually)? Registration is open!

The Peace games project is funded by the Erasmus+ Programme. 

Peace Games Partners