BUILDPEACE: Building peacebuilders through integrated formal and non-formal learning approaches

Funder

Erasmus+ (European Union programme for education, training, youth and sport)

Value

€240,000

Collaborators

Kadir Has Üniversitesi (Turkey)
Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University (Turkey)
Xchange Scotland
The Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service(CCIVS)
Wings of Hope (BiH)
Young Researchers of Serbia

Project team

Dr. Michaelina Jakala
Laura Payne

Project objectives

Peacebuilding is now a multi-billion Euro industry with a global infrastructure, reflecting the acute need to address conflict and insecurity, and growing confidence that doing so is possible, particularly with new technologies.  The increase in peacebuilding has spurred growth in education and training, as practitioners need applied skills and knowledge. However much of the current provision is offered piecemeal, disconnected from other relevant learning opportunities. Collaboration between learning providers is challenged by differences in pedagogical perspective, underpinning ethos and teaching methodology. There is no clear guidance for learners on the skills and competencies they should acquire and no easy wat for them to combine courses strategically. There has also been little systemic reflection on the benefits and limitations of online and distance learning in peacebuilding, although learning providers use these tools a lot.

BUILDPEACE will boost the skills and competencies of Europeans in the public, third and private sectors to build peace and connect communities. It will improve the provision of teaching, learning and training within the peacebuilding industry by bringing together providers from the formal education (FE) and non-formal education (NFE) sectors into a community of practice. These partners will investigate current deficits, weaknesses and missed opportunities in educational provision across the field, addressing these with innovative tools for learners, as well as tools and mechanisms for learning providers to facilitate cross-sectoral working.

The main objective of BUILDPEACE is to enable innovative new approaches by developing peacebuilders by:

1. Creating a common framework of key competencies across the FE and NFE sectors
2. Helping learners find navigable and flexible pathways for accessing relevant learning opportunities
3. Blending FE and NFE learning approaches for more comprehensive provision, using technology.

To do this we will bring together European partners with experience in improving the learning outcomes of peacebuilders. Our activities will help us to better understand the current state of educational provision within the peacebuilding field and develop innovative new ways to improve learning outcomes using new methodologies and technologies. This will inform the creation of a range of tools for learners and learning providers, including free online courses, a handbook, a toolkit and a matrix of the competencies that people need to acquire to work in the field. Tools for policymakers include a mapping report and a policy recommendations report.

To test these ideas and tools, participants and learners will take part in two BUILDPEACE workshops. These will pilot and improve the BUILDPEACE approach.  Participants will deliver educational content to learners using the methods, modes of delivery and tools that the project experiments with. These workshops will be action oriented, participatory and engaging. 

Research impact

The results of the project will be an improvement in the educational provision available to people working on peace and conflict issues. Learners will have access to comprehensive, rigorously tested resources such as online courses and advice on the competencies and skills they need to develop. Learning providers will have access to resources so that teachers and trainers can improve their own skills, especially by using new methods and making use of technology. The partners involved will have formed a lasting network that involves different forms of learning providers, and their current and future projects will benefit from the BUILDPEACE approach. And finally, policymakers will have information on the current challenges in peacebuilding education, an expanded evidence based of what works and how, and reflections on how to encourage forms of education that bring together formal and non-formal approaches to learning and making use of technology.

Project Outputs

• Policy Recommendation Infographic
• The BUILDPEACE Handbook for Learners
• The BUILDPEACE Mapping Report
• The BUILDPEACE Policy Recommendations
• The BUILDPEACE Policy Recommendations (Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian)
• The BUILDPEACE Policy Recommendations (Turkish)
• The BUILDPEACE Toolkit for Educators
• BUILDPEACE MOOC 1: Concepts and theories of Peacebuilding
• BUILDPEACE MOOC 2: Conflict Analysis and Case Studies in Peacebuilding
• BUILDPEACE MOOC 3: Reflective Practice
• BUILDPEACE MOOC 4: Facilitation