Peace Education Around the World: Learning from the Past for the Future (print version)

To paraphrase Maria Montessori, not enough people talk about peace and even fewer educate for peace, but this landmark publication represents a significant corrective to both these urgent needs. I believe Dr Montessori would warmly approve of this book for which I am honoured to write these words of endorsement. Peace education around the world stands out in the literature on peace education for its coherence, a credit to the excellent editing by Robin Burns and Magnus Haavelsrud.  This book is marked by a consistently high argumentative and evidentiary content, and the inspiration its many contributors invoke in the reader, but it is also very accessible to non-specialist readers.  The clear message of the first quarter of this millennium is that the human propensity for war, conflict and hostility has not lessened, as every year we are assailed by new instances of serious violations of human rights, mind-numbing violence and hatreds motivated by a bewildering array of causes and complications.

The authors reinforce the life-saving importance of inter-cultural interaction and substantive dialogue across the multiple differences of the human family.  They show the benefits of engaging with diverse systems and traditions of knowledge, of identity, of values, and of fostering exchange and mutual learning. The collective effect is to endorse the need to ground peacebuilding practice in situation analysis, taking full account of historical, economic and cultural complexities.   Yet, for all this recognition of difference there is also a singular and consistent message emerging through the pages of the book, an insistent demand in favour of overarching, shared human values that repudiate war and violence. Chapter after chapter the authors build this thematic order of the volume, in favour of positive peace, not merely the resolution or mitigation of conflicts, but their transformation into integrating societies and resilient social relations capable of effective intervention to tackle the problems of our shared habitation of the planet.  This should be our universal aim, and it requires attention to both structural and cultural justice, and we must educate for its realisation.

Rarely do edited volumes sustain their focus as well as Peace Education Around the World. No topic, focus or subject is as important and vital for human life as educating for peace, human solidarity, respect for differences within overarching human or collective identity, dialogue and collaboration. 

I commend the authors and editors and recommend the book to all readers interested in building the educative practice and the moral purpose of intervention to construct a violence-rejecting culture for humanity.

• Joseph Lo Bianco. Professor Emeritus, Language and Literacy, University of Melbourne, Australia

To know where we are going, we must understand where we are and where we’ve come from. Peace Education Around the World is a vital contribution to the peace education field, tracing its roots while honoring the breadth of its applications across diverse contexts, geographies, and sectors. Through its critical scholarship and reflective narratives from practitioners around the world, this volume offers both historical grounding and forward-looking insight, as well as key questions for the future direction of the field. Its rich diversity of voices and approaches makes it especially well-suited for classroom use in demonstrating the wide range of potential applications of peace education. As faculty of the peace education master’s program at the University for Peace, this anthology will be an invaluable resource for our study and practice of peace education, and I look forward to engaging my students with its content in upcoming courses. I wholeheartedly recommend Peace Education Around the World to educators, students, and anyone committed to educating for peace, justice, and a livable planet.

• Stephanie Knox Steiner, PhD. Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies & Peace Education Academic Coordinator, University for Peace

Burns and Haavelsrud propel us forward toward peacelearning for the better world we seek. What a joy to revisit the history of the field from its inception, to retrieve significant connections – both historical and theoretical, and to hear from new and leading colleagues. This is the best updated review for peace education courses, research, and scholarship. My peace education practice has been flooded with fresh energy.

• Dr. Janet C. Gerson, Education Director, International Institute on Peace Education

In a world filled with challenges at both local and global levels, the importance of peace education has become increasingly urgent and relevant. This book reminds us that the pursuit of peace is never a solitary effort. Across the globe, in formal, non-formal, and informal settings, countless individuals are planting the seeds of peace through their teaching and practices. By offering both reflection and inspiration, the book encourages us to renew our belief that optimism for peace is genuine and that each person has a meaningful role to play in bringing it closer.

• Dody Wibowo, Ph.D., Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia

Peace Education Around the World is a welcomed contribution to the field. It looks back on a 50 year journey while moving forward to where peace education and research should be headed in contributing to a more just, inclusive, and peaceful world.  It traces the foundations of educating for peace in the contributions of well-known scholars, their ideas, questions, proposals and life trajectories. Critical issues facing peace education are addressed in their conceptual and practical aspects as they relate to issues of planetary sustainability and peacebuilding as we enter the third decade of the 21^st century. It provides contextualized examples of peace education in the formal, informal and non-formal sectors in every continent, as well as the challenges that arise as these initiatives seek meaningful learning towards transformative action for peace. These peace education experiences encompass conflict-ridden societies where learning for peace faces particular realities and difficulties. As peace education needs to address the multiple forms of direct, structural, and cultural violence faced locally and globally in a pluriverse, this book provides knowledge, insight, thought-provoking examples, possible routes, and critical questions for the present and future of the field.

• Anita Yudkin. UNESCO Chair on Education for Peace, University of Puerto Rico

Reflecting on fifty years of the Peace Education Commission comes at a time when others are commemorating fifty years of an ongoing conflict. Some conflicts have remained active or in stalemate even longer, while others are re-emerging from the past or newly arising in the present. Voices invoking realpolitik, remind us of Thucydides, the Athenians, and the Melians, and often dismiss peace education as naïve or idealistic. Yet, how can we live without peace? How can we move forward without ensuring social and environmental sustainability? I join the voices and act alongside the people who say that we cannot. The conflict around us can not be accepted as the reality and this is the reason why educators must work to promote the ideal of peace. Peace Education Around the World offers an essential contribution to the field by situating contemporary challenges within the historical trajectory of peace education and by projecting pathways for its future relevance, and necessity. Editors Robin Burns and Magnus Haavelsrud, and contributors, draw on diverse global contexts to demonstrate how education can confront violence in its different forms, while cultivating critical awareness and transformative practices for creating a culture of peace and sustainability. By reflecting on our past experience, assessing our present practices and looking forward to our future vision, this book underscores the indispensability of peace education as both a field of inquiry and a praxis for the advancement of humanity.

• Dr. Marios Antoniou. Peace Educator, Cyprus

From the informal to the formal, from the personal to the political, from colleagues and friends old and new, Peace Education Around the World is a truly global look at a field of vital and growing importance to our planetary sustenance. Essential to both the newcomer and the seasoned elder, this collection complements any reading list on building peace with justice in our times. A must-read! 

• Matt Meyer. Secretary-General, International Peace Research Association 

This volume is grounding and inspiring.  It offers rooted historical perspectives, sobering realism regarding hope and change, diverse voices from diverse contexts, and personal scholarly narratives that situate peace education work within everyday struggle, circumscribed by systemic and structural constraints.  It offers a fresh look at perennial problems of violence amid personal portraits of human possibility.

• Edward J. Brantmeier, Ph. D.  Professor, James Madison University, U.S.A., Editor-Journal of Peace Education (2022-present). Fulbright-Nehru Scholar of Peace Studies (India—2009).

This volume presents the collective wisdom of global peace educators that have been nurtured for generations. This is critically essential in today’s fragmented world. Each chapter provides insightful analysis of the continuum of violence, and at the same time, shows us hope for solidarity in practical ways.

• Kozue Akibayashi. Professor, Graduate School of Global Studies, Doshisha University, Kyoto. International President of WILPF (2015-2018).

I was deeply touched when I read Peace Education Around the World: Learning from the Past for the Future. This book is a deeply moving and timely anthology that safeguards the footprints of some of the most influential figures in peace education. Their life’s work, wisdom, and courage are documented here not just as history, but as living knowledge for our time and for generations to come. This book is more than a collection of chapters, I believe this book is a tribute to the human spirit, to those who have dedicated their lives to building peace through education, empathy, and action. As someone working closely with communities and educators in Asia-Pacific, I find this volume to be an essential companion in our shared journey toward nurturing cultures of peace. It is a gift to all of us who believe in the transformative power of education.

• Rajib Timalsina. Assistant Professor of Conflict, Peace and Development Studies at Tribhuvan University (Nepal). Co-secretary General of Asia-Pacific Peace Research Association (APPRA)

Peace Education Around the World provides an ample and detailed history of the development of peace education by presenting relevant case studies and examples. I congratulate the authors and writers for their unique contribution to the field of Peace and Conflict Education. 

• Antonio C. S. Rosa, M.A.  Editor, TRANSCEND Media Service-Solutions Oriented Peace Journalism (co-founded by Johan Galtung)

Global in scope yet rooted in diverse contexts and intercultural in spirit, this must-have volume rethinks the past and present of Peace Education while exploring practices to address emerging challenges and foster a future of dignity for humanity and the planet. By illustrating how individual and collective actions interact with social structures, it equips educators and students with both guidance and inspiration to weave unity in diversity and cultivate shared stewardship for just, sustainable, and peaceful societies. 

• Joan Pedro-Carañana. (Universidad Complutense de Madrid

As the first quarter of the 21st century draws to a close, the emergence of global wars and armed conflicts once again disturbs us.

After 50 years of our work in peacebuilding and peace education, having built as humanity a global architecture of human rights, understanding, and solidarity based on numerous instruments, conventions, and protocols, we ask ourselves: Where have we failed? What has been missing in our work that has led to the absence, or very few, of scenarios for coexistence and peace, and instead, polarization, war, and hate speech predominate?

The chapters presented in the book Peace Education Around the World help us answer these and other questions that overwhelm us as peace educators. Seeing the personal, local, and global path we have taken from diverse perspectives and territories, to achieve the utopia of a world free of violence and injustice fills us with hope.

As the Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano says: “Utopia is on the horizon. I walk two steps, she walks two steps away, and the horizon recedes ten steps further. So, what good is utopia to us? Well, that’s what it’s good for: walking.”

This book inspires us on that unfinished path of peacebuilding.

• Amada Benavides de Pérez. Fundación Escuelas de Paz, Colombia.

In an era defined by global crises and profound uncertainty, the need for books to serve as a guiding light has never been more urgent. Peace Education Around the World fills that need. This exceptional volume moves beyond a simple overview of the field to offer a truly comprehensive and intellectually rigorous exploration of peace education. It masterfully weaves together the theoretical, philosophical, and practical components, providing a holistic framework that is both deeply insightful and immediately applicable. The book’s greatest strength lies in its remarkable collection of diverse voices from educators, offering a mosaic of perspectives that enriches the discourse and provides invaluable, context-specific wisdom. This is not merely a book; it is a vital resource. I wholeheartedly recommend it to scholars seeking to advance the field and to practitioners committed to building a more peaceful world through education.

• Dr Colins Imoh. Assistant Professor, Peace Studies and International Development, University of Bradford.

Educational scholars Robin Burns and Magnus Haavelsrud have edited an anthology of sought-after work on peace education from several conflict and post-conflict contexts. Both editors are known for their scholarly contributions towards peace, comparative, and international education. The present book is a consolidation of some of the pioneering work by researchers and educators, some of which dates back 50 years, with essential revisions and expansions of the interdisciplinary field of peace education. While much has been written on the mutually reinforcing relationship between education and violent conflict, the close to 30 chapters that make up this anthology provides novel perspectives on how to understand how structural, cultural and physical violence cuts in and affects pedagogical discourses and practice, while also exploring how formal and non-formal peace education offers a promising venue for resisting, recovering, adapting and even transforming from the disruptiveness of violent conflict. This anthology, which is not intended as a strictly academic book, offers a multidimensional perspective from peace educators and their personal ‘journey’ into peacebuilding educational practice, discussing the context, values, and practices that have been central to their work for peace and democratisation. As such, this book provides profound insights into the long-term lessons of formal and informal peacebuilding through education, which should be an essential reading for students, scholars and practitioners in the field of peace education.  

• Martin Sjøen. Associate Professor, University of Bergen, Norway

Introduction. Robin Burns

Chapter 1. IPRA-PEC – Projecting a Next Phase: Reflections on Its Roots, Processes and Purposes. Magnus Haavelsrud and Betty A. Reardon

Part I: Missing Colleagues

Chapter 2. Johan Galtung: A Lifetime for Peace. Magnus Haavelsrud and Syed Sikander Mehdi

Chapter 3. The Moral Point of View of Humanity: Reardon’s Vision of Sustainable World Peace. Dale T. Snauwaert

Chapter 4. Mario Borrelli: Peace Education and Educating the Downtrodden [as the main aims of his work]. Giuseppe Desideri (translated by Mirna Cicioni)

Chapter 5. Robert Aspeslagh. Robin Burns

Chapter 6. Olga Vorkunova. Alexander Sergunin

Part II: Critical Issues in Peace Education

Chapter 7. Thinking Beyond Peace Education: Challenging Conceptual Rigidities. A Personal Note. Zvi Bekerman

Chapter 8. Peace Education: Past, Present and Future. Yumiko Kaneko

Chapter 9. Beyond Liberation to Emancipation: Mapping Pathways to Peace Education in the 21st Century. Catherine A. Odora Hoppers

Chapter 10. Developing a Planetary Peace Education Agenda. Crain Soudien

Chapter 11. The Anthropocene as Challenge to Peace Culture and Peace Education. Christoph Wulf

Part III: Peace Education in Formal Education

Chapter 12. Peace Education in the United Kingdom. Robin Richardson

Chapter 13. Islam and Peace Education: The Case of Turkey. Mustafa Kölyü

Chapter 14. Towards Peace Education Beyond Division on the Shared Korean Peninsula. Soon-Won Kang and Soonjung Kwon

Part IV: Informal and Non-formal Education, Communication and Cognitive Justice Initiatives

Chapter 15. Durable Peace Education towards Sustainable Communities. Mazin B. Qumsiyeh, Kamal Jarrar and Mona Sader

Chapter 16. CEPPA Foundation’s Journey: Towards the practice of Peace Education in Costa Rica. Celina Garcia and Jose Daniel Romero

Chapter 17. Education for Conflict Transformation. Diana Francis

Chapter 18. Good Living and Feeling-Thinking Approach: Latin American and Indigenous Gift for Global Peace Education. Amada Benavides de Pérez

Chapter 19. Peace Education. A Lay Perspective. Ela Gandhi

Chapter 20. Joint Israeli-Palestinian Media to Promote Conflict Resolution. Hillel Schenker

Chapter 21. Peace Activism Is Peace Education. S. P. Udayakumar

Chapter 22. Africa Peace and Development Network: The Past, Present and Future of Peacebuilding. George Mutalemwa

Chapter 23. Peace Education through Museums for Peace in Japan and Abroad. Kazuyo Yamane

Part V: Personal Journeys in Peace Education

Chapter 24. Educating for peace in Ukraine. Yurii Shelizhenko

Chapter 25. An Exiled Burmese Educator’s Journey for Peace and Reconciliation at Home: An Honest Reflection. Maung Zarni

Chapter 26. Learning to be Free in Gaza. Amal Amara Takkash

Chapter 27. Nurturing a Culture of Peace: A Shared Journey in Peace Education. Toh Swee-Hin & Virginia Cawagas

Chapter 28. Successful Failure. My Journey as a Peace Educator. Werner Wintersteiner

Chapter 29. Further Journeys in Peace and Education. Robert Zuber

Chapter 30. Footprints In Wind. Corinne Kumar

Part VI: Looking Ahead

Chapter 31. Peace Education in a Pluriverse. Magnus Haavelsrud

Epilogue. Robin Burns

Appendices

Appendix 1. A Global Strategy of Communication and Consciousness Raising in Various Local Settings

Appendix 2. Bylaws of PEC

Appendix 3. Full text of the Last Nobel Peace Prize Nomination to Johan Galtung in 2024: The Time has Long Since Come.

Appendix 4. Peaceful Anti-Nuclear Campaign Actions in India

Authors’ Biographical Notes

Acknowledgments