From April to June 2024, the Positive Peace Society (PPS) at Hiroshima University, in collaboration with The 50 Percent Club, successfully organized a three-part webinar series exploring key themes in peacebuilding, conflict transformation, and youth engagement. The series brought together students, academics, researchers, and peace practitioners from around the world to engage in meaningful discussions on building sustainable peace and fostering inclusive communities.
Building Foundations: Youth, Peace, and Security
The webinar series commenced on 26 April 2024 with the session titled Introduction to Youth, Peace, and Security. The event explored the relationship between Positive Peace and Conflict Transformation approaches while emphasizing the critical role of youth leaders in peacebuilding processes.
Participants examined how sustainable peace requires addressing the root causes of conflict and creating opportunities for meaningful youth participation. Through interactive discussions, attendees exchanged perspectives on peacebuilding initiatives and explored strategies for empowering young people to become active contributors to peaceful and inclusive societies.
The session highlighted the importance of youth leadership in driving positive change and provided participants with practical tools and knowledge to support peacebuilding efforts within their own communities and professional contexts. It also offered valuable learning experiences and fostered a culture of peace and harmony.
Memorials as Spaces for Healing and Reconciliation
The second webinar, Positive Peace and Conflict Transformation: Memorials and Peacebuilding, was held on 20 May 2024. The session examined the role of memorials in preserving collective memory, promoting dialogue, and supporting peacebuilding processes.
The webinar featured presentations by Dr. John Lee Candelaria of Hiroshima University and Mr. Shotaro Akehira, a Master’s student specializing in community rebuilding and post-disaster recovery.
Dr. Candelaria, an esteemed historian and peace studies scholar at Hiroshima University, provided an in-depth analysis of the multifaceted roles memorials play in society. He highlighted that memorials serve as physical documentation of history, validating the experiences of victims, witnesses, and survivors. They educate younger generations, fostering empathy and understanding to prevent the recurrence of conflicts. Furthermore, he underscored the importance of memorials in facilitating intercultural and intergenerational dialogue. These structures provide platforms for diverse communities to engage in discussions, promoting an inclusive understanding of history and reflecting on difficult pasts. Dr. Candelaria illustrated his points with powerful examples such as the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda, and the Marawi Peace Memorial Park in the Philippines.
Mr. Akehira presented a case study of memorialization efforts following Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. He highlighted the Yolanda Shrine, a memorial built at the site where a ship was carried inland during the disaster. The shrine serves both as a remembrance of those who lost their lives and as a symbol of community resilience and gratitude toward those who supported recovery efforts.
The session encouraged participants to reflect on the role of memorials in their own communities and explore how remembrance can contribute to healing, reconciliation, and long-term peacebuilding.
Understanding Conflict Transformation
The webinar series concluded on 24 June 2024 with The Conflict Transformation Approach. This session provided participants with a deeper understanding of Conflict Transformation principles and their practical application in peacebuilding.
Participants explored the application of Conflict Transformation in various contexts and examined its connections with Positive Peace frameworks. Through interactive dialogue, they also shared their experiences and perspectives, highlighting the importance of understanding and addressing underlying issues as a foundation for achieving sustainable peace.
The interactive exchanges underscored the importance of understanding structural and relational dimensions of conflict while developing sustainable solutions that promote justice, inclusion, and reconciliation. Participants were encouraged to integrate Conflict Transformation principles into their own peacebuilding initiatives and continue exploring innovative approaches to conflict resolution.
Key Outcomes and Reflections
Across all three webinars, several common themes emerged. Participants gained a deeper appreciation of the interconnected nature of Positive Peace, Conflict Transformation, youth leadership, and collective memory. The discussions reinforced the importance of addressing the root causes of conflict, empowering young people as agents of change, and creating spaces for dialogue, healing, and reconciliation.
The webinar series concluded with a call to action for participants to apply these insights in their own communities and professional contexts. Participants were encouraged to integrate Conflict Transformation principles into their peacebuilding efforts, promote youth engagement, and continue fostering dialogue and collaboration in support of sustainable peace.
Looking Ahead
The Positive Peace Society and The 50 Percent Club remain committed to promoting peace education, dialogue, and community engagement through future events and initiatives. The success of this webinar series demonstrated the growing interest in innovative peacebuilding approaches and the importance of creating platforms where diverse voices can come together to learn, share, and collaborate.
Positive Peace Society extends its sincere gratitude to all speakers, participants, and partners who contributed to the success of the series. Through continued dialogue and collective action, we look forward to advancing a more peaceful, inclusive, and sustainable future for communities around the world.