Building Peace Together: Exploring the Roles of Feminism, Religion, and the Arts in Peacebuilding

As the number of escalating conflicts grows worldwide, peace seems ever more elusive in the 21st century. In light of this, sustainable peacebuilding can be a means of preventing conflicts, helping to deescalate them if they break out, and reconciling society after conflict.

The 2024 e-Conference by the Institute for Global Negotiation took a practitioner-focused closer look at different dimensions of and approaches towards peacebuilding, highlighting the roles of Feminism on the one hand and Religions on the other, as well as examining the potential of the Arts in peacebuilding.
Through these examples, the conference looked at different community-based approaches towards sustainable peacebuilding, and provided a forum for practitioners and other experts to share experiences, discuss challenges, and locate their work within a wider context.



Session 1: Artistic Insights in Peacebuilding: Expanding Horizons of Knowledge and Transformation

Art is a form of expression which can make the unspeakable speakable – whether it is an unbearable personal trauma or political resistance in a censored environment. Therefore, the field of peacebuilding has begun to see art’s potential to promote conflict transformation at an individual as well as at a collective level, to foster peacebuilding between communities, and to bridge justice and peace for sustainable reconciliation. Even though the power of art in fostering peace and reconciliation has been recognized throughout transcending borders, cultures, and conflicts, it remains at the edge of discussions around peacebuilding. This session brought together artists, scholars, and practitioners, to explore the multifaceted role of art in building and sustaining peace. These interdisciplinary discussions highlighted the transformative potential of art as a catalyst for positive change.

The interactive session invited everyone to examine how various art forms contribute crucial additional (incorporeal) knowledge in peacebuilding.


Session 2: Feminism and Peacebuilding: Empowering Voices, Transforming Narratives

Feminist approaches have proven vital in building inclusive and sustainable peace. Marginalized groups – such as women, LGBTIQA*, refugees, migrants, and others often overlooked in peacebuilding – raise their voices through such approaches. Consequently, this session explored the intersections between feminism and peacebuilding, examining the transformative potential of feminist perspectives in shaping more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable approaches to peace. Together, practitioners, researchers, and activists will enter a dynamic dialogue at this year's e-Conference on how feminist ideologies shape and inform peacebuilding efforts around the world. The session will address the importance of intersectionality and amplifying the voices of marginalized communities, revolutionary strategies, such as technology, gaming, the art of resistance and civil disobedience to explore the challenges and successes in applying feminist principles to peacebuilding initiatives.

Through this interactive session, participants engaged directly with panelists through a world café to exchange ideas and best practices and explored the ways in which feminist peacebuilding goes beyond gender binaries, amplifying the voices of marginalized communities.



Session 3: Religious Communities in Peacebuilding: Building Alliances towards Peaceful Societies

The destructive role of religions in many conflicts throughout history has time and again shown the potential for harm and the immense influence that resides with the religions of the world. Turning this influence into a force for good, religious communities can be understood as key actors in promoting a message of sustainable peace and cooperation between different factions and groups. Enabling religious leaders to be the voice of peace in their community but also anchoring peace processes within local education and the family, religions have the potential to use their influence and power for peace and conciliation instead of division. Various initiatives from around the world have successfully contributed towards peace in their respective contexts, and continue to do so.

Following an initial presentation, this session allowed participants to enter into small conversation circles with representatives of various initiatives in religion-centred peace work from around the world, sharing best practices, and highlighting challenges and opportunities. A final plenary discussion brought together these varied perspectives, and established common threads.