Sustainable Peace Project Team Presents at the International Peace Institute

On November 3rd, Dr. Peter T. Coleman, Dr. Larry S. Liebovitch, Dr. Douglas P. Fry and Jaclyn Donahue of the Sustainable Peace Project at AC⁴ presented preliminary findings at the International Peace Institute in New York City. The presentation was included at International Peace Institute for an event titled What Does Empirical Research Tell Us About Sustainable Peace. The event brought the AC⁴ team of researchers together with representatives from Permanent Missions to the United Nations, civil society organizations, as well UN and IPI staff.

The team shared central attributes of peaceful communities found from their research and outlined the progress and aims of their Sustainable Peace Project. Jaclyn Donahue explains why the approach they’re taking is important, “Despite the considerable interest in promoting sustainable peace within the international community today, there is currently little empirical understanding of what sustains peace in societies worldwide. Most approaches tend to focus solely on prevention of conflict and violence rather than the promotion of peace … and are often based on linear, cause-and-effect assumptions and methods of analysis. As a result, our understanding of peace is piecemeal and policy aimed at promoting peace is often oversimplified.”

Drawing from complexity science and systems thinking, the AC⁴ team aims to provide a more comprehensive, evidence-based understanding and a dynamic system of measurement of sustainably peaceful societies. Participatory research methods as well as case studies and mathematical modeling have been conducted to validate and situate research findings. The main project output will be a dynamic model of sustainable peace, which aims to ultimately serve as a tool for policy and decision-making for promoting more sustainably peaceful relations within communities and also for preventing destructive conflict.

This event is one of a series of conversations at the International Peace Institute as part of its ongoing work on sustainable peace, highlighting the importance of a positive peace perspective for sustaining peace.

Read more about the event and the ongoing work of the International Peace Institute, here.

Photo: International Peace Institute.