Introduction

One essential element required to build a prosperous future for all is peace. Higher education’s role in peace and justice is pivotal, as it drives societal change and serves as an important tool to promote peace, justice, and sustainability on a global scale. In particular, higher education institutions are uniquely positioned to shape the values, knowledge, and skills to address complex global challenges. They use curricula that inspire critical thinking and partnerships that foster international collaboration. Alongside this community engagement that drives local impact, higher education institutions act as cornerstones for building just and peaceful societies (Purwanto et al., 2023).

Moreover, higher education institutions can embrace a transformative approach to fostering peace. By integrating innovative, interconnected, and holistic strategies that prioritise progress beyond sustainability, but rather thrivability, in education. Consequently, we can encourage the integration of ethical values and comprehensive problem-solving methods. This prepares future leaders to tackle the world’s pressing challenges and actively build a just and peaceful society.

The Role of Higher Education in Fostering Peace and Justice

Higher education institutions have been confronted with unprecedented challenges in recent years, largely owing to geopolitical conflicts and crises. As a result, these institutions must focus on reducing inequality, frustration, and violence. This is achieved through rethinking higher education in ways that foster resilience, resolve conflicts, and promote peace. In this regard, they should ask themselves: “What more can our institution do to demonstrate leadership in the field of peacebuilding and conflict transformation, both at home and abroad?” (Clarke-Haibibi, 2021). To address this, universities can adopt systemic approaches to education that foster peace-orientated leadership (Tikly, 2024).

Systematic Approaches to Higher Education’s Role in Peace and Justice:

• Integration into curricula: Leaders can integrate peace-building education into curricula, equipping students with skills for conflict resolution and social justice (Pherali & Lewis, 2019).
• Interdisciplinary collaboration: Encouraging faculty collaboration helps tackle peace-building challenges from diverse perspectives and sparks innovative solutions.
• Campus dialogue and engagement: Creating space for dialogue on peace and conflict fosters mutual understanding and encourages engagement across the campus community.
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion: Valuing diversity and addressing inequalities creates a more inclusive environment that strengthens peace-building efforts (Clarke-Haibibi, 2024).
• Partnerships with practitioners and communities: Collaboration with peace organisations and communities offers students hands-on experience in real-world peace-building projects (Pherali & Lewis, 2019).
• Ethical leadership: Leaders can model ethical practices and peace-instilled values, inspiring future leaders to prioritise fairness, transparency, and respect for human rights.
• Institutional advocacy and policy change: Supporting policies that promote peace and justice creates a broader impact on society beyond the campus (Tikly, 2024).
• Science and industry for peace: Encouraging research on solutions for violence prevention helps translate academic findings into real-world peace actions (Clarke-Haibibi, 2024).

Education serves as a crucial platform for both knowledge creation and skill development, where students can develop essential skills through work-integrated learning. In order to effectively shape the future, education must continually reassess and expand current practises into more comprehensive, systemic approaches.

In summary, leaders in higher education can support peacebuilding by taking strategic action, particularly during times of crisis. Furthermore, incorporating peacebuilding principles into various educational initiatives can amplify their impact. With these actions, higher education institutions nurture ethical leaders and promote democratic principles. Moreover, higher education’s role in peace and justice supports social justice while focusing on crucial actions that enhance engagement and advance peace.

Curriculum Design as a Tool for Promoting Peace in Higher Education

Curriculum design is a fundamental tool for shaping students’ values, ethics, and perspectives on peace and justice. Effectively peace education emphasises collaboration, fairness, conflict resolution, negotiation, and civil values. Higher education institutions undoubtedly play a key role in this process. It provides students with life skills such as empathy, emotional management, and preventive diplomacy. Thereby encouraging democratic and peaceful attitudes that foster non-violent conflict resolution (Purwanto et al., 2023).

Example of a Comprehensive Peace-Building Curriculum in Higher Education

In this context, curriculum serves as an essential part of peacebuilding. Various peace-building programs have been developed to integrate this. A noteworthy example is the programs from the University of Peace established by the United Nations in 1980. Located in San Jose, Costa Rica, this institution offers a comprehensive Master of Arts in; Gender and Peacebuilding; Peace Education; International Peace Studies; IPS Specialising in Media; Peace and Conflict Studies; Religion, Culture, and Peace Studies; and Indigenous Science and Peace Studies (University of Peace, n.d). These programs target specific areas of peace-building and align with SDG16. (United Nations, n.d). This ensures systematic change by covering diverse aspects of peace, sustainability, and conflict resolution.

Graduates from the University of Peace. Source: (University of Peace, n.d)

In addition to such programs, global frameworks like UNESCO-IBE’s contributions to standard-setting help further enhance the role of education in peacebuilding. In November 2023, 194 UNESCO Member States adopted the “Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights, and Sustainable Development” at UNESCO’s General Conference. This global instrument outlines how education can foster lasting peace and human development. By focusing on universal values, intercultural understanding, and critical learning, education can promote peace, social cohesion, and sustainable development (UNESCO, 2024).

Therefore, by incorporating these elements into the curriculum, education becomes a powerful tool for promoting peacebuilding. However, the impact of education on peace is complex and requires a comprehensive approach. It not only involves curriculum design but also teacher training, community engagement, and good governance. The integration of these components will ensure that future educational programs effectively contribute to creating a more peaceful and just world (UNESCO, 2024). Thus, ensuring higher education’s key role in peace and justice.

The Impact of Community Engagement and Outreach in Higher Education

Higher education institutions engage with communities to foster peace and justice in various ways. They often engage with local and global communities through service-learning projects that focus on peacebuilding or collaborative projects with community organisations, NGOs, and governments. As well as initiating and participating in peace-building initiatives (Hasan, 2024). This engagement with communities plays a proactive role in promoting peace and justice. They promote dialogue, reconciliation, and community engagement which can help mitigate tensions and foster social cohesion (United Nations, n.d). Furthermore, community engagement contributes to social sustainability by advancing inclusion, equity, and cohesion.

One example of this is the University of Puget Sound’s community-based learning program. This program connects students with over 250 local organisations to complement classroom learning. A standout initiative, the Race & Pedagogy Institute, engages students in projects focused on racial equity, education reform, and social justice, fostering practices for societal transformation (University of Puget Sound, n.d).

The Race & Pedagogy Institute National Conference in 2018. Source: (University of Puget Sound, 2018)

Another way higher education institutions engage with communities for peace-building is through citizen science. Citizen science is  a form of open collaboration in which individuals or organisations participate in the scientific process in various ways. Thus enabling the formulation of research (Haklay et al., 2021). In simple terms, citizen science is the participation of the public in science and research. (Ullrich, 2024).

A key example is the Center for Bosnian Studies Oral History Initiative (CBS), formerly the Bosnia Oral History Initiative. CBS faculty, students, and staff from Fontbonne University in Clayton, Missouri collaborate with St. Louis’s Bosnian community. They record interviews with Bosnian genocide survivors and their families, creating oral histories. These oral histories have become a resource for raising awareness and educational initiatives that promote peace and justice (Center for Bosnian Studies, n.d).

Oral Interview at the Center for Bosnian Studies. Source: (Center for Bosnian Studies, n.d)

Research and Think Tanks as Catalysts for Social Change in Higher Education

Peace and justice research at higher education institutions makes a substantial contribution to societal progress (Tibbitts, 2024). They do so by addressing complex social issues such as conflict, development, gender, and climate change. Peace research emphasises the interconnectedness of these challenges and encourages local viewpoints, resulting in multidisciplinary discoveries that inform global strategies. While universities provide valuable research and policy recommendations, political leaders, corporations, and communities must eventually take responsibility for implementing these actions (Ginty, 2021).

Other than research initiatives, universities have established think tanks to catalyse social change by engaging diverse stakeholders in collaborative peacebuilding. For example, the EC2U Alliance, a network of eight European universities, hosts a think tank annually on SDG-related topics. This year, their think tank focused on SDG16 with their topic being “Social Innovation for Peacebuilding”. They brought together NGOs, students, faculty, and local communities to propose solutions. The outcomes were collected and shared at the annual EC2U Forum in Linz, Austria, under the theme “Empowering Minds for a Peaceful Society”. In addition, they will be compiled into policy recommendations for the EC2U community. These initiatives use research-backed solutions to tackle the root causes of conflict, promoting systemic change and long-term peace (EC2U, n.d).

Local EC2U Think at the University of Turku. Source: (University of Turku, 2024)

Partnerships between External Institutions and Higher Education Institutions

Universities play an essential part in building resilient communities by partnering with external institutions. Their collaborations with government agencies influence policymaking and enhance public service delivery (Times Higher Education, 2024). University involvement in national legislation fosters peace and justice. Partnerships between educational and community organisations improve education quality, increase access, and foster innovation (Sibhensana & Maistry, 2023). They encourage the exchange of best practices, which improves programs while cutting costs. International relationships facilitate student and faculty exchange, broadening perspectives and promoting research collaborations. These partnerships enhance resources and help to create peaceful and just communities (Darlo Higher Education, n.d).

Two notable examples of partnerships between higher education institutions, NGOs, and government organisations are the Berghof Foundation the Free University of Berlin, and the EUPeace Alliance. First, the Berghof Foundation works to transform violent conflicts into nonviolent social exchanges to achieve sustainable peace through conflict transformation and peacebuilding, collaborating with the Free University of Berlin (Berghof Foundation, n.d). Similarly, the EUPeace Alliance, composed of nine universities, focuses on fostering peace, justice, and inclusive societies across Europe. With their partnership, EUPeace enhances internationalisation, reaching students, staff, and communities, promoting diversity, and building a network that spans from Germany to Turkey, actively shaping the next generation of European citizens (EUPeace, n.d).

Tackling Disinformation and Upholding Institutional Integrity in higher education

Conspiracy theories and misinformation have become increasingly common in recent years. This is often fuelled by a lack of media literacy and critical thinking skills. Far too often, individuals assume that anything that is on the internet must be real, which emphasises the need for better instruction on using digital media. Education is the answer, especially when it comes to cultivating critical thinking (Blanc, 2023). Media literacy is crucial as it enables educators and students to critically assess information, avoid disinformation, and engage with media in an intentional manner (Sangeetha, 2024). Students who receive media literacy instruction are better equipped to recognise reliable sources, analyse media messages, and become responsible media creators and consumers (Plus Project, n.d).

To enhance these efforts, educators can incorporate media literacy by assigning media analysis projects and allowing students to generate their own content, such as films or podcasts. This literacy and awareness can also be utilised in language arts, social studies, and the sciences to assist students’ examination of different points of view (Plus Project, n.d). By encouraging transparency and moral leadership, the media should play a positive role in society’s checks and balances.

Challenges and Barriers to Implementing Peace-Building Educational Practices

Ideological differences, political opposition, and a lack of resources are some of the major obstacles to implementing peace-focused education (UNESCO, 2024). Additionally, a lack of financing is a significant obstacle, with peace education frequently receiving very little. For example, peace initiatives received just 1.2% of global philanthropic funding in 2019. Furthermore, some teaching strategies might unintentionally reinforce racism, violence, and exclusion, undermining initiatives to promote peace. Trauma from conflict or systematic oppression also impedes learning, as unresolved trauma can prolong cycles of violence. Lastly, the complexities of global crises may also encourage fear, diminishing prospects for peace (UNESCO, 2024).

To address these challenges, higher education institutions should prioritise funding for peace education (Mann, 2024). Moreover, teacher training should include transformative teaching methods which include trauma-informed approaches and local cultural practices. In addition, involving youth in decision-making and creating partnerships between formal and non-formal education sectors is also important (UNESCO, 2024). Together, these solutions will help keep peace at the centre of higher education and ensure it continues to thrive in education.

Furthermore, drawing from the THRIVE Framework, these challenges can be overcome by integrating foundational factors such as values-based innovation, ethical leadership, integral thinking, and systems thinking. Values-based innovation aligns peace education with principles of equity and inclusivity, fostering impactful programs. Ethical leadership promotes transparency and prioritises the common good while addressing ideological opposition.

Integral thinking takes a comprehensive approach, ensuring peace education addresses systemic, environmental, and societal interconnections holistically. Systems thinking identifies core causes and interconnections, allowing for personalised solutions to conflict. These concepts work together to strengthen existing methods, anchoring peace education in a long-term and adaptable framework capable of overcoming challenges, striving for a thrivable future.

Conclusion

In conclusion, education empowers individuals to make informed decisions and positively impact society and the environment, regardless of form or age. As a result, higher education’s role in peace and justice is crucial in creating a society that values peacebuilding. Through encouraging ethical leadership, critical thinking, and community involvement and collaboration higher education institutions help create a more resilient and just world.

A Thrivable Framework

THRIVE Project aims to build a future where humans not only survive but truly flourish. Its mission is centred on ensuring the long-term well-being and thrivability of all species on Earth. The THRIVE Framework explores key issues and assesses possible solutions, offering insights on topics that drive environmental and social sustainability transformations.

This article is closely tied to the United Nations SDG16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions). Higher education plays a key role in promoting peace and justice and strengthening institutions. By prioritising peace education and inclusive, sustainable learning, universities can contribute to building more just and peaceful societies. Investing in education fosters global collaboration and drives innovation in social justice, helping to create stronger, more resilient institutions. Higher education’s role in peace and justice is vital in advancing these goals and creating lasting impact.

To support these ideals, engage with THRIVE’s clusters and resources, including podcasts, webinars, whitepapers, and the blog. Advocate for thrivability by supporting aligned organisations and leaders prioritising sustainable futures. Stay informed via our website and LinkedIn for updates.