Steeped in practice with over 20 years of experience in peacebuilding – it is our work with individuals, groups, and communities that keeps us learning and continues to make that all important difference.
Our programme, ‘For Peace’, consists of a portfolio of projects, resources, and services. Our work has three core components: prevention, resolution, and response. In prevention we seek to stop violence before it starts, however when conflict does arise, we seek resolution through dialogue and actions to deal with issues without recourse to violence, and when violent conflict has already occurred, we are there to respond, to help those affected to cope and recover and, in many cases, to become active peacebuilders and agents for change themselves. Our aim is to break the cycle of violence so our projects overlap and intersect, allowing our participants to learn from one another and play their role in achieving this.
Click below to explore our work to prevent and resolve conflict through peacebuilding, dialogue, and conflict resolution.
Read our co-authored paper with the University Of Manchester which critically reflects on our ‘mediated dialogue’ process as a tool for secondary level Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) - Talking Our Way Out Of Conflict Originally published by the Commission For Counter Extremism Published in 2019
WHAT IS TINY STEPS FOR PEACE? TINY STEPS FOR PEACE is a project aimed at Key Stage 1 students, based around an interactive story-telling and activity mat. The story tells of two aliens sent on a mission from their home planet, tasked with exploring how they can resolve an ongoing conflict in their community and create peace. Unfortunately, they crash-land on Earth and bump their head! They can't remember their names, but they do have a message for the people of earth stating they must get to the Peace Centre in Warrington to learn about Peace and return home. Students are then taken on an adventure - they must help our new friends navigate their way to the Peace Centre, meeting some fun challenges on the way! Aimed at Key Stage One students (years 2 & 3) Tiny Steps for Peace enhances the socio-emotional, cognitive, and behavioural skills of the students, contributing significantly to a school’s national curriculum learning outcomes for SMSC (spiritual, moral, social and cultural) education. Learning is developed through different experiential and participatory group activities, including role-play or theatre type activities, multi-media, and storytelling activities. We encourage learning in this way because it allows us to tune in with every child’s unique needs and skills. The curriculum is designed to encourage students to be active and engaged and learn through investigation and play and focussed discussions. OBJECTIVES: Enhance the emotional intelligence of young people Enhance the emotional, social and relational skills of young people Embed basic conflict resolution skills Develop group problem-solving skills through game-play Tiny Steps for Peace is a stepping stone for primary school children to encourage positive relationships with peers and is a precursor to our other Primary Years project: Small Steps for Peace. To find out more and to talk about commissioning options, contact commissions@foundation4peace.org
WHAT IS SMALL STEPS FOR PEACE? Small Steps for Peace is a programme of interactive peace education for Key Stage 2 pupils. It’s designed to be delivered by teachers to class-sized groups of primary school pupils in six two-hour sessions. But it can also be adapted to suit learner needs and other teaching objectives—many of the activities have direct links to the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum Learning Outcomes for Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Education (SMSC). LEARNING OUTCOMES: Small Steps will help young learners: understand the causes of conflict, how it can be driven by diverse needs and wants and how it can be entrenched between in-groups of ‘us’ and out-groups of ‘them’ understand the impact of conflict, gaining awareness of how they and others feel in conflict situations and the consequences of violence develop active listening skills build emotional intelligence, recognising and regulating their own emotional responses, empathising with others, and growing their confidence and capacity to communicate practice problem-solving in creative ways and in collaborative group settings. Small Steps for Peace is a follow-on project to our Tiny Steps for Peace project. To find out more and to talk about commissioning options, contact commissions@foundation4peace.org
My Former Life is a multimedia educational resource based around a documentary film that explores and shares the personal stories of four former extremists, or ‘Formers’. The lives and stories of our subjects are paralleled, allowing the audience to draw comparison between the circumstances and even ideologies followed by people who could once have been sworn enemies. The film and accompanying educational resource explores the reasons for which these people became involved in violent conflict, the consequences of their decisions, their reasons for leaving and disengaging with their respective groups, and finally showing how their lives have progressed since they moved on from violence. The film runs alongside a series of interactive, participatory sessions that facilitate conversations about a challenging subject matter. As a resource, My Former Life is a catalyst for important conversations and awareness-raising around prejudice, division, and extremism. The workshops within the resource allow the participant to raise their awareness of the issues, but also of themselves. Games and exercises expose habitual responses to provocation and conflict and highlight better ways of managing things. Discussions around values help build understanding and acceptance that we can hold different world views but still co-exist. The film and its resources have become an important feature in a range of the Foundations’ educational programme, and now features on our new education portal. The Foundation has now developed this important resource into classroom and curriculum friendly package, helping educators everywhere tackle this important topic with a resource that enables deep and meaningful dialogue. Find out more about how you can access the training and resources or to enquire about commissioning opportunities please contact us at commissions@foundation4peace.org and a member of the team will be in touch with you as soon as possible.
Extreme Dialogue is a unique project for young people that supports the development of critical thinking skills about, and resilience against, extremism in all its different forms. High quality films are accompanied by supplementary activities and discussion sessions, which provide a cross section of reference points helping to develop confidence in talking about difference, community tensions and extremism. It provides a suite of unique and engaging resources, including compelling first-person video testimonies from people who have been profoundly impacted by prejudice, marginalisation, hate, and violence. These videos are supported by tools that enable facilitators, and those working with young people to open-up discussion and debate on this challenging subject-matter and help interrogate this issue critically. Uniquely, the project looks at extremism ‘in the round’; ensuring young people understand the challenges extremism poses today. Extreme Dialogue cultivates essential critical thinking skills amongst young people that are universally transferable to other subject-matters and areas of their lives; ensuring it has a longevity outside the classroom and beyond project delivery. Extreme Dialogue can be delivered by teachers to students or, via a student-led delivery model and offers a modular approach that can be tailored to fit the different needs of groups or to a curriculum. Training for Educators is available. Find out more here. To find out more information about Extreme Dialogue or to enquire about commissioning opportunities please contact us at commissions@foundation4peace.org and a member of the team will be in touch with you as soon as possible. Extreme Dialogue is a partnership between the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Foundation, global counter-extremism organisation the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), and filmmakers Duckrabbit. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJj1NTPHsh4&list=PLq9TthXQpjyU22qzGYHcPLzGRHWndvW66&index=2[/embed]
Combat Hate is a multimedia education resource aimed at young people aged between 13-19, exploring and encouraging dialogue about contemporary challenges facing our communities, in particular, issues related to the ‘far right’, polarisation and extremism in the UK. It draws on a number of contributions and insights, notably, those who have first had experience of having been engaged in extremist groups. Other contributors range from young people, to survivors of extremist violence and terrorist acts, through to practitioners and academics who reflect on their experience of working to help prevent and understand extremism and promote more cohesive communities. The film and accompanying series of workshops critically examines ideology, recruitment tactics, symbology and mobilisation, with an accompanying educational resource providing material for educators and young people to explore this in their own learning environments. The film and its resources have become an important feature in a range of the Peace Foundations’ educational programme, and now features on our new education portal. The Peace Foundation has now developed this important resource into classroom and curriculum friendly package, helping educators everywhere tackle this important topic with a resource that enables deep and meaningful dialogue. Find out more about how you can access the resources or to enquire about commissioning opportunities please contact us at commissions@foundation4peace.org and a member of the team will be in touch with you as soon as possible. Find out more about accompanying educator/youth practitioner training here.
WHAT IS THINK? THINK is a tailored leadership development programme for young people aged 13 to 19. It develops young people’s skills, knowledge and understanding around values, beliefs and their management of conflict so that they are equipped to THINK critically and confidently about their place in the world. It helps to realise young people's potential to play a positive role in managing their own and other people’s conflict. Having the skills to resolve conflict peacefully and non-violently, whether that’s personal conflict or conflict in our communities, is an essential set of life skills! Throughout the project participants have the opportunity to explore issues such as 'who we are', our motivations, our beliefs, values, and identity, looking to develop an understanding of how and why we behave the way we do and the impact and consequences of our actions. The project gets people to think about where we want to be and how we can impact our self, our community, and society in a bigger way, and feel confident to act rather than react when faced with situations of conflict. Participants will gain benefits in the following areas: Thinking Skills: Critical and consequential cognitive life skills; the confidence and experience of thinking critically about one’s self, ‘the other’, as well as personal, social and political conflict and its consequences. An increased appreciation for values’ complexity and a reduced susceptibility to extremist narratives follows Self-awareness: The ability to recognise how beliefs and values directly affect attitudes and behaviour; increased emotional intelligence and associated skills, with a greater understanding of the effects of one’s own attitudes and behaviours on others, as well as confidence in belonging to multiple communities ‘Other’-awareness: An increased capacity for cognitive, emotional and compassionate empathy, and an ability to analyse the motivations’ for peoples’ behaviours, viewing things from a different perspective and overcoming fear of ‘the other’ Conflict Resolution: The skills, confidence, and capacity to manage and resolve personal, social and political conflicts. Participants will acquire experience putting into practice non-violent means to manage and resolve conflicts Countering Violent Extremism: The knowledge and power to challenge simplistic narratives, air grievances constructively, interrogate complex arguments, as well as develop confidence in confronting persuasive and emotive rhetoric with autonomously generated alternative narratives A Network of Leaders: Membership of a network of graduate peace builders, where they will find peer and Foundation support to act in their own communities to counter despairing violent narratives and find personalised, constructive ways to effect change. Visit the project's website to find out more here. To enquire about commissioning opportunities please contact us at commissions@foundation4peace.org and a member of the team will be in touch with you as soon as possible. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUOlpUgfN8c[/embed]
WHAT IS THINK+? THINK+ is an alumni capacity building project, building upon on the THINK programme of learning. THINK+ is made up of a number of modules looking at how to develop effective messages to challenge prejudice constructively, counter extreme ideas and rhetoric, and promote alternative narratives to prejudiced, violent and extremist material offline and online. The modules develop the skills, confidence, and capacity to participate and manage these often-difficult conversations in peer groups and in both online and offline communities. THINK+ is made up of three discreet modules: THINK+ MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTION: Developing effective messages to promote alternative narratives THINK+ EFFECTIVE DIALOGUE: Developing effective dialogue to promote alternative narratives THINK+ ONLINE: Understanding the role of social media in developing digital dialogue and online citizenship To find out more information about THINK+ visit www.think4peace.org or to enquire about commissioning opportunities please contact us at commissions@foundation4peace.org and a member of the team will be in touch with you as soon as possible.
