When high profile ‘climate events’ occur– be it Cop26, a particularly strong cyclone, or an especially harsh drought– we start to hear questions about how the changing, and increasingly unpredictable climate will affect our future. And when this happens, it is not uncommon to start to hear questions like: ‘will climate change make war more … Continue reading What About Climate Change?
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Funding Peace
I’ve recently joined a local trust board. Their remit is to distribute funds to organisations and individuals engaged in peace work. Anyone joining this board is faced with the unavoidable question of what it means to fund peace work in the 21st century. There are two main sorts of work that we immediately think of … Continue reading Funding Peace
Why Prediction Isn’t Enough
‘If only we had known!’ It is a common enough phrase, ruing the ‘too little too late’ response to some sort of humanitarian crisis. We shake our heads at how often we hear it. But aside from the disheartened frustration the phrase engenders, it also reflects a common assumption in the world of international relations; … Continue reading Why Prediction Isn’t Enough
The Things We Don’t See
The things that don’t happen are important to understand. Disease outbreaks that don’t become pandemics, are important. So too are workplace injuries that don’t happen, and children not becoming malnourished. The wars that never start are important too. Disease, injuries, malnourishment and war are all influenced by human choices. Given this, it is fairly safe … Continue reading The Things We Don’t See
DIY Proactive Peace
Well, the first thing to remember is that Proactive Peace Work is probably already happening in your community, so it doesn’t need to be ‘invented’ in that sense. But maybe you want to tell the story of your community's action. Or maybe you’re looking for ways of improving your Proactive Peace. Or maybe you want … Continue reading DIY Proactive Peace
For those who think peace doesn’t make a good story.
Please be aware that this post contains names of deceased persons. What I would really love, is for people to know what the word ‘peace’ means with as much complexity as they know the word ‘violence’. If you ask people what violence is, they will be aware of its many different manifestations; from domestic violence … Continue reading For those who think peace doesn’t make a good story.
….And conflict sparks are?
Conflict spark is the word I use to refer to the event or events immediately before the outbreak of violent conflict that are seen as triggering it. They could include things such as an accusation of fraud during an election, the assassination of a key political figure, the unexplained death of a political activist, or … Continue reading ….And conflict sparks are?
So what are risk-factors?
If you’ve already been through a few introductory posts, you will have heard about conflict risk-factors. Simply put, they are the variety of factors that increase a community's vulnerability to violent-conflict. Of course, risk-factors do not guarantee that war, will occur, because war does not have a simple, linear cause— but they do make war … Continue reading So what are risk-factors?
Why a new word?
Why use the term Proactive Peace Work? Surely there is another word out there that can be used? Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of different terms referring to different aspects of peace work and community work out there. But I think that the word Proactive Peace fills an important gap, and here’s why. … Continue reading Why a new word?
Where does Proactive Peace exist?
The short answer is... everywhere! It exists everywhere for two main reasons. The first is that, even amongst communities with low levels of risk-factors overall, it would be rare to find a community with no risk-factors. The second, is because the reason for an absence of some risk-factors may well be because of the presence … Continue reading Where does Proactive Peace exist?