a series of online workshops
PEACE LAB
civic peacebuilding with international experts and practitioners
Upcoming events
civic peacebuilding
We use it as an umbrella term that includes grassroots diplomacy, antiwar activism, reconciliation work, dialogues, collective trauma healing, and more. Our key interest is in what can empower people and local communities (including across the lines of conflict) to collectively act for peace.
You are registering for the workshop with Neil Jarman on 03.10.2024.
One day before the event, we will send the Zoom link to the e-mail that you will indicate in the registration form.
One day before the event, we will send the Zoom link to the e-mail that you will indicate in the registration form.
Upcoming workshop
Tina Vasudeva and Romana Kazi, representatives of Oasis Movement — an Indian initiative working with youth and local communities, including in Kashmir. Their work combines Gandhian values, modern approaches to leadership, and what they call “education of the heart” — a pathway to inner transformation, restored relationships, and trust-building.
This time, we’ll focus on an approach not always directly associated with traditional peacebuilding — education and leadership development. We’ll explore how educational initiatives can contribute to peace: by restoring trust, rebuilding connection, and supporting transformation in communities affected by trauma and conflict.
At the center of our conversation is Kashmir — a region marked by decades of tension and violence, rooted in colonial history, political rivalry, and deep religious and national divisions.
Key questions:
At the center of our conversation is Kashmir — a region marked by decades of tension and violence, rooted in colonial history, political rivalry, and deep religious and national divisions.
Key questions:
- How can educational and leadership programs contribute to peacebuilding?
- What helps (or hinders) such initiatives in the context of deep mistrust and structural violence?
- What parallels can be drawn with other conflict or post-conflict settings — and what can we learn from colleagues working in Kashmir?
30 April
17:00 – 19:00 CEST / 11:00 – 13:00 EDT
17:00 – 19:00 CEST / 11:00 – 13:00 EDT
EDUCATION AND PEACEBUILDING IN KASHMIR. OASIS MOVEMENT.
Upcoming workshop
- Yonatan Zeigen – the Parents Circle – Families Forum
- Sulaiman Khatib – Combatants for Peace
- Nada Majdalani — EcoPeace Middle East
- Tehila Wenger — Geneva Initiative – Israel
This session is an invitation to an honest and difficult conversation: what could a peace agenda look like in Israel and Palestine today?
Our speakers know firsthand what it means to live at the heart of conflict, to grieve, and still choose peace. They will share their personal, professional, and activist experiences — and reflect on the initiatives that are building bridges where it may seem only walls remain.
We will look for a language that acknowledges pain but does not turn it into a justification for revenge; a path that does not demand symmetry of suffering but calls for the recognition of each person’s humanity.
- How do you speak about peace when society is torn apart by fear, hatred, and grief?
- How do you speak about peace when nearly everyone has lost someone due to war or terror?
- How do you speak about peace when power is imbalanced and your life is made unbearable by the neighboring state?
Our speakers know firsthand what it means to live at the heart of conflict, to grieve, and still choose peace. They will share their personal, professional, and activist experiences — and reflect on the initiatives that are building bridges where it may seem only walls remain.
We will look for a language that acknowledges pain but does not turn it into a justification for revenge; a path that does not demand symmetry of suffering but calls for the recognition of each person’s humanity.
5 May
9:00 – 11:00 CEST / 7:00 – 9:00 GMT
9:00 – 11:00 CEST / 7:00 – 9:00 GMT
VOICES OF PEACE IN ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT
Peace Lab is:
1. A series of online workshops with experts and practitioners from diverse backgrounds: from academics to grassroots activists. Those are monthly meetings held in English. We are originally a Russian initiative, yet we invite the global community to join.
2. Interactive sessions facilitated by us in between the workshops. They are meant for networking, reflection and processing the takeaways from the workshops.
3. Part of our dream is the global community of peace activists that exchange experience, practice solidarity and support each other.
About the project
Previous workshops
Mary Kaldor
Human Security, civil society and new wars
Mary Kaldor is Professor of Global Governance at the London School of Economics, author of the book “New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era”, co-founder of Helsinki Citizens' Assembly.
How do we conceptualise modern hybrid complex wars? And more importantly, how do we rethink the global security in the world based not on “national security”, but rather human security. What role does civil society play in peace-building, what can it do and where does the modern peace-building movement stand.
Video →
Mary Kaldor is Professor of Global Governance at the London School of Economics, author of the book “New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era”, co-founder of Helsinki Citizens' Assembly.
How do we conceptualise modern hybrid complex wars? And more importantly, how do we rethink the global security in the world based not on “national security”, but rather human security. What role does civil society play in peace-building, what can it do and where does the modern peace-building movement stand.
Video →
Innocent Musore
Reconciliation dialogue in the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda
Innocent is a peacebuilding activist in Rwanda, the Founder and the Executive Director of GER-Rwanda, facilitator of forums and trainings for youth on post-genocide reconciliation.
How was the Rwandian society reconciling after the genocide in 1994. What were the driving factors. Healing the transgenerational trauma and working with youth. Constructing the new narrative. Using “Worldwork” method. Forgiveness and personal commitment to leading difficult conversations.
Video →
Innocent is a peacebuilding activist in Rwanda, the Founder and the Executive Director of GER-Rwanda, facilitator of forums and trainings for youth on post-genocide reconciliation.
How was the Rwandian society reconciling after the genocide in 1994. What were the driving factors. Healing the transgenerational trauma and working with youth. Constructing the new narrative. Using “Worldwork” method. Forgiveness and personal commitment to leading difficult conversations.
Video →
Goran Lojančić
Dialogue as an approach and a practice of peacebuilding
Goran Lojančić is a conflictologist and peacebuilder from the Balkans, an independent facilitator, and former director of the Nansen Dialogue Network in Belgrade. Organizer and facilitator of dialogue peacebuilding programs and workshops in Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia, as well as in Russia and Ukraine after 2014.
How does the dialogue approach help to reconcile and find common ground with the recent enemy? What if the parties don't agree about the "basic facts"? What is the role and traits of a facilitator capable of supporting the dialogue in a post-conflict society? Stages and features of dialogue. Demo exercise.
Video →
Goran Lojančić is a conflictologist and peacebuilder from the Balkans, an independent facilitator, and former director of the Nansen Dialogue Network in Belgrade. Organizer and facilitator of dialogue peacebuilding programs and workshops in Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia, as well as in Russia and Ukraine after 2014.
How does the dialogue approach help to reconcile and find common ground with the recent enemy? What if the parties don't agree about the "basic facts"? What is the role and traits of a facilitator capable of supporting the dialogue in a post-conflict society? Stages and features of dialogue. Demo exercise.
Video →
Nikolai Epplee
The ‘difficult past’ and reconciliation
Nikolai Epplee is a philologist, translator, and researcher of historical memory. He is the author of the bestseller "An inconvenient past: the memory of state crimes in Russia and other countries". He is currently researching reconciliation practices in (post)conflict regions.
In this workshop, Nikolai shared the findings of his research on the concept of reconciliation.
The concept of "reconciliation" is concerned with mending broken ties and finding common ground between former enemies (or perpetrators and victims) in the present. However, this concept is broad and controversial. It is often distorted by many factors, from simplistic psychological assumptions or moral dogmas to political manipulation. On the other hand, it is open to parallels with individual human experience, culture and art.
Video →
Nikolai Epplee is a philologist, translator, and researcher of historical memory. He is the author of the bestseller "An inconvenient past: the memory of state crimes in Russia and other countries". He is currently researching reconciliation practices in (post)conflict regions.
In this workshop, Nikolai shared the findings of his research on the concept of reconciliation.
The concept of "reconciliation" is concerned with mending broken ties and finding common ground between former enemies (or perpetrators and victims) in the present. However, this concept is broad and controversial. It is often distorted by many factors, from simplistic psychological assumptions or moral dogmas to political manipulation. On the other hand, it is open to parallels with individual human experience, culture and art.
Video →
Sevil Huseynova, Sergey Rumyantsev (CISR Berlin)
3 July
How to swap villages in a conflict situation? Research experience in the context of peacebuilding in the South Caucasus
Sevil and Sergey are social anthropologists, co-founders of the Centre for Independent Social Research (CISR Berlin) and the Post-Soviet Peace Initiative. The focus of their work is peacebuilding in the South Caucasus and the wider post-Soviet space.
In this workshop, Sevil and Sergey told about the context of the peacebuilding experience in the South Caucasus.
After the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the residents of an Azerbaijani village in Armenia and an Armenian village in Azerbaijan realised that they would have to flee their homeland and self-organised the project of the collective exchange.
Video →
How to swap villages in a conflict situation? Research experience in the context of peacebuilding in the South Caucasus
Sevil and Sergey are social anthropologists, co-founders of the Centre for Independent Social Research (CISR Berlin) and the Post-Soviet Peace Initiative. The focus of their work is peacebuilding in the South Caucasus and the wider post-Soviet space.
In this workshop, Sevil and Sergey told about the context of the peacebuilding experience in the South Caucasus.
After the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the residents of an Azerbaijani village in Armenia and an Armenian village in Azerbaijan realised that they would have to flee their homeland and self-organised the project of the collective exchange.
Video →
Dmitry Makarov is a human rights defender, trainer on human rights, citizen oversight and campaigning. Co-author of the course on Civic Facilitation. Co-chair of the Moscow Helsinki Group.
Vlad Sakovich is a group processes facilitator, psychologist, peacebuilder. Co-author of the course on Civic Facilitation. Facilitator of Open forums on war for Russians.
The project is a follow-up of some of our previous initiatives: the workshop with Adam Kahane and
the course on Civic Facilitation.
If you’d like to join the Peace Lab team, suggest a speaker, a topic or another idea – reach to us at civicfacilitationlab@gmail.com
the course on Civic Facilitation.
If you’d like to join the Peace Lab team, suggest a speaker, a topic or another idea – reach to us at civicfacilitationlab@gmail.com
Team
Daria Lyakhova is an alumni of the course on Civic Facilitation, participant of the community of facilitators; organiser of the local "Club of the lonely hearts"; moderator, parent.
In a d'Artagnanian way, she participates in all the occasions that are close to her heart.
In a d'Artagnanian way, she participates in all the occasions that are close to her heart.
Dasha Rudneva is a researcher, activist, aspiring facilitator and citizen of the world.
She is engaged into multi- and interdisciplinary methods. Alumni of the course on Civic Facilitation.
She is engaged into multi- and interdisciplinary methods. Alumni of the course on Civic Facilitation.
Lena Sheliagina is an independent researcher,
biologist, expert in circular economics. She researches the system transformation of
the present for the future.
biologist, expert in circular economics. She researches the system transformation of
the present for the future.
