Learning Communities for Peace

Together with a number of European partners, the Evens Foundation develops and tests a series of methodologies to transform schools into hubs for peace within their communities, aiming to encourage a structural and sustainable change, with egalitarian participation of all the stakeholders.

The EU faces a complex of crises – an influx of refugees, and threats from terrorism and radicalisation. At the same time, many urban areas suffer from structural inequalities and often dysfunctional integration policies. The resulting tensions have intensified the fear of difference. The erosion of trust particularly affects strongly migrant communities and the schools within them.

In this context, how can such schools and the communities surrounding them engage in the kind of sustained dialogue, integration and peacebuilding that is so urgently needed?

This project aims to identify, develop, test and evaluate Learning Communities for Peace (LCP) approaches in four primary schools in urban areas of high tension in four European countries (Sweden, Croatia, Greece, UK), so as to improve the climate within the schools as well as the ‘living together’ in the wider community.

The five partners involved in the project offer a combination of experience in peace education and community-building strategies, and in research/higher education and practice.