Itinerant School of Peace

1. Itinerant School of Peace

Faced with the resurgence of perils and the appearance of new threats, we have decided to put the experience of our Leaders for Peace at the service of the leaders of tomorrow. Leaders for Peace has decided to create an international network of Itinerant Schools of Peace. The Itinerant Schools of Peace aim to prepare young people for this world of unprecedented transformations and radical uncertainties.

The project is also a tool to fight against unequal access to education: with renowned educational partners and based on an intensive educational program, we wish to provide isolated young people exposed to violence with high-level educational content that will allow them to understand and act in their own countries. Armed with this training, they will bring about change and progress, as active and responsible citizens capable of creating peaceful ways out of crisis.

The Schools of Peace will open a window on the world: openness to other cultures, learning to dialogue in conflict, understanding of the issues, stimulation of creativity and self-esteem, inspiring useful action for oneself and for others. Several studies on education confirm that educated people are more likely to vote, volunteer, peacefully express political opinions and trust their fellow citizens. Education is therefore one of the pillars of the social pact that allows any nation to preserve its stability.

Currently, conflict keeps around 130 million children around the world out of school while COVID-19 has deprived nearly 290 million, and yet every year in these crisis-prone countries education reduces the risk of conflict by about 20% (Report of the United Nations Children’s Fund – UNICEF 2018). Humbly, because we are aware of the heaviness of the task, but driven by a real conviction and will, through this initiative, we intend to enrich and deepen a new global ecosystem of peace that is agile, polycentric and anchored in reality.

2. How is peace built ?

We will offer our students the unique possibility of benefiting from an innovative and free didactic training course. This learning will be based on experience (United Nations modem, Peace Lab, etc.) and a holistic approach that will allow students to understand all the levers involved in the production of peace:

• History and culture, to spread tolerance and fight against the radicalization of systems of thought,
• The media and digital, to avoid the perils of misinformation and promote insight, 
• Entrepreneurship, to understand the close links between peace and prosperity,
• Institutions, to understand the world engineering of peace,
• The environment, to measure how “Planetization” is the beginning of a new international consensus,
• The role of women in global governance, to raise awareness and deconstruct gender prejudices,
• International relations and diplomacy, to help preserve dialogue in conflict,
• New threats, to prepare for the challenges of tomorrow,
• Leadership, to acquire the confidence necessary to commit to serving a cause, a project or one’s country,
• Sport, to make competition a method of overcoming prejudices.

3. How do our students contribute to building peace ?

In order to guarantee exhaustive learning, the Itinerant School of Peace bases its program on two interdependent methods.

First, the teaching of academic subjects is essential to a commitment to peace in public life and to the understanding of major geopolitical and societal issues.

Second, by putting these lessons into practice by taking part in experiments, meetings with decision-makers and visits from the highest authorities of multilateralism, particularly during the Summer School held in Geneva which will bring together the most talented individuals. The Itinerant School of Peace will take place in the form of itinerant schools in partnership with universities and regional, governmental, and international organizations around the world.

Present in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America, our network of Itinerant Schools of Peace will educate and raise awareness among young people, particularly in areas of conflict or experiencing tension. We will offer each partner a one-week seminar including five-course modules, three of which are compulsory among the following modules: geopolitics, governance, mediation, conflicts, resources, culture and sport, personal development, gender equality, etc. In order for the new generation to continue to develop its openness to the world, its critical spirit and its commitment to peace, the Itinerant School of Peace will be accompanied by the creation of the « Young Leaders for Peace” network and an online platform to enable intercultural exchange and sharing of experiences among participants.

The platform, designed to provide the tools to build peace, will provide our students with access to a media library containing numerous articles and books on peace and multilateralism, podcasts and videos and all the courses they have attended in free download. The Itinerant School of Peace will thus pursue the essential mission of education as envisioned by Jean-Jacques Rousseau: « teaching to live », to promote the best and inhibit the worst in each young person, to guard against error and dogma, and allow everyone to envision the possibility of a better future.