Content

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

Compact Guide

PART 1 TRAINING EDUCATING PEACEBUILDERS AND IMPACT LEADERS FOR THE 21st CENTURY

Introduction

PHASE 1 DREAMING AND DISCOVERING: BECOMING A PEACEBUILDER

1 Theory U and making change actionable

2 Going back to your roots: the Tree of Life

3 Understanding the world around you and working towards peace

4 Redefining the self

Summary Phase 1

PHASE 2 DESIGNING: BUILDING A COMMUNITY FOR PEACE

5 Redesigning the system

6 Ideating the future

7 Developing a Value Proposition for Peace

Summary Phase

PHASE 3 DELIVERING: MAKING PEACE ACTIONABLE & ADVOCATING FOR PEACE

8 Becoming an Impact Leader and Peacebuilder

Summary Phase

PART 2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE TRAINING

Introduction

Theory U – a theory of social change

Reflection theory

Social capital theory

Narrative theory: sharing stories

PART 3 TOOLKIT

Introduction

I – DISCOVER AND DREAM: Understanding the world and your place in it

II – DESIGN: Creating individual and collective pathways

III – DELIVER: Shaping the future

Part IV Journaling Guide

References

‘What I am out for now is peace, the enjoyment of thinking and of friendship, and, though it may be too ambitious, a sense of loving and being loved’

Jorge Luis Borges, in ‘The Aleph and other stories’

The following people have contributed to this book

Carin Beijer

Pim de Bokx

Saadet Ozdemir

Shumaila Anwar

Foreword

Building and making peace is only possible if there is reciprocal trust. Thus, achieving peace depends on people who can trust each other and learn to trust each other. In small communities, keeping this peace is usually left to the wise old people of the community. When communities become larger with (many) more people, institutions or organizations are needed to maintain peace. Even then, it is necessary that people can feel trust in and rely on institutions. And that will only happen if they succeed in keeping faith and these institutions instill that trust. Hence, the institutions must also be wise in their behavior and the decisions they take. Otherwise, the institutions will lose their authority. History shows that this loss of authority goes hand in hand with the loss of trust first in the institutions and then, as a trickledown effect, people of the (same) community lose confidence in each other. A fertile ground for violence to erupt. To then maintain peace will not be easy. Peace will then have to be built again.

Rule of law is necessary to preserve peace and often also to make peace possible. After all, the rule of law is mainly supported by people and institutions that are bound by humane principles both in terms of content and process. In the early 20th century, the International Court of Justice was established so that countries could submit disputes to the Court in the hope of preventing conflict and war. However, it was not able to prevent World War II. This war was the direct reason for the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris in 1948 and resulted in the establishment of the United Nations.

The special feature of the Universal Declaration is that it defines very sharply and directly the morality with which institutions have to act, as guiding principles. Taking these human rights as a starting point for the actions and decisions of institutions, at both local, national and international level, but also for people’s actions towards each other; is something that we seem to be slowly losing sight of under COVID-19. The need to build peace is therefore paramount.

Globalisation, being able to know and get to know other cultures is part of human curiosity. It challenges us to look beyond our own horizon and make an effort to continue to ‘understand’ each other, based on the beliefs that led to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. If we are able to do that, peace is not threatened. It starts with us, so much is obvious.

Prof. Dr. J. M. Smits

(Emeritus Professor Law)

Preface

This handbook was developed for the occasion of Geneva Peace Week 2020. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic we saw that the most vulnerable among us were suffering the most. Not only were they confronted with the threat to their health, but they were often also the ones who fell prey to poverty, loss of their livelihood and the means to sustain their families.

Small grassroot NGOs we work with, told us about the extreme circumstances that they had to work in, which led us to develop a training for them in the form of a train the trainer. Often, small NGOs have no access to financial resources; they also have insufficient capacity, skills and knowledge to do their work. These NGOs are the safekeepers of millions of people, who might otherwise fall between the cracks of society. This leads to instability and also plants the seeds for conflicts. When people lose hope, they become an easy target for groups that enlist them to serve their own private agendas, which are often meant to destabilize and cause chaos. Parents are forced to sell their children who become victims of human trafficking; young people become criminals, addicts, thieves with no sense of morality and normality, violence spirals between people.

This handbook is built on the ideas of different authors who inspired us to design a new approach to peacebuilding. It takes a multidisciplinary and bottom-up perspective. With peace we create value, benefits, and fulfil needs that are universal and fundamental. We therefore approach peace like a business and a viable and necessary alternative to the business of war, worth an estimated expenditure of $2 trillion yearly and a cost (of lives, infrastructure, etc.) of more than $13 trillion (Elworthy, 2017, p.7)1. It is focused on creating value and working for the good of humanity, the environment and social impact rather than only on making a profit. We want to create an economy of peace.

We invite corporations to start working on Peace – out of a business interest but above all because our planet cannot survive if we do not make a massive effort to build a world order where war is a legacy of the past and peace a promise of the future.

This handbook could not have come into being without the collaboration and valuable input of Carin Beijer, Pim de Bokx and Saadet Ozdemir from ImpactLeaders international – a program powered by Foundation Faces of Change – and Shumaila Anwar of the Initiative of Diversity Inclusion and Peace. It has been a joint effort aimed at reaching as many people as possible.

©Faces of Change & ImpactLeaders international

Introduction

This handbook is for grassroot NGOs all over the world, who work with political and economic refugees and marginalized and disenfranchised groups. It is also for anyone who wants to become a peacebuilder and impact leader and work with their community or with these NGOs in building an infrastructure for peace and world with peace. The objective of the handbook is to provide readers with a complete program that they can use in their work in local communities.

The handbook is centred around the training ‘Educating Peacebuilders and Impact Leaders for the 21st century. A Value Proposition for Peace and Prosperity’. The aim is to equip people with the knowledge, skills and tools to:

Become peacebuilders and impact leaders

Work actively with communities on problems that threaten peace

Develop a Pitch for Peace

Develop an action plan for advocacy

Influence and shape policy

Impact Leaders

Put people first and act for others

Set an example to others

Are intrinsically motivated

Act NOW, do not wait for others to fix the problem

See risk as an opportunity. Risk is flexible and manageable

Set boundaries and are not concerned about the opinions of others

Peacebuilders

Acquire self-knowledge and acceptance

Are able to recognize emotions and empathize with others

Are able to practice deep listening

Are able to resolve conflicts and bridge differences

Gather a ‘tribe’ to start working on peace

Take a stand when human rights are threatened

Act in the interest of humanity & peace

The handbook is set up as journey, which people go through. It consists of four parts:

Part I

–

Training and roadmap

Part II

–

Theoretical framework and principles used to develop the handbook

Part III

–

Toolkit: equipment and instruments

Part IV

–

Journaling workbook

Part I describes the training and the roadmap that those who do the training follow, to become a peacebuilder and impact leader.

Part II describes the overarching theory we used to develop the methodology and models, which we adapted to align with the purpose of our training. Other theories used to design the program and the toolkit are also described.

Part III is a toolkit: it has several instruments and exercises for personal and community development. It also includes a plan to work on advocacy.

Part IV is a journaling workbook for individual use, to support the personal growth process experienced by participants of the training.

All those who follow the training become members of the International Community of Impact Leaders and Peacebuilders (ICILP). They also become trainers and can train within their communities. The ultimate aim is to connect people from grassroot NGOs or individuals who work day and night to support men, women and youth, who want to make an impact by contributing to building peace.

People that buy the book also get the PPT material that has been developed for the training as it is described in the handbook. They can send an email to facesofchange.saskia@gmail.com and will then get access to the Google drive where all the material is stored. The material is in English, but will also be made available in other languages in due course.

Compact Guide

This section summarizes briefly the main elements of the training: the framework used, topics addressed and timetable for the course as it was developed by us.

Educational Approach

Our approach is framed within a number of theories described in the second part of this handbook.

The main framework of the training is Otto Scharmer’s Theory U (2016)2, which has been adapted and aligned with a 4-stage method of appreciative inquiry. These are: discover, dream, design and deliver. In addition we have developed a peacebuilding model that revolves around four main aspects – trust, empathy, respect and integrity – and goes through 3 stages: becoming a peacebuilder, building a community and strengthening the social fabric of your community/society.

The training consists of 10 sessions (1 introductory meeting and 9 Masterclasses) that take participants through the change process of Theory U and the different stages of peacebuilding.

Peacebuilding stages

Theory U

Masterclasses

Introductory meeting to get to know each other and explain the outline of the training

I – UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF AND YOUR PLACE IN THE WORLD

Becoming a Peacebuilder

DISCOVER Downloading, Seeing and Sensing

1,2 and 3

DREAM Letting go, Presencing and Letting Come

4

II – CREATING INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE PATHWAYS

Building a community: developing a value proposition for peace and skills for peace

DESIGN Crystallizing, Prototyping

5, 6 and 7

III – SHAPING THE FUTURE

Strengthening the social fabric of your community: Designing your Pitch for Peace, preparing to implement your plan and advocating for peace

DELIVER Performing

8, 9

The Program

NGOs or individuals can use the same timeline, or can alternatively decide to lengthen or shorten the training. They can be mentored in this process. The timeline does not include the Introductory meeting and the last meeting after the Pitch which is about the Implementation of the Pitch for Peace.

The training aims to contribute to the realization of two SD Goals in particular: SDG 10 and 16. Goal 10 calls for reducing inequalities in income as well as those based on age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status within a country. The Goal also addresses inequalities among countries, including those related to representation, migration and development assistance. Goal 16 emphasises that all forms of violence should be eliminated. This potentially includes widespread criminality or the least visible forms of all: violence against children. Violence against children also has severe consequences for the future of societies.

PART 1
TRAINING EDUCATING PEACEBUILDERS AND IMPACT LEADERS FOR THE 21st CENTURY

Introduction

In this section we describe the outline of the training, the detailed timetable and the tools used in the masterclasses.

The training is a journey of self-discovery and change at individual and systemic level, to become a peacebuilder and impact leader, design a value proposition for peace and develop a Pitch for Peace especially in relation to Sustainable Development Goals 10 and 16.

Sustainable Development Goal 10 aims at reducing inequality within and between countries. This SDG calls for reducing inequalities in income, and those based on age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status within a country.

By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average

By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status

Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard

Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality

Improve the regulation and monitoring of global financial markets and institutions and strengthen the implementation of such regulations

Ensure enhanced representation and voice for developing countries in decision-making in global international economic and financial institutions in order to deliver more effective, credible, accountable and legitimate institutions

Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies

Implement the principle of special and differential treatment for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, in accordance with World Trade Organization agreements

Encourage official development assistance and financial flows, including foreign direct investment, to States where the need is greatest, in particular least developed countries, African countries, small island developing States and landlocked developing countries, in accordance with their national plans and programmes

By 2030, reduce to less than 3 per cent the transaction costs of migrant remittances and eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5 per cent

Sustainable Development Goal 16 is concerned with peace, justice and strong institutions. We cannot hope for sustainable development without peace, stability, human rights and effective governance, based on the rule of law. Yet our world is becoming increasingly divided. Some regions enjoy peace, security and prosperity, while others fall into seemingly endless cycles of conflict and violence. This is not an inevitability and needs our attention.

The SDG aims to significantly reduce all forms of violence, and work with governments and communities to end conflict and insecurity. Promoting the rule of law and human rights is key to this process, as are reducing illegal arms traffic and strengthening the participation of developing countries in global governance institutions.

Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere

End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children

Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all

By 2030, significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime

Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms

Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels

Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels

Broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the institutions of global governance

By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration

Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements

Strengthen relevant national institutions, including through international cooperation, for building capacity at all levels, in particular in developing countries, to prevent violence and combat terrorism and crime

Promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development

The training is also meant to educate participants how to use the handbook within their own organization and with their community to train people. Readers can use the handbook to design their own training and tailor it to their specific context.

The Context

COVID-19 hit the world in 2020 and formed a turning point in the history of humankind. Not only did it put a strain on healthcare, it was also a magnifying glass that highlighted the inequality and poverty in the world resulting from conflicts and an unequal distribution of wealth.

The inability of institutions to deal with this extraordinarily complex situation became apparent, with nationalism and protectionism gaining ground, a rise in unemployment and a dramatic change in the social fabric of society at the expense of disenfranchised, marginalized and disempowered groups of people.

Countless people all over the world lost their jobs. In particular, those who were barely surviving through their micro enterprises, fell prey to poverty and were unable to support themselves. This resulted in global migration of people to other parts of the world hoping to find the means to survive. This mass migration put more pressure on often already fragile societies, leading to polarization, a divide in society and radicalization of groups of people.

The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc. People took to the streets in protest against what they saw as an infringement of their liberty and personal freedom. People everywhere began to lose faith in politicians, institutions, each other: a fertile ground for conflict escalation.

The core of our training is to rebuild trust at grassroots level and strengthen collaboration by educating peacebuilders and impact leaders. Education is the most effective way to support people to re-find their purpose and mission and become a peacebuilder, create new pathways, make an impact and work towards peace through cross-border and multidisciplinary cooperation. Community building is an important stepping stone for integrating peacebuilding in communities and societies.

We believe an important driving and shaping force of peace is values and norms systems and individuals holding those values and norms. They shape people, define communities and form the pillars on which societies are built. Norms and values underpin decisions and behaviour and are the building blocks of all our efforts to achieve peace. Somehow we have come to accept violence as a means to resolve conflicts. We see it as a legitimate way to intervene by retaliating violence with aggression. Violence always starts with people. It sets in motion a whole chain of reactions if we do not intervene as quickly as possible. To break the cycle of violence which can eventually lead to aggression and retaliation, we must know how to act.

Making the effort to invest in avoiding war, requires us to break the cycle of violence as soon as possible. When conflicts erupt – small or big – values and norms help us to work on gaining trust, reconcile differences, act with empathy and integrity to create bridges that prevent conflict escalation, and negotiate and mediate solutions with respect for all parties involved.

Our approach to education is inside-out starting with individual change, for which we have developed a model. It starts with understanding ourselves and the world around us, to then move on to redefine the system and start shaping the future, a new future. War has cost us too much. It is time to invest in peace massively, and create what we call an Economy of Peace.

Working on Peace and Peacebuilding

War and mass atrocities are part of human history. Never have there been more conflicts in the world since WWII according to the United Nations. There is a growing realization (see Heider, 2017)3 that legacies of mass violence and human rights violation can, if left unaddressed, fuel more future conflicts. It is a never ending cycle. Incidents of mass violence are traumatic events that result in the breakdown of societal structures and networks of relationships essential for a functioning community. In present-day wars, much of this violence is perpetuated in the immediate communal environment, where communities, neighbours and friends are pitted against each other (Fletcher and Weinstein, 2002)4.

War affects the lives of people across generations and the hate and feelings of revenge are passed on, by legitimizing violence as a means to resolve conflicts between nations, communities or people. By making war personal, we start to feel responsible for its effects and think what we can do to prevent it.

The ruins of war: a personal Macedonian history

War runs through my life like a river. The once crystal clear and beautiful river Vardar, where I played as a kid, and which I have seen change over the course of my life into a river of debris, waste, pollution and death. It stands symbol for the history of my country Macedonia. There is a bridge near my home, which runs over the river Vardar. Many people commit suicide here – they jump into the river and the current takes them away. Yes, this is a brutal story. War is brutal. It has marked my life, that of my home Macedonia and caused the death of countless people. We have become the collateral damage of centuries of wars and conflicts, which have robbed us of our heritage, independence and autonomy.

My name is Lazar Stamkov and I am a son of Macedonia. I purposefully say Macedonia because the selling out of my home, my country and that of fellow Macedonians by changing its name, forms the last drop in the vast ocean of war and betrayal that runs through my life. Let me tell you my story. We never speak about the ordinary people like me in war. We see it as something abstract, far away, where civilians, who are the primary victims, are never spoken of.

Macedonia is a pearl in the Balkan region – the region of the mountains. My family lived through the devastating effects of WWI, WWII and the War of Yugoslavia in 1991. In a period of 77 years three generations are trying to build their lives and that of their offspring on the ruins of war. To tell my story, we have to understand the history of Macedonia. Let’s start before WWI. We were part of the Ottoman Empire for more than 500 years. Till the Ilinden uprising in Krusev in 1903. 300 guerrilla’s attacked the barracks of the Turks and put them on fire. The town was declared a republic and a government was established with a ‘civilian’ commission with members from all communities. The Ottoman troops retaliated with ferocity. In four days the town was gutted. Thousands civilians were killed, and raped, 119 villages were burnt to the ground, 8400 houses were destroyed, 50.000 people were forced to flee to the mountains. This is a defining moment in our history. While this uprising has been picked up by politicians and misused to serve their agenda, the truth is best summarized by H.N. Brailsford: ‘the reality behind the whole muddle of racial conflicts … is the disregarded figure of the Macedonian peasant, harried, exploited, enslaved, careless of national programs, and anxious only for a day when he may keep his warm sheepskin coat upon his back, give his daughter in marriage without dishonour, and eat in peace the bread of his own unceasing labour’ (Glenny, 1999, p.205)5. This uprising preceded by many others, marks the beginning of our dream to be free.

I was born in Bitola. My father, who was born in 1939 just before WWII, studied music in Belgrade. My mother and father came from Stojakovo, a village near the constructed border with Greece, where I grew up. I grew up with the stories of war. Let me tell you about Costa who lived in my village, who fought with the Bulgarians during WWI and survived. He had terrible nightmares and shared his stories with us children who listened and were terrified by his account. Try to imagine – this was a farmer, an ordinary man thrown into a war he hardly understood. He had never seen a weapons, bombs and was forced to fight. He never recovered. He said: ‘We fought for our country and one day we woke up to hear we had lost the war.’

Another story is about the battle of Kala Tepe near lake Doijran in 1917. More than 11.000 people were killed in one day. From the side of the Bulgarian troops also a Macedonian General Vasov had a very frightening strategy to send out stories that people were cannibals who were eating people alive. The French and English artillery bombed 24 hours non-stop. More than 20.000 tons of grenades were thrown on that hill. Even the ants were massacred. In total 80.000 Macedonians died or were evacuated due to sickness.

In Stojakovo every house was damaged by the soldiers. They had to build bunkers, and they just took our houses. The people from my village were mobilized to Kumanovo for 3 years. Just thrown into some lager. In that period, the Bulgarians stole everything they found on their way. During WWII they came back and continued with stealing. They knew people were peaceful, they would not rebel. One of the victims was my grandfather. Before WWII he had a store where he made cheese and yoghurt. When the Bulgarians came, they confiscated everything. After one year he decided to ask for permission to work. He took this permission under the condition that he had to give half of the profit to the Bulgarians. He was successful, but after the end of the war, the partisans and the communists said he was a spy and again he was attacked.

With the communist movement after WWII, many illiterate and incapable people were involved without any respect for others. Nationalization started and land was confiscated. The father of my mother was twice taken to prison and was forced to sign an agreement that he had to work for the communist party. They took all his money so he had no choice.

A period followed where we had a good life. Macedonia in that time had more than 75 factories which produced for the export. We had many agricultural collectives. People made a huge effort and started to deposit their savings in bank accounts. Everything that was built after WWII was built with money of the people. With the war in Yugoslavia in 1991 all the money was collected and devaluated – the Yugoslavian dinar lost all its value. The father of a close friend 42 years drove as a truck driver. He transported this throughout Yugoslavia. He did not get any salary for his work, it was put on the bank. From one day to the other he only had money worth 13 packets of cigarettes. My father had 80 million dinars. Next day we had 80 dinars. The whole nation immediately fell into poverty. Many people had taken credits and had bought houses, land, tractors – any type of capital that had value. Those people survived somehow. Many people fell ill, died of heart attacks. This is the beginning of the downward spiral Macedonia went into. In 1991 we had a referendum for Macedonia to become an independent country. We were one of the few countries that according to the Badinter Arbitration Committee fulfilled the criteria to become independent – it didn’t happen.

It was not only the dissolution of Yugoslavia which was a disaster. All foreign money was frozen too. When Yugoslavia was dissolved the political party became owner of the capital of the state. They started to sell everything to 10% of the real price. This continued for 15 years. In the last 2 years more than 370.000 people have moved away from Macedonia. This is the young generation, the highly educated, they hold our future. Without them there is no future, no hope. We are also run over by refugees. In 2015 I saw them walking along the tracks, thousands of people passing through.

Macedonia is full of clear springs – so it is a large provider of water. We have mines for gold and copper. We can produce food for millions of Europeans. There is little industry and pristine and untouched nature. Our curse may well be that we are rich in resources and especially gold. We are not a big country but we have vast amounts of gold scattered throughout our nation. Large mining corporations are like scavengers: they go for their prey. And we are the unfortunate they put their eyes on, to never let go. We are poor because of the rich soil we live on.

Peace can be defined in a variety of ways, depending on the context in which it is used. Its meaning also varies from person to person. Peace is more important and flexible than just the absence of war and violence. Peacebuilding is a multidisciplinary strategy for creating, supporting and sustaining relationships among individuals locally, regionally and internationally in the long run. Every individual in society tries to build peace in his or her own way. Individuals may not be familiar with the expression ‘peacebuilding’ and may not know that their work is contributing towards a peaceful society.

Our training is meant to raise awareness about the importance of peace. It all starts with us in our view. Violence is the result of people not knowing how to resolve conflicts in a peaceful way. Preventing war requires a fundamental shift in our mindset. According to Scylla Elworthy (2017)6, top down approaches which dominate in peacebuilding and peace-making often fail because of the mindsets of fear, aggression, competition and greed we have come to accept. If we are to overcome this, we must start at the grassroots.

A liberal approach to peacebuilding has dominated for three decades. Now, new approaches are emerging. One such approach is the adaptive peacebuilding approach, which builds on the knowledge of complex systems, resilience and local ownership. In this approach, peacebuilders work closely with communities affected by conflict and engage actively in structured processes to sustain peace.

Complex systems behave like living systems. It is the people and the interaction between them that determine the health and sustainability of the system. Processes and procedures are in service of people’s needs. This means that, rather than being rigid, structures are flexible and adaptable to circumstances. The system changes and reconfigures, as it were, to create a space geared at addressing the needs in a specific context or situation.

The model for peacebuilding that we developed, is illustrated in the image below.

At the core of peace are: trust, respect, integrity and empathy. It starts with building a personal fundament which equips people with thorough self-awareness and the skills, knowledge and understanding what to do when faced with a conflict. Do we choose for generosity, empathy and respect as a means to reconcile differences, or for anger, revenge and retaliation? In the former case it all starts with regaining and building trust. According to Scylla Elworthy, trust is a source of power and security, without which there can be no peace. If we want a safe world, we must start with trust. A strategy for peace seeks to prevent armed conflicts and does so by early intervention before it can escalate. The key to successful prevention according to her is a combination of:

Trust

Respect

Speed of reaction

Understanding how power works

Understanding power is a key ingredient in this respect. There is a distinction between ‘power over’ and ‘inner power’. Power over dominates and is about hierarchy, authority, rule, physical strength. ‘Inner power’ comes from self-mastery, observing and controlling the ego and deepening integrity through a regular practice of reflection and meditation. This not only creates the ability to transform conflicts, listen to others and develop trust, it also ignites creative innovation and the energy to resolve local problems. Outer change cannot happen without inner change.

It is important to nip the cycle of violence in the bud. The cycle starts with the political response to a perceived threat, followed by the demonisation of an ‘enemy’ and ultimately the call to action and aggression (Elworthy, 2017, p.46).

If no preventive measures are taken, anger leads to the drive for retaliation, revenge and escalation of atrocities.

The cycle of violence can be broken by offering physical, political and psychological security. If there is no strategy for maintaining peace at a national level, civil war may erupt.

Inspired by Elworthy we developed our own approach to peacebuilding which forms the heart of our training. It goes through different phases of the peacebuilding process:

Becoming a peacebuilder and impact leader

Building a community, value proposition and action plan for peace: we call this a Pitch for Peace

Implementing the Pitch for Peace and advocating for peace

The framework we use to describe the process an individual goes through to become a peacebuilder and impact leader, is Theory U from Otto Scharmer7 (2016), which we have adapted and also integrated in our model. See the image below.

It starts with an inner journey, a process of DISCOVERY, to build strength, confidence, awareness and understanding about the self. During the process, we rediscover important aspects about ourselves, that we had perhaps forgotten. What is our mindset? What are our thoughts? How do we look at the world? What colours our perceptions? What are important principles, values and norms which guide our decisions and behaviour?

This journey of self-discovery teaches us that we must let go of some habits and attitudes that hinder us. When we are fully centred, grounded, we can begin to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding required to become a peacebuilder and make an impact.

We can start to DREAM. When we dream we also start to involve the outside world in our thoughts and our intention to act. Above all, we start to connect with the people around us and form a tribe or group with whom we want to work.

‘To grow means to always be more an ‘us’ instead of an ‘I’. In reality it means understanding that the ‘I’ only exists if it recognizes itself in the ‘us’. To grow the relationships with people we meet, we need to grow in our relationships with ourselves’

Falco Tarrasacco

The dreams are the way we create pathways to the future, together with the community to which we belong. To that end, we need to decide what we want to change individually, and what change is needed in the system to which we are part of. This is the DESIGN phase. This phase is especially geared at the Sustainable Development Goals 10 and 16. How can we make that happen?

To do that we take an entrepreneurial attitude to peace: we make a business of peace. This is the phase where we prepare to crystallize solutions to problems and DELIVER. In other words, we attach value to peace, the value that corresponds to it. Nowadays peacebuilding is not seen as part of the value creation process in which a society is involved. It belongs to the public domain, but is not measured in terms of value.

Currently, value is measured for the most part in financial terms: profit, growth, wealth, return on investment. It relates power to wealth. We measure value in a broader sense: in terms of wellbeing, social impact, care for the needy and environmental sustainability. We take a holistic perspective and take all dimensions and aspects that affect our lives into consideration.

Ultimately the aim of the training is to also influence policy.

In summary the outcome of the training is aimed at:

Developing skills, gathering knowledge and acquiring instruments to become an impact leader and a peacebuilder.

Gathering a ‘tribe’ to create an impact and a community for peace and prosperity, with whom participants want to work on reaching Sustainable Development Goals.

Developing a value proposition and Pitch for Peace for the problem(s) in a community.

Drawing up an advocacy plan which can be used to have a dialogue with stakeholders and policy makers at local, regional, national and global level, to really start to work on building, sustaining and making peace the fundament upon which society rests.

Train the Trainers Model

With our training, participants who follow the training, also become trainers. Every trainer needs two different sets of skills and knowledge.

First, they must know what subject they’re teaching (content-related expertise).

Second, they must know how to convey this information to the student (instruction expertise).

People who follow the training – staff from NGOs or individuals involved in community work – become trainers and transfer the content, so the people in their community go through the same learning experience they went through prior to using the training and handbook themselves as teachers and instructors. They are equipped with instruments to be able to transfer this knowledge within their community. Different modes of instruction are used, and the training can be offered both online and offline.

The Train the Trainer Model consists of 4 different steps:

1. Goal of a trainer

2. Practical Information

3. Educational approach

4. The program

Goal of the Trainer

Trainers are instructors, but also coaches and mentors.

Trainers support students by:

Giving them the knowledge, skills and attitude they need to become impact leaders and peacebuilders through the program.

Mentoring them for the duration of the training to complete the assignments, which are part of the program.

Mentoring participants after the training to support them to implement their plan.

Coaching them individually on request on their personally defined goals, set goals and objectives for their community and in developing an advocacy plan.

Practical information

Trainings ideally should consist of a number of 10 to 15 participants.

Trainings are offered online via ZOOM or other platform. They can also be offered offline if this is possible.

Participants receive a Zoom invitation before each online lecture. By clicking on the link or using the ID and Password in the email, they can access the online classroom.

Each lecture is facilitated by a group of at least two trainers.

The duration of each session is minimum 2 hours.

Sessions are recorded on the prior consent of the participants.

The participants can buy the handbook containing all the material and a detailed outline on how to roll out the training locally in their community.

The participants become members of the International Community of Impact Leaders and Peacebuilders.

Participants can receive one-on-one mentoring and coaching sessions during the training.

Participants work on action plans for the SD goals they are focussing on; they present these at the end of the program in a ‘Pitch for Peace’.

Educational Approach

The educational approach is framed within a number of theories described in the second part of this handbook.

The basis of the training is Otto Scharmer’s Theory U (2016)8, which has been adapted and aligned with a 4-stage method of appreciative inquiry and our a peacebuilding model developed by us. These stages are: discover, dream, design and deliver.

The training consists of 10 sessions (1 introductory meeting and 9 Masterclasses) that take participants through the phases of Theory U and the different stages of peacebuilding.

Included in the program is the so-called SD challenge. The SD Challenge is part of the ‘Pitch for Peace’ that will be presented to a jury of experts. Participants need to convince the jury that their execution of the plan will fix the problem identified in their community

Every Pitch will be evaluated for it’s uniqueness, effectiveness, contribution to SDG 10 or 16 targets and indicators and value for target group and stakeholders in their community.

The Program

NGOs can use the same timeline, or alternatively can decide to make the training longer or shorter. They can be mentored in this process. The timeline also includes an introductory meeting and a masterclass on implementation.

Timetable (Example)

Peacebuilding stages

Theory U

Masterclasses

Introductory meeting to get to know each other and explain the outline of the Train the Trainer

I – UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF AND YOUR PLACE IN THE WORLD

Becoming a Peacebuilder

DISCOVER Downloading, Seeing and Sensing

1,2 and 3

DREAM Letting go, Presencing and Letting Come

4

II – CREATING INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE PATHWAYS

Building a community, value proposition for peace and developing skills for peace

DESIGN Crystallizing, Prototyping

5, 6 and 7

III – SHAPING THE FUTURE

Implementing your plan and advocating for peace

DELIVER Performing

8, 9