Banner depicting where +250 peacebuilders are shining their light (yellow), nurturing their communities (green), living out their passions (red), seeking greater clarity (blue) and building real peace (purple). Opening Introductions and Closing Rituals at Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI), 2017. This blog post documents the way colour was used as a theme for opening introductions and closing rituals at SPI, an annual summer peacebuilding programme. The Centre for Justice a

Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) is an annual summer programme run by the Centre of Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) at Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia, USA. The programme brings peacebuilders and community activists from all around the world together for six weeks of intense training and learning. 2017 saw over 300 participants attend, and I was privileged enough to be part of the staff team this year. CJP encourages experiential and holistic teaching and learnin

There is growing interest and awareness around the role technology plays in conflict, in peacebuilding and in conflict management/transformation. Especially the role of social media. A significant body of work has been carried out trying to understand and respond to online hate speech in South Sudan. Most especially the relationship between online hate narratives and physical acts of violence on the ground. #DefyHateNow is a community peacebuilding, training and conflict reco