The Peace Research Community Europe network has come to life

The world currently faces a number of significant challenges to peace and security. Violent conflict and related victims doubled over the last decade. The Global Peace Index, trying to quantify peace on a global level, deteriorated for the ninth consecutive year. The war in Ukraine and the new levels of violence in the Israel-Paestine conflict raise fundamental questions on how to prevent violent conflict from erupting. Moreover, climate change and polarization also pose grave challenges to peace and security, even in more ‘peaceful’ contexts. Building peace, reducing insecurity and preventing violent conflict demands us to fundamentally rethink peace. That is why The Peace Research Community Europe network has come to life that expands and strengthens a network of peace and conflict research centres and researchers from across Europe. Slovenia is represented in the network’s management committee by the director of the Peace Institute, Dr. Iztok Šori. The main challenge for the PEACE Action is to improve our understanding of the current challenges to peace and security on the European continent and beyond, thereby inspiring new research, policy and practice. The focus areas will be on Peace & Climate, Feminist Peace, Peace & Emerging Technologies, Local Peace and a new Peace and Security Architecture in Europe. In addition, the network will support a new generation of peace and conflict researchers in developing their careers. Funded by the COST scheme.