Peace Exploration in Brussels

Between the 3 – 12 May, WCIA and Academi Heddwch sent five students to Brussels to explore the concept of Peace. This Taith-funded trip was an opportunity for young people to work with different stakeholders on the peace building world of Europe and these included the Quakers ,the European Peace Institute European Institute of Peace (eip.org) Welsh Government,  Welsh Higher Education Brussels and especially, the Flemish Peace Institute (Flemish Peace Institute (vlaamsvredesinstituut.eu)

The trip centred around the Flemish Peace Institute’s Reimagining Peace Conference , which was designed to show the sheer breadth of peace research that is out there and included panel discussions, networking opportunities and seminar sessions over two days. Our students learned a lot, telling us:

“I really enjoyed the opportunities to explore various different topics within the conference and discuss these within our group and with other attendees.”

Jacob

“It was a very valuable experience for me to get involved with the many experts from different areas of peace research throughout the conference. I’d like to bring back and share what I learned to make good use of the experiences.”

Haruki

“I’m very honoured to have had the opportunity to visit the Flemish Parliament and attend the Reimagining Peace Conference I was enlightened on several matters, from climate and conflict to next-generation Peace research.  The Flemish Peace Institute provided a variety of interesting sessions along with distinguished individuals. Thus producing an excellent environment for networking. In a number of discussions, I came to understand our modern-day socio-political climate and ways to build peace in these challenging times.” 

Hamza

Slide showing a woman looking through a camera in a forest setting and the title 'Imagining Peace'. There is also text reading Dr Tiffany Fairey, Department of War Studies, Kings College London

WCIA Global Learning Manager, who joined the trip, said:

We’re looking forward to taking so much of what we learned home to our studies and we wanted to thank all of the partners for offering us a great opportunity.

Amber Demetrius, WCIA Global Learning Manager

Read more about Amber’s experience in her blog.

Amber’s Experience