Digital Peacebuilding

Using digital tools to strengthen peacebuilding approaches

Digital Peacebuilding
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Informationen zum Seminar

Trainerin/Trainer
Björn Eser

Björn Eser

Rolle
Trainer für Do No Harm, RPP, PM&E and Digital Peacebuilding
Zeitraum
-
Seminar-Typ
Online-Seminar
Seminar-Sprache
Englisch
Frühbuchungspreis
450.00€
Preis
500.00€

What: Digital Peacebuilding – Using digital tools to strengthen peacebuilding approaches

When: Take-off session on 19 September 2022 from 12:00 to 14:00 CEST

Online Live Sessions from 26 September to 7 November 2022, every Monday from 12:00 to 14:00 CEST/CET

Where: Online

Language: English

Price: 500 €

Early Bird: 450 € when booking before 29 August 2022

Additional Costs: None.

Registration Deadline is: 12 September 2022

There are still a few places available in the seminar. If you are interested, please register using the registration form here

Who can register for this course?

The course is designed for people working in the field of peacebuilding and conflict transformation or related fields who want to integrate digital tools and methods into their projects and explore their potential and risks, especially in light of shrinking spaces for civil society. The course is limited to 16 participants.

Content

Recent developments in digital technologies are increasingly impacting on conflicts globally. Digital tools play an evolving role in violent conflicts and their strategic and tactical use poses a challenge to peace, justice, and social cohesion. At the same time developments in digital technologies offer peacebuilders and conflict transformation practitioners new and exciting ways to address these very dynamics, overcome these threats, and shift the power to more locally owned peacebuilding agendas.

This seminar will assess how digital technologies impact conflicts and how peacebuilders can respond to these new challenges. Building on the initial analysis of key threats when digital technologies are weaponized, participants will explore the immense potential that these technologies bring to the peacebuilding field. From improved, more inclusive, and timely conflict analysis processes to capacity development in times of lockdown and shrinking spaces for civil society; from building online communities of peacebuilders to participatory documentation of human rights abuses; from intergenerational work around land and resource conflicts to mass mobilization and social justice campaigning - the possibilities are endless. The course will look at concrete examples where digital technologies have been used for conflict transformation and peacebuilding work - often developed in the Global South, with limited resources, and according to the needs. Exploring these concrete examples more in depth will allow participants to draw out key lessons for their own work. By the end of the seminar, each participant will be able to design a simple piece of digital peacebuilding and share it with the others for feedback and comparative learning.

Objectives

By the end of the seven weeks online course participants will…

  • ...have a sound understanding why digital peacebuilding is an essential component of any conflict transformation and peacebuilding approach in the early 21st century.
  • ...have explored the potential digital peacebuilding concepts offer in an environment of shrinking spaces for constructive civil society engagement, online misinformation, and Covid19 lockdowns.
  • ...have been introduced to concrete examples of what digital peacebuilding can look like and learned about their pros and cons.
  • ...have explored simple first steps to move conflict transformation and peacebuilding online and know about free/cost-effective resources that can help them to get started.
  • …have developed their own concrete intervention using digital technologies.

Key concepts

  • Digital approaches in conflict analysis and early warning
  • Digital approaches in conflict transformation, training, and campaign work
  • Live online, remote online, and hybrid formats to meet various needs

Workload

Methodology:

The seminar will offer a balanced mix of input by the facilitator, individual reflections, group work and discussions, learning from real-life case studies combined with the sharing of experiences. It will be delivered via a variety of web-based platforms; i.e. Big Blue Button for the live sessions, ILIAS for hosting learning material and audio-visual material, Miro or a similar platform for group work, and worksheets that accompany the course. Participants will be introduced to a variety of simple and often free online resources and programs that can be used for digital peacebuilding. The course will culminate in the development of concrete digital peacebuilding interventions by the participants (either individually or in small groups).

To participate in this online seminar participants should have a good internet connection (1 Mbit down/upload or better). A headset is highly recommended.

Deliverables:

  • Active engagement with the key readings and other teaching material provided, often needed in preparation for our live sessions.
  • Active participation throughout the course; i.e. in the plenary discussion, in break-out sessions, during assignments, and to bring their questions and interests actively into the process.
  • Willingness to leave the comfort zone and to think outside the box.
  • Develop and present own intervention using new insights and digital technologies.

After a successful participation, participants receive a certificate.

Total expected weekly hours: 3.5 to 5 hours/week

Please register before 12 September 2022.