This event is being held 29-30 June 2015 at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education.

 

The two-day international seminar and workshop explores education as a critical but overlooked aspect of the Colombian peace process. Education figures only marginally on the agenda of the Colombian peace negotiation process—an omission that is deeply disturbing. Similarly, while Colombian educational reforms are taking place, they remain disconnected from the peace negotiation table in Cuba. Historically, Colombian education policy and curricula have not been framed through a conflict sensitive approach. Generally speaking Colombia’s violent reality has been either denied or exacerbated in the classroom. Through both omission and commission, Colombia’s approach to education has contributed significantly to the ongoing conflict.

 

In this context, the event focusses on addressing the question, “How can the education sector contribute to sustainable peace in post-agreement Colombia?”

 

The event has two main objectives:

 

1. To facilitate an opening up of conversation about the relationships between education, conflict, and peace in Colombia that will carry on beyond the two-day event, engaging both Colombia-based and UK-based actors.

 

2. To generate a policy briefing document for circulation among key governmental, non-governmental, national and international stakeholders that are involved in Colombia’s peace and education reform processes.

 

The event is co-organized by Rodeemos el Dialogo (ReD), the Cambridge Peace and Education Research Group (CPERG), and Educate for Dialogue society at the Institute of Education, University College London. ReD is a transnational civil society network of people based in both the UK and Colombia who are committed to supporting the Colombian peace process and a culture of dialogue. The Cambridge Peace and Education Research Group is a network of students and faculty who collaborate on research into the intersections of conflict, peace, and education, both in the UK and internationally. UCL’s Educate for Dialogue student society is a network of students committed to the use of education as a tool to promote mutual understanding.