Can you write a fairy tale for peace?

Inspired by her extensive research into traditional fairy tales and storytelling for peace, and by her own creation of a fairy tale for peace, Visualising Peace student Kim Wahnke has written a letter to other storytellers, inviting them to experiment with peace storytelling and offering some tips: Dear writer, Do you want to write for peace? Do you … Read more

The Little Girl, the Flowers and the Witch 

A fairy tale for peace – by Kim Wahnke This fairy tale has been inspired by Kim’s extensive research into traditional fairy tales and storytelling for peace, which you can read about through the links on this page. Below the English version is a German translation, and you will also find some reflective questions to help you respond to … Read more

Tolkien’s Art of Peace

Albert Suriñach I Campos, April 2024 J.R.R.Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings”, “The Hobbit”, “The Silmarillion” and his other many tales and poems from his fictional world of Middle-Earth have garnered world-wide acclaim in the 20th and 21th century, cementing him as one of the fathers of modern fantasy. However, despite the many militaristic and … Read more

Peace Education in Scotland

‘Scotland’s national curriculum, the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), represented a radical departure from Scotland’s previous prescriptive curriculum. While it has had great success in many areas, it has also been met with staunch criticism (Stobart, 2021). Regarding this criticism, and the increasing importance and relevance of Education for Peace, I believe it is worth considering a review of the Scottish … Read more

(Re)Visualising Children and Adultism in Peace Education

Jakub Lewandowski, April 2024 The Visualising Peace Project has previously included a significant focus on peace education, examining the roles of students and teachers in fostering expanded and critical pedagogies of peace in the classroom. Building on this work, this paper aims to examine how narratives and understandings of childhood and youth agency undermine the … Read more

Peace through Arms

‘The friendly, fun-looking teddy bear in the picture below is relatively innocuous on its own; but the fact that we can pick a Peace Pal off the shelf in the Pentagon gift shop raises broader questions about how we entwine military power and peace.’ Jenny Oberholtzer, Pentagon Peace Pals As team member Jenny Oberholzter observes … Read more

Peace in Cyber Space

We spend increasing amounts of our time using digital tools, navigating virtual worlds and inhabiting cyber space. Policy-makers and researchers are alert to the threats posed by cyberwarfare; as we discussed in our Peace Debates, social media is frequently harnessed to drive both virtual and real conflict; and AI-enabled technologies are revolutionising conventional military tactics … Read more

Love and Care in Peacebuilding

Over the course of our project, we have benefited from the generosity of a host of guest lecturers – including feminist scholar, peacebuilding practitioner and storyteller Dr Roxani Krystalli. Together with her colleague Philipp Schultz, Krystalli is leading a research project called ‘A different kind of war story: centering love and care in peace and … Read more