From February 17 to 21, Aurora Alliance hosted its first international conference on the vital role of higher education in global peacebuilding. Organised by Karazin University Peace Education Hub, led by Palacky University and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the conference resulted from collaboration with Karazin Kharkiv University, the University of Innsbruck, and the Berghof Foundation, a key player in peace education.
Globally, higher education institutions face challenges from conflicts, human rights abuses, and restrictions on academic freedom. Many are pressured to respond to calls for solidarity from students and faculty. There is also growing societal distrust in science, just 5 years before the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals deadline. The 2022 Sustainable Development Goals Report showed concerning progress, indicating that interconnected crises threaten the Agenda and humanity’s survival.
Dr Selma Porbić, UP's Aurora Institutional coordinator and Lead of the Karazin Peace Education Hub in Aurora, noted that Aurora Universities organized this conference to foster discussions on the global situation and enhance collaborative peacebuilding. While the SDGs are integrated into many educational and research programs, the challenge remains how to influence societies and genuinely address the escalating global threats.
She further emphasised the necessity of the conference “The Role of Higher Education in Peacebuilding”, as demonstrated by the overwhelming response and attendance of over 300 participants: “Of the 200 papers submitted, we welcomed 147 speakers from more than 20 countries: international experts, scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and students from Aurora universities, alongside our longstanding partners and many new and potential collaborators.”
The programme featured 10 keynote speakers, 3 plenary sessions, 22 academic panels, 8 roundtables, 18 workshops, and numerous exhibitions and films. Keynote speakers included Madeleine Rees (Women's International League), Beatrix Austin (Berghof Foundation), Frank Geary (Scholars at Risk Europe), Oleksandra Matviichuk (Center for Civil Liberties Ukraine), Ian S. Manzi (Global Children's Issues), Marko Lehti (Tampere Peace Research Institute), Savo Heleta (South African Peacebuilding scholar), and Norbert Koppensteiner (Kroc Institute).
The conference topics encompassed peace agendas in the most urgent humanitarian contexts, including Ukraine, Palestine, Sudan, and the DRC, and the realities of education following global atrocities. Participants examined critical lessons learned and strategies for managing collective trauma and long-term societal recovery from contemporary and historical perspectives.
In our ongoing support of Karazin University, a key institution on the front lines in Ukraine, 18 scholars were granted Aurora scholarships to attend the conference. Additionally, Aurora Universities assisted Rector Tetyana Kaganovska and her team of Vice Rectors in participating in the conference.
“Reflecting on the conference, we are pleased that this conference has connected our efforts to establish the Peace Education Hub and support Karazin University with a diverse community of practitioners and policy experts in humanitarian, development, and peace studies. This is vital for our future support to partners in Ukraine and Aurora universities, focusing on academic collaborations while also engaging all stakeholders beyond academia,” said Selma Porobić.
Check out more on the official conference website and watch LinkedIn video on Aurora's official account.
