Peacebuilding approach
We adopt the UN definition of positive peace as the complex process of prevention of the “outbreak, continuation, escalation and recurrence of violent conflict and addressing the root causes, assisting parties to conflict to end hostilities, ensuring a national reconciliation, and moving towards recovery, reconstruction and development”.
In regions that have experienced so many wars and conflicts, re-socializing and integrating communities are challenging. Fear of new conflicts, dehumanization of others and distrust often prevent communities from cooperating in building their countries. So, we perceive the trust building and rehumanization processes as an essential in peace building. After all, can we make any changes without the willingness to take risks, believing in each other’s capacity to avoid harm and violence?
This process requires a relational transformation on the affective and cognitive levels and so we work on nurturing safe spaces where individuals and communities with divergent views interact respectfully through two complementary forms of mediation: one that is a conventional track and another one that is grassroots focused on social cohesion. This is where FDCD plays a vital role. We focus extensively on the relational and transformative dimensions of change, which require time and address perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors. The relational aspect extends beyond connections within a single community or between different communities; it also encompasses the dynamics between institutions and communities.
We don’t measure our success by the implementation of peace treaties, important as they are. But celebrate small victories in the community, such as forming a sports team, joining a choir, or discussing a movie together. These initiatives create real opportunities for people to observe, learn, and engage in positive interactions with former enemies, creating a lasting impact.
Safe spaces as guiding principle
We fiercely believe that communication affects decision making and behaviors. Central to our work is the creation of safe spaces guided by the principle of discursive civility, developed by Stephanie Pukallus (Communicative Peacebuilding, 2021). This principle sees peace as a cooperative effort where respectful communication drives and fosters better behavior, allowing former adversaries to recognize each other as co-citizens. It is based on the following:
Perspective Taking
We practice active listening, encouraging people to be open to understand differing viewpoints and to be motivated to reconsider their own views based on the possibility and potentiality that others might have a valid point.
Emotional Expression
We encourage parties to share their feelings (even the negative ones: such as anger) while promoting self-control to avoid hate. Self-regulation is necessary as it fosters hope, an important political feeling for building futures.
Reasonableness
We foster an open and respectful space where participants can explore and express the nuances of their beliefs, encouraging thoughtful reflection on the reasons behind their viewpoints and the ways in which they arrive at their conclusions.
We facilitate dialogues among high-level state actors while also including marginalized and hard-to-reach groups and other stakeholders. Achieving peace agreements is a lengthy process, so we prioritize pre-negotiation meetings to address internal conflicts before moving on to negotiations between conflicting parties. Some issues may require additional discussions to resolve independently.
Negotiations can be challenging and demand a willingness from both sides to take risks and trust one another. This delicate process requires a skilled mediator with a deep understanding of identity, power dynamics, trauma, history, and effective communication skills, such as empathy and conflict management. The mediator’s personality and ability to foster a trusting environment are crucial for successful engagement, which is why we collaborate with the best mediators available.
Social cohesion
Social cohesion is about building trust across all divides—both vertically, between individuals and authority figures, and horizontally, among communities themselves. It starts with creating a sense of community, which fosters emotional bonds across divides and encourages collective action. However, emotional bonds alone are not enough. They must be accompanied by what Procentese & Gatti (2019b) term responsible togetherness.
Often, social cohesion is misunderstood as avoiding accountability or sweeping debates under the rug for the sake of harmony, solidarity and preservation of good relationships. In reality, bonds are the first step—breaking down dehumanization, fostering trust within and between groups, and creating a sense of belonging that allows for open and constructive dissent. Responsible togetherness builds on this foundation, emphasizing that belonging and support do not mean homogeneity but rather a shared responsibility for one another and the community’s well-being.
This is how we perceive and work towards achieving social cohesion: through fostering relationships of trust grounded in authenticity, freedom of expression, and a commitment to justice. We believe that nurturing emotional connections and positive participation can definitely lay the groundwork for transforming roles, decision-making and responsibilities, ensuring that every individual contributes to a thriving, inclusive society.