Co-ordinating Peace Research and Education in Australia: A Report from the Canberra Forum of 2 May, 2008

Abstract

Peace research and education is a growing field in Australia, as indeed is the case internationally. The UNESCO World Directory of Peace Research and Training Institutions (2000) lists some 580 related institutes and centres throughout the world. In Australia, there has been a similar growth in the number of peace centres and peace courses. Yet, despite this and for a range of complex reasons, the teaching of peace within Australian universities remains largely uncoordinated, with no agreed curriculum or methodology. On 2 May 2008, Australian university teachers involved in peace and conflict studies met in Canberra to engage in a forum to discuss how better to organize and co-ordinate university-level peace education in Australia. The forum was organized by the Centre for Peace Studies at the University of New England, under the auspices of a research project entitled "The Professionalization of Peace Education through Wiki Networking and Innovative Teaching Methods" (2007), and funded by the Australian Council for Learning and Teaching. The forum raised a number of issues, which might be of interest to a wider context outside of Australia.