Cities of Peace's peace education program offers a variety of customizable frameworks in peacebuilding and leadership for students, artists, educators and the public. This program integrates the use of art to celebrate civil society through multi-disciplinary and inter-art curriculum and inquiry: history, religion, governance, archeology, science and literature. Importantly, our peace education program provides participants with tools to aid in developing their active sense of global responsibility, conflict resolution, and community building. These programs are suitable for individuals and groups, including populations at risk, marginalized, in exile as well as host populations.
Educational courses and workshops include:
- Creation of new works of art produced through collaborative participation of artists and/or students, from concept through design to execution
- Guest lectures and special workshops on the art, history and techniques of gold leaf illumination
- Symposia on “art as an instrument for global understanding”; panelists drawn from international and local communities
- Internship and mentoring for students and artists • Peace education through the visual arts: curriculum development and application for educators and community leaders
Education focused goals of Cities of Peace and EFIAF are to establish: Cities of Peace traveling exhibitions; a Cities of Peace Illumination Center; global satellite Cities of Peace Illumination Centers; and educational training for economically disadvantaged, underrepresented youth in conflict zones. To achieve this, EFIAF provides innovative educational programs that include: hands-on, collaborative mentoring and training of international interns working with scholars and artists; interdisciplinary research and creative application (history; visual, literary, musical arts; math; science); and understanding and appreciation of world cities, diverse cultural traditions, religions, ethnicities, and governance.
Young people, including war orphans, undereducated youth and girls, experience learning that builds confidence, leadership, analytical ability, and ethical awareness. International educators, artists and interns acquire skills to establish new global Cities of Peace Illumination Centers in communities suffering poverty and strife.
To learn more about the Cities of Peace approach to peace education, please visit the curriculum page and learn more about the experiences of artist-interns in our mentorship program.
To advance peace education, Cities of Peace and EFIAF have worked with: Prince’s School of Traditional Art, London; Harvard’s Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture; Gazi Husrev Beg, Sarajevo; Cathedral of St. John the Divine, NY; Claro Learning, UK; United Nations; Global Campaign for Peace Education, Hague Appeal; Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, Sweden; Helplanka, Sri Lanka.