Brief Debrief from the Second International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding

Feb 8, 2022 | Environmental Peacebuilding Association and Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

From February 1 to 4, the Environmental Peacebuilding Association® (EnPAx™) and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) convened the Second International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding.  

The conference team is developing a report that will review the event's activities and outcomes in more detail. In the meantime, following is a brief debrief of the conference.  

The conference drew a remarkably large audience to share experiences and lessons on environmental peacebuilding.  More than 2100 people from more than 100 countries attended.  This is an 8-fold increase over the First Conference, which saw 250 participants from 40 countries.  The Second Conference brought a lot more people from more countries into the discussion, including many people who are working adjacent to environmental peacebuilding--on climate change, trade, humanitarian assistance, human rights, and other spheres--and may not frame their efforts as environmental peacebuilding. This was one of the reasons EnPAx had selected Geneva for the Second Conference, as International Geneva hosts many relevant UN agencies and international NGOs working in this space.  Despite the switch to a virtual venue, these institutions remained actively engaged with the event.

The conference reflected a diverse number of voices.  There were more than 385 speakers from 66 countries.  Simultaneous interpretation (English-French-Spanish) for 20 sessions expanded the range of people who could engage in the discussions, both as speakers and as participants.  In many sessions, those who are familiar with the environmental peacebuilding community of practice remarked at the number of new faces in attendance.

The conference was characterized by a sense of community.  The conference team heard from many scholars and practitioners --both young and more experienced--who engaged actively through the networking sessions, chats, and Q&A.  Young people especially shared their excitement at finding a community of like-minded people.  As one measure of the sense of community, the attendance rate (attendees/registrants) for the 77 sessions averaged 51% -- substantially higher than many comparable global conferences.

The conference went beyond the usual discussions to feature the launch and vetting of a number of strategic documents and practical initiatives to improve understanding and practice of environmental peacebuilding.  These include, among others, a White Paper on the Future of Environmental Peacebuilding, Strata, an Environmental Peacebuilding Mentorship Initiative, a Toolkit on Monitoring of Environmental Peacebuilding.  More information on these initiatives is available here. 

The conference went smoothly thanks to an amazing conference team and partners.  There are always hiccups, but the team -- largely provided by IHEID and EnPAx, and supplemented by individuals from Tecnologico de Monterrey and Conservation International -- navigated these bumps with expertise and professionalism.  EnPAx repeatedly heard from participants who appreciated the smooth logistical arrangements.  The United Nations Environment Programme, the United States Institute of Peace, and the Martin Dickinson Charitable Trust provided core funding.  The World Bank and PeaceNexus Foundation provided support to cover interpretation.  The Nelson Talbott Foundation and the PeaceNexus Foundation supported the arts component of the conference.  The Wilson Center provided graphic design and outreach assistance. An anonymous donor provided financial assistance to enable people from developing countries to participate; this was leveraged for a GoFundMe campaign (when the conference went virtual, EnPAx set aside the funds to be used to bring people to the Third Conference). The Environmental Law Institute and the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform provided core staff support, without which we could not have held the conference. And the collaboration between EnPAx and IHEID over almost two years was both productive and enjoyable.

Many participants want to continue the discussion and collaboration.  Some have joined the Environmental Peacebuilding Association, and many have joined the Environmental Peacebuilding Community of Practice.  Others are organizing in smaller groups around geographies and specific environmental peacebuilding objectives. 

Related, the conference focused attention on the role of environmental peacebuilding in sustainable development, four months before Stockholm+50.  There is a lot of excitement about continuing the discussions at Stockholm+50 in four months, and in engaging the broader sustainable development actors to highlight the importance of environmental peacebuilding to sustainable development. 

What else?  If you have any observations you would like to share regarding the conference, please email conference@environmentalpeacebuilding.org.