The European Green Belt – an initiative for peace? Call for good practices!

How do projects organised within the European Green Belt initiative contribute to fostering unlikely relationships across borders and divisions? In what ways can ecological activities support peace?

 

These questions are asked by Sophia Stanger (Austrian Centre for Peace), an environmental peacebuilding professional and writer. She is looking for good practice examples for a book project.

The Austrian Centre for Peace is based in Vienna and has been showing ways to peace for over 40 years. It offers a neutral platform for dialogue and mediation, not only Austrian- but worldwide and has been awarded the United Nations title „Peace Messenger“ and the UNESCO „Peace Education Prize“ for its efforts. Its work is themed around capacity development, conflict resolution and research.

The European Green Belt, with its unique history, is an example of how a former war zone from the time of the Cold War transformed into Europe's longest green network, which does not only help to protect habitats and species, but that also brings people together across borders, to jointly work for the same vision of protecting and restoring the European Green Belt. 

How do projects organised within the European Green Belt initiative contribute to fostering unlikely relationships across borders? In what ways can ecological activities and joint conservation projects support peace? 

You are welcome to reach out with examples that:

• Foster social cohesion and environmental protection at the same time
• Help to overcome conflicts in communities through environmental cooperation
• Are particularly conflict-sensitive or participatory

Do you want to join the conversation and share examples from your experience? To make your work visible to a broader audience? Then please reach out to Sophia! (stanger(at)ac4p.at)