Convened by Manuel Barroso Sevillano and Stef Vandeginste, Institute of Development Policy, University of Antwerp

The world is currently facing multiple (g)local crises that convey different and contradictory images of peace and security, rather than the optimistic expectations of the early 1990s, in the time of the United Nations Secretary-General Boutros-Boutros Ghali and his post-Cold War Agenda for Peace (UN 1992). The belief in the continuous global spreading of liberal democracy, peaceful conflict resolution, and developmental progress - as foretold by some authors (Fukuyama, 1992) - has been gradually diluted over the last decades, following the ambiguous achievements, shortcomings and contradictions of the liberal peace agenda. More recently, after the COVID-19 pandemic, the remnants of those beliefs have been abruptly replaced by concerns about geopolitical instability, autocratic rise, and an increase in political violence targeting civilians worldwide. 

This makes a comprehensive analysis and understanding of the different peace initiatives taking place today in rural and urban environments of the Global South (and North) critical for research and policymaking on sustainable development. This Seed Panel aims to contribute to advancing situated knowledge around contemporary challenges and opportunities for sustainable peacebuilding through the lens of different (g)local and (r)urban initiatives taking place today within a more fragmented international landscape, as recently acknowledged in the New Agenda for Peace (UN 2023). 

This panel aims to provide a platform for presenting work in progress, early-stage research, and innovative ideas related to comparative and case study research on current initiatives for sustainable peace and development.