Seeds of Resilience for Peace and Stability

What is a Seed?

We need sources of inspiration that can provide positive examples of transformative actions that can lead to new pathways towards more positive futures (more sustainable, more peaceful). Many of these positive examples come from the local scale and are already being implemented through small and marginal initiatives, nurturing the potential for larger scale transformative change. They can be new ways of thinking or doing, a social movement, an institution, a new technology. We call them “seeds.”

In the context of this project, a seed is a local or regional initiative already being implemented but not yet mainstream/dominant, that contributes to community resilience and has the potential to trigger transformative change towards peacebuilding.

Here, we are attempting to understand how seeds of resilience contribute to sustainable peace in fragile contexts. In particular, this initiative explores how these seeds may trigger transformative pathways for peace building.

We have developed a framework to show that a seed transformative potential when it has one or more of the following attributes:

• Supports learning and system understanding
• Fosters relationships and collaborations
• Is enabled by resources and support
• Aligns with the context
• Enables changes in power structures and norms

Explore the framework by clicking on the attributes

Examples of seeds to come!

This collaboration includes a range of GRP academic and non-academic partners that work in the nexus of resilience and peace building. Current partners include the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Near East Foundation, CARE, Mercy Corps, International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Institute of Development Studies (IDS), and Stockholm Resilience Centre.

If your institution is working with resilience in the context of conflict prevention and peace building and you want to get involved or know more about this project please contact: Cibele Queiroz.