The Power of Education in Peacebuilding
Tue, Feb 03
|Webinar via Zoom
A webinar bringing together speakers from Canada, Türkiye, and Ghana to explore global perspectives on peace education and community-building.
Time & Location
Feb 03, 2026, 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Webinar via Zoom
About the event
Peace Education brings together global and local peacebuilders for an engaging conversation on the transformative role of education in fostering safer, more just communities. Moderated by Susan Hartley, PhD, this panel explores how peace education is practiced across diverse contexts, featuring perspectives from Ghana, Türkiye, Uganda, Bolivia, and Canada.
Panelists include: Wisdom Addo (PeaceJam & West Africa Centre for Peace Foundation), Daniel Carlsen-Pol , Mehmet Ates (Servas Peace Schools), and Carole Ste-Laurent (CryPeace). Together, they will discuss community-driven approaches, youth engagement, and the power of learning as a tool for peacebuilding at home and around the world.
This session strongly aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals by emphasizing the interconnectedness of education, peace, and community resilience. In particular, it advances SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) by highlighting how inclusive, community-rooted education can reduce violence, strengthen social cohesion, and build global solidarity. Through cross-regional dialogue, the event reinforces the importance of shared learning as a pathway to a more peaceful and sustainable world.
About our Panelists
Wisdom Addo
Wisdom Addo is a distinguished Rotary Peace Fellow and serves as the Executive Director at the West Africa Centre for Peace Foundation (WACPF), a non-governmental organization committed to nurturing the youth in schools and communities across Ghana. Through WACPF, Wisdom facilitates education on human rights, leadership training, and peacebuilding initiatives. Additionally, he assumes the role of Africa Director for the PeaceJam Foundation based in the USA. His endeavors are dedicated to instilling peace education among the youth, emphasizing the development of capacities, skills, values, and knowledge essential for fostering a global and sustainable peace culture. Wisdom has been instrumental in the establishment of various PeaceJam affiliates, including those in Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Liberia through the Gbowee Peace Foundation for Africa, and has provided support for the PeaceJam affiliate in South Africa.
With a profound background in peace and conflict studies, Wisdom's expertise encompasses conflict resolution, human rights, gender dynamics, mediation, negotiation, and peacebuilding. He has spearheaded numerous local and international workshops focusing on conflict prevention and management, gaining invaluable insights into the universal challenges surrounding conflict resolution across diverse cultures. His educational journey includes studies in mediation and other methods to foster democratic dialogue at the Central European University in Budapest, peace and conflict analysis at The Network University in the Netherlands. Furthermore, he holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Association of Computer Professionals (ACP) in the United Kingdom.
Wisdom's commitment to professional development led him to obtain a certificate in peace and conflict studies from the Rotary Peace Center at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. He also holds a certificate in International Civilian Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding from the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution. Currently, Wisdom has earned a Masters in Peace Studies from the Rotary Peace Center at the International Christian University in Japan.
Mehmet Ateş
Mehmet Ateş was born in a mud-brick house in Antakya. Growing up with his 11 siblings in a rural setting, he learned survival skills, sharing, and solidarity. Learning world languages is one of his passions, and he is currently learning his sixth language. During his travels, he prefers staying in local people’s homes, and he also hosts people from different parts of the world in his own home.
He is curious about different cultures and enjoys participating in volunteer work. He is an English teacher and is sensitive to issues related to nature and peace. In 2009, he founded the International Servas Peace School for children in Antakya and continues to run it on a voluntary basis. He has also initiated this school in Georgia, Uganda, Argentina, Colombia, and Australia, where it is still ongoing.
He is interested in alternative education practices in Turkey and around the world. He coordinates Erasmus school partnership projects. He completed his master’s degree in International Relations in Germany. Within the Turkish-German Youth Bridge projects, he provides training focused on bringing young people and teachers together and fostering a sense of global citizenship. He also organizes seminars and workshops for teachers in Italy and Spain on Creative and Inclusive Teaching and well-being.
In addition, he works as a volunteer trainer at the Village Teachers Support Network (KODA) and is a member of its advisory board. He enjoys collaborating with people from around the world.
His published works include English coursebooks for Ministry of National Education schools, Keşf-i Antakya, and Traveling by Balloon with My Father (Children’s books) set in Antakya, Mardin, and Macahel. He also makes short films.
Carole St. Laurent
Carole St. Laurent is an international development professional and award-winning blogger whose passion is peace. Inspired by the power of personal stories to nurture peace, she has taken her pen and camera to over 20 countries to collect them. To make a more strategic impact, she launched the “Are We Together?” Peaceful Relationships curriculum for children in 2024, which was certified by Uganda’s National Curriculum Development Centre. Carole travels to Uganda frequently to train trainers how to implement it. She is a Rotary Peace Fellow and lives in Canada.
Learn more at CryPeace.org.
Daniel Carlsen Pol
Daniel Carlsen Pol is a Norwegian-Bolivian lawyer who integrates legal expertise with a deep commitment to social change. Holding a Master’s in Corporate Law and a specialization in CSR, Daniel has spent over a decade fostering a Culture of Peace through education and activism. He is a member of the Empressability network and World Beyond War, where he has led workshops on the relationship between law and peace.
Beyond the classroom, where he teaches at the university level, Daniel is the visionary behind 'Think and Act Differently', a project designed to empower student leaders with peace-building tools. Following its success in Bolivia, he is now taking this initiative to a continental scale