Past event: ‘Drawing Connections’: Youth Peacebuilding, Scotland, and the World
Organisers: Rebecca Sutton, Jaremey McMullin & Christine Bell
Rebecca Sutton (University of Glasgow), Jaremey McMullin (University of St. Andrews), and Christine Bell(University of Edinburgh) convened an event on youth peacebuilding in Scotland and the world with support from the new Scottish Council on Global Affairs (SCGA).
Held on 28 April 2022 in the Bute Room of the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, they welcomed representatives from the Scottish Youth Parliament, the Centre for Good Relations, YouthLink Scotland, Action on Sectarianism, Sense Over Sectarianism, and Beyond Borders Scotland, alongside researchers and academic colleagues from the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and St. Andrews.
“As the new Scottish Council on Global Affairs officially launches, the global Youth, Peace and Security agenda (under UN Security Council Resolution 2250) is also gaining momentum. Academics, applied researchers, and practitioners active in the youth peacebuilding space want to make sure that real youth with real knowledge of peace and justice issues play an active role in advancing the new Council’s agenda.”
The event featured keynote addresses, small-group workshops, and broader discussions; participants were asked to complete a brief survey to identify impressions of the gathering and next steps for action within and beyond Scotland. These findings will be shared with the SCGA in order to support the development of a youth-led and youth-focused component of the new Council.
In addition to the survey’s findings, other possible next steps are as follows:
- Scope the possibilities of forging trans-national linkages between youth in Scotland and young activists in countries around the world working at the forefront of peacebuilding issues like climate justice, sustainable livelihood, and preventing violence against youth in all the forms it takes (police brutality, violence against LGBT youth, and gender-based violence).
- Conduct a listening tour for academics, advocates, and practitioners to learn directly from young people engaged in community, justice, equality, climate, and other activism around Scotland, and to learn from young people the key challenges and obstacles that get in the way of achieving their activist goals.
- Facilitate engagement and mobility initiatives between Scottish youth and other youth peacebuilders (e.g. in Northern Ireland) to share lessons learned in youth peacebuilding and engagement with the global Youth, Peace and Security Agenda.
The full report (a seven-page PDF) can be seen below and, if you’d like a download copy, click the button below.
