How Global Peacebuilders Think: Policy Dialogue and System Change
Institutional Affiliation
Yale University
Start Date
January 2026
End Date
January 2026
Proposal Type
Presentation
Proposal Format
On-campus
Proposal Description
The perspectives of global peacebuilders are under-examined, yet vital to understanding how global actors frame pathways to peace in conflict settings. Global peacebuilding actors – such as those engaged with United Nations and global peace consortiums - often play a critical role in bridging communication gaps between local, state, and international actors, yet bring their own set of assumptions to identifying the drivers of everyday peace in conflict-affected societies. This calls for innovative ways to clarify how global peacebuilders think about pathways to peace and conflict.
We convened four groups of global peacebuilding experts, engaging them with a visual, participatory approach known as Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping. Each group engaged in focus group discussion and drew a ‘mental map’ representing their consensus on the variables of importance and perceived causal drivers of everyday peace. The four maps represent visual data amenable for thematic analysis and semi-quantitative comparison. Simulation models illustrate divergent perspectives among global experts on what drives conflict and everyday peace. Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping thus enables stakeholder groups to visualize their assumptions, identify points of consensus or disconnect, and compare perspectives.
A lack of conceptual clarity – mapping peace and justice in ways that fail to be clear, cohesive, or even inclusive - is a challenge to policy, research, and programming work. We encourage policy-makers, practitioners, and researchers to conduct cognitive mapping exercises within and across global organizations. We exemplify an innovative way to promote dialogue, clarify understanding of policy-oriented and programmatic goals, and discuss system change for peacebuilding efforts.
How Global Peacebuilders Think: Policy Dialogue and System Change
The perspectives of global peacebuilders are under-examined, yet vital to understanding how global actors frame pathways to peace in conflict settings. Global peacebuilding actors – such as those engaged with United Nations and global peace consortiums - often play a critical role in bridging communication gaps between local, state, and international actors, yet bring their own set of assumptions to identifying the drivers of everyday peace in conflict-affected societies. This calls for innovative ways to clarify how global peacebuilders think about pathways to peace and conflict.
We convened four groups of global peacebuilding experts, engaging them with a visual, participatory approach known as Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping. Each group engaged in focus group discussion and drew a ‘mental map’ representing their consensus on the variables of importance and perceived causal drivers of everyday peace. The four maps represent visual data amenable for thematic analysis and semi-quantitative comparison. Simulation models illustrate divergent perspectives among global experts on what drives conflict and everyday peace. Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping thus enables stakeholder groups to visualize their assumptions, identify points of consensus or disconnect, and compare perspectives.
A lack of conceptual clarity – mapping peace and justice in ways that fail to be clear, cohesive, or even inclusive - is a challenge to policy, research, and programming work. We encourage policy-makers, practitioners, and researchers to conduct cognitive mapping exercises within and across global organizations. We exemplify an innovative way to promote dialogue, clarify understanding of policy-oriented and programmatic goals, and discuss system change for peacebuilding efforts.