The programs of the National Peace Academy comprise and address four interdependent, synthesizing, and catalytic cornerstones of peace learning and action:
• Peace Education
• Peace Research
• Peace Practice
• Peace Policy
Peace Education
Peace education is concerned with facilitating learning for and about peace. Peace education facilitates learning around the following important questions: What skills, knowledge and practices can we utilize to handle our own internal conflicts, our emotions, and live with integrity? How might we manage our interpersonal conflicts and differences nonviolently? What are some of the ways we might engage in decision-making processes and inquire into the institutions and mechanisms we establish for assuring peace and justice? What are some of the ways we can facilitate healthy and sustainable relationships with Earth and the ecosystems we belong to?
The peace research agenda of the National Peace Academy is oriented toward the development of peace knowledge that informs peacebuilding. The National Peace Academy’s research agenda will explore the ethics of peace, peace psychology, the history of peace, the politics of peace, the economics of peace, culture and sociology, peaceable/nonviolent strategies and peacebuilding practices, education and pedagogy, and the presence of positive peace in the world and how to observe and measure it.
Peace Practice
Peace practice is the application of the principles and process of peace. The National Peace Academy supports the use and development of multiple approaches and practices toward nurturing internal or personal peace; peace between and among individuals; peace in and amongst cultures; peace in and amongst communities; peace with Earth and its ecosystems; active and engaged citizenship leading toward political peace; and the development of peaceful institutions responsive to the concerns and aspirations of the human communities they serve.
Peace Policy
Some transformation of existing institutions - including government, politics, education, and business - is necessary for a peace culture to emerge. The National Peace Academy supports the development and strategic implementation of peace-related policies with and across business, communities, education, government, the justice system, and politics.
The programs of the National Peace Academy comprise and address four interdependent, synthesizing, and catalytic cornerstones of peace learning and action: