Creating Safer Space has supported a new Partnership for Peace Education and Research between Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) and Universitas Syiah Kuala in Indonesia.

USK has launched a Master’s programme in Peace and Development, creating new pathways for academic inquiry and practitioner-oriented learning in peacebuilding and conflict transformation. In support of the programme’s establishment, NP facilitated ongoing learning exchanges between USK scholars and Creating Safer Space (CSS) researchers, including Prof Rachel Julian, Prof Berit Bliesemann de Guevara, and Prof Chantana Banpasirichote Wungaeo. NP also provided substantive input into the programme’s curriculum development and academic planning. 

The November 2025 agreement signed by NP and USK outlines a framework for long-term cooperation in areas of shared interest, including: 

• Staff and student exchanges to support cooperative education and mutual learning. 
• Joint academic initiatives addressing peacebuilding, humanitarian action, social justice and development, conflict resolution, human rights, and civilian protection. 
• Collaborative research, including joint academic meetings, workshops, and publications. 
• Knowledge sharing, through the exchange of information, experiences, and academic materials to advance shared objectives. 

Read more about this exciting new partnership in the NP Press Release and the USK Press Release.

The Social Process of Guarantees (Proceso Social de Garantías – PSG) Annual Assembly 2025 was attended by social leaders from eight subregions of the department of Antioquia, representing 40 social, peasant and indigenous organisations.

During the PSG assembly, a space was set aside to share the main findings derived from the systematisation of self-protection actions implemented by the Bajo Cauca organisations that participated in the Creating Safer Space research project “The Social Process of Guarantees of Antioquia, Colombia, an experience of unarmed civil protection with indigenous and peasant communities of Bajo Cauca“, led by Corporación Jurídica Libertad (CJL).

The purpose of this exercise was to highlight the relevance of community self-protection measures and strategies in the face of the risks present in the territories. It also sought to encourage other organisations attending the assembly to reflect on the relevance of creating or strengthening their own collective communityself-protection strategies, using the experience documented and analysed within the framework of the project as a reference.

This space proved to be fundamental, as it enabled the incorporation of two specific strategies into the PSG’s work plan:

1. Advocacy directed at departmental authorities:
   • The request was made that the departmental authorities participating in the Territorial Guarantees Committee strengthen the community self-protection measures implemented by some PSG organisations. Among the prioritised actions is the continued demand for the adaptation and improvement of humanitarian shelters as mechanisms for collective protection in situations of risk.
2. Strengthening training and awareness-raising processes:
   • The PSG will continue to provide training opportunities in collective and community protection. In this context, it recognises the importance of managing resources aimed at supporting material measures for raising awareness and marking territory, such as the installation of white flags, fences with humanitarian symbols, and the provision of T-shirts that identify the organisations’ civil commitment to peace and the defence of human rights. Similarly, there is a need to continue raising the profile of humanitarian shelters as a strategy for protection and community recognition.

In November 2025, MasterPeace Cali participated in the Build Peace 2025 Conference in Barcelona, organised by Build Up and the International Catalan Institute for Peace (ICIP). As part of the conference programme, the team facilitated the workshop “Civilian Nonviolent Self-Protection in Latin American Communities: Alternatives to Militarised Security”, in which they shared practices and lessons related to Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) learned from community initiatives in Colombia.

In particular, the MasterPeace Cali team disseminated insights from the project “Development of civil protection capacities in women displaced by the armed conflict through popular communication and Community Legal Empowerment” supported by the Creating Safer Space network. During the workshop, they presented the participatory action research carried out in Cali with the grassroots organisation Semillero de Paz Llano Verde, highlighting community-based practices of Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) developed by women victims of armed conflict in Colombia. As part of the session, they also shared the transmedia booklet produced by the community organisation as a key resource emerging from the project, which documents protection strategies, community communication practices, and lessons learned from the research process.

Approximately 100 conference participants (including researchers, practitioners, and representatives of peacebuilding organizations from different regions) attended the session. The activity contributed to increasing the international visibility of community-led protection initiatives in Colombia and generated discussion among participants on how similar nonviolent civilian protection approaches could be adapted to other conflict-affected contexts. Participants expressed interest in the methodologies used and in the role of grassroots organisations in developing alternatives to militarised security.

Martha Okumu and Elias Opongo have published a new book titled “Human Rights Advocacy against Police Brutality: Assessing the Use and Impact of Unarmed Civilian Protection“.

Excerpt from the Summary:

“The study is guided by six research questions addressing: (1) the relationship between police brutality and human rights protection in Kenya; (2) the artivist strategies applied by youth and CSOs; (3) the relative effectiveness of different artivist approaches in raising awareness and reducing police brutality; (4) the role of digital technologies in protecting communities in Nairobi and Kisumu; (5) the operational, institutional, and security challenges encountered by CSOs and artists; and (6) opportunities for improving existing artivist strategies.

[…]

The findings indicate that artivist strategies play a significant role in raising public awareness, stimulating dialogue, and mobilising communities around issues of police brutality. Digital platforms, particularly social media, were found to be critical in amplifying marginalised voices and documenting human rights violations. However, the sustainability and effectiveness of these interventions are constrained by limited financial and institutional resources, societal resistance, and heightened
safety risks faced by artists and activists.

The study contributes to emerging scholarship on Unarmed Civilian Protection in non-war civic contexts, highlighting artivism as a culturally grounded and practically relevant strategy for human rights advocacy and police accountability. It also bridges scholarly analysis with the lived practice of civil society organisations, recognising CSOs as both practitioners and producers of knowledge in advancing nonviolent protection strategies. This intersection underscores the value of practice-informed research in shaping more contextually grounded and actionable approaches to human rights advocacy. It recommends fostering sustained police–community dialogue, investing in safe spaces and protection mechanisms, strengthening the capacities of youth and artists, and enhancing multi-stakeholder collaboration to improve the effectiveness and durability of nonviolent protection strategies. Overall, the findings provide actionable insights for policymakers, practitioners, and civil society actors seeking to promote human rights and reduce police brutality in Kenya.

The podcast “Vienna Dialogues: Coffee and IR” has published a new podcast episode about the research of the Creating Safer Space network. In the episode, host Markus Pollak is joined by Professor Xymena Kurowska to speak with network lead Professor Berit Bliesemann de Guevara about unarmed community self-protection amidst violent conflict.

The conversation opens with a discussion of conducting international relations field research in conflict and war-affected settings. At the core of the episode is the “Creating Safer Space” project. It explores questions of (unarmed) civilian protection, as well as the project’s broader contributions to debates in peace and conflict research and beyond academia.

“Vienna Dialogues: Coffee and IR” is a student-run podcast hosted at Central European University (CEU). 

You can listen to the podcast on Spotify.

The project “Water conflicts, violations and forms of self-protection: A multi-case study in Eastern Antioquia, Colombia” has published a new article (in Spanish) titled “Hydrosocial Resistances and Environmental Subjectivity: Defense of Water in San Luis, Eastern Antioquia” in the journal El Ágora USB. The article is co-authored by project team members Denisse Roca-Servat, Juan David Arias-Henao, Jessica Restrepo Gallego, Luis Evelio Giraldo García and Dubán Quinchía González.

Abstract: The socio-environmental movement in the municipality of San Luis, in eastern Antioquia, Colombia, has faced a historical process of defending its waters and territories, which has been transformed as territorial conflicts have been reconfigured. This article explores three periods of hydro-social resistance, by highlighting the environmental subjectivity that emerges in each. This piece of research employs a participatory action research methodology, and it stems from a multi-case study in eastern Antioquia. As part of the findings, the emergence of a new environmental subjectivity is observed as a response to territorial dispossession, expressed through art and pedagogy.

The Spanish-language article can be downloaded here.

On the occasion of Geneva Peace Week 2025, Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) officially launched UCP Academy, an online learning platform designed to equip individuals and organisations with the skills to practise Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP)—a proven, practical approach to protecting civilians, preventing violence, and fostering peace. 

UCP Academy has been developed in collaboration with the Creating Safer Space network and will soon feature a course on “Unarmed Community Self-Protection” based on CSS and related research (watch this space!).

The Academy will feature: 

• Opportunities for collaboration and mentorship across regions and sectors. 
• Resources to support community-led initiatives for the protection of civilians. 
• Foundational and advanced UCP courses with field-tested strategies. 

Developed by Creating Safer Space, UCP Academy also hosts the revamped UCP Knowledge Database, the biggest public repository on Unarmed Civilian Protection, community self-protection and related topics. It includes academic research publications, working papers, NGO documents, films, music, and more and is now available on a user-friendly, open access platform. 

UCP Academy and Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) also announced the launch of the Changemakers Programme—a global initiative designed to scale up civilian-led initiatives while equipping participants with the tools to integrate Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) strategies into their work. Changemakers is open to individuals worldwide, including practitioners, researchers, artists, and policy advocates committed to advancing civilian-led protection initiatives. Selected participants will receive training, mentorship, and opportunities to collaborate on real-world projects that enhance the ability of communities to protect themselves and others amid violent conflict and displacement. Applications are now open!

Read NP’s press release about the launch here.