Researchers Mateo Valderrama Arboleda and Hernán Darío Pineda Gómez of the CSS project “Water conflicts, violations and forms of self-protection” have published a new book chapter (in Spanish) entitled “Hydroelectric licensing, territorial functionality and social violations”, based on a case study in eastern Antioquia, Colombia. The book that contains the chapter can be accessed online HERE.

The chapter provides insights into the purpose of territorial reorganisation and the type of ‘major programme’ or ‘model’ of society that these transition processes are embedded in. It also explores how they may lead to other types of conflict, such as socio-environmental conflict, in the long term.

In their analysis of hydroelectric extractivism from the perspective of territorial functionality and its violations, the authors reflect on how these types of interventions affect the spatialities historically produced by rural communities in the countryside. They observe that the construction of this type of project is based on an approach in which the locations where hydroelectric infrastructure is installed are conceived as empty or adaptable spaces.

This perspective is present in both the regulatory framework authorising environmental licensing and the political action driving construction. It results in the negation of rural communities’ life projects and territorial ties as implementation focuses on ‘the monetisation of rivers as resources to be exploited’, leading to various types of violations — physical, social, economic, environmental and legal.

In the face of hydroelectric extractivism that threatens the aspirations of local communities, social movements are emerging to defend their autonomy and promote alternative uses of the territory, such as agriculture or community-based tourism.

Reference

Valderrama Arboleda, Mateo, and Hernán Darío Pineda Gómez, Licenciamientos hidroeléctricos, funcionalidad territorial y vulneraciones sociales: Estudio multicaso en el Oriente antioqueño (Colombia), in: Anhelos y derivas de los procesos de paz en Nicaragua, El Salvador y Colombia, ed. by Hélène Roux and Luis Antonio Ramírez Zuluaga, pp. 211-246  (Buenos Aires: CLACSO, 2026).

In March 2026, Dr Gillian McKay (Leeds Beckett University) submitted evidence to an inquiry by the UK Parliament’s International Development Committee into “FCDO’s approach to higher education and research partnerships”, which she drew from insights of her impact tracing study into the Creating Safer Space research network.

The following is the summery section of the submitted evidence. The full submission can be accessed HERE.

Summary

This submission responds to the Committee’s questions: What have been the benefits of investment in higher education and research partnerships for the UK and international partners? What further benefits can be harnessed? It draws on emergent findings from an ongoing impact evaluation of a UKRI-funded international research collaboration, Creating Safer Space (CSS). CSS brings together researchers and practitioners across 13 countries, seeking to advance understanding and operationalisation of unarmed civilian protection (UCP) and community self-protection (CSP) in 11 low- and middle- income countries affected by conflict. Using CSS as a case study, the submission highlights the benefits of higher education and research partnerships for five actor groups, namely: academic, community, practice, institutional, and public. The findings are presented for each actor group in turn.

First, CSS has enriched the academic evidence base, enhanced methodological capacities, and improved coherence of UCP/CSP as a field of research and practice. Second, it has enabled communities to recognise, validate, and strengthen existing protection practices, and to apply them more intentionally, collectively, and confidently. Third, it has supported the translation of community knowledge into actionable frameworks, developed practitioner capacity and legitimacy, and enabled the integration and diffusion of UCP/CSP approaches across organisations and initiatives. Fourth, it has facilitated incremental incorporation of UCP/CSP principles into policy discussions, training systems, and advisory processes. Finally, CSS has enhanced the visibility and legitimacy of nonviolent approaches to protection and created an enabling environment for their uptake. Three considerations emerge for His Majesty’s Government (HMG): (i) invest in long-term, equitable research partnerships, (ii) strengthen impact pathways from research to policy and practice, and (iii) recognise and resource the full value of research partnerships.

Access the full submission HERE.

In March 2026, team members of the project “Exploring unarmed civilian self-protection in Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict” organised an online panel and practitioner dialogue for Africa Week at King’s College London under the title “Operationalizing Agency Through Unarmed Civilian Protection: Community-Led Pathways to Safety and Peace”, attended by c.100 online participants.

The event examined Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) as a concrete framework through which agency is operationalized in contexts of conflict and insecurity. Drawing on the African case of Cameroon and wider insights, it explored how communities, local civil society actors, and international partners mobilise nonviolent strategies, social legitimacy, and relational resources to prevent violence, protect civilians, and contribute to sustainable peace, without reliance on armed force.

The discussion reflected on the human, social, and institutional foundations that enable community-led protection. Panelists considered how local actors exercise protective agency, the normative and organisational conditions that allow UCP initiatives to function and scale, and the ideational dimensions of agency, particularly local understandings of security, protection, and legitimacy. The dialogue also addressed the opportunities and challenges of integrating community-based protection into broader peace and security architectures.

Watch a recording of the event HERE.

The project team of “Ritualising Protection” has released its three-part documentary series “The Nasa Indigenous People of Colombia in the Midst of Violence”, available on YouTube (Spanish with English subtitles). In three chapters – Pervivir (Survive), Proteger (Protect), and Resistir (Resist) – the series explores the spiritual and social nonviolent community self-protection practices of the Nasa Indigenous People in Northern Cauca, one of Colombia’s most violent regions. 

Pervivir: Ana, a Nasa Indigenous leader, introduces a group of researchers to the cultural and spiritual practices of her people, who have shown remarkable resilience as they struggle for survival amid Colombia’s armed conflict. 

Proteger: Members of the Nasa Indigenous community in Northern Cauca share how their spiritual and cultural practices, along with traditional institutions, serve as vital mechanisms for community self-protection.

Resistir: A group of Nasa Indigenous leaders, in an asynchronous back and forth with current and former Colombian civil servants, articulates the need for better protection of the Nasa people in the midst of the armed conflict.

Perivivir was selected for and shown at three international films festivals: WOW Wales One World Film Festival 2024; Festival Internacional de Cinema Ambiental de Garopaba 2024; and Festival Internacional de Cine Ambiental y Derechos Humanos 2025. The documentary series and all unused film materials were handed over to the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca (ACIN), and the documentary was shared with the Office of the Attorney General of Colombia.

Access the videos HERE.

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.