Educating for peace: the role of adult learning in rebuilding communities and preventing conflict

Kempf, Isabell (author)

In an era of rising global insecurity and social fragmentation, adult learning and education (ALE) plays a critical role in peace-building and community resilience. This essay examines the transformative potential of ALE in conflict and post-conflict contexts, highlighting its contribution to societal transformation, community learning centres, inclusive programmes for marginalised populations, and the development of future visions. Drawing on United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) frameworks – including the 2023 Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development and the 2022 Marrakech Framework for Action – it underscores how lifelong learning can foster critical thinking, empathy, solidarity, and democratic participation. By enabling individuals and communities to navigate adversity, rebuild trust, and engage in constructive dialogue, ALE functions as a catalyst for sustainable peace, social inclusion, and collective action. Investment in adult education is both a human right and a societal imperative allowing learners to acquire important peacebuilding competencies such as empathy, solidarity, and environmental stewardship.

• Language: English
• Keywords: adult learning, peace-building, transformative education, lifelong learning, UNESCO
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.25 - Other Component Parts
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2026
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 11-17
• Numbering: Letn. 32, št. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-182194
• UDC: 374.74
• ISSN on article: 1318-5160
• DOI: 10.4312/as/246674
• COBISS.SI-ID: 276719363
• Publication date in RUL: 29.04.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Andragoška spoznanja
• Shortened title: AS. Andrag. spozn.
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 1318-5160
• COBISS.SI-ID: 45586176

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian

Abstract

V dobi naraščajoče globalne negotovosti in družbene razdrobljenosti imata učenje in izobraževanje odraslih ključno vlogo pri grajenju miru in odpornosti skupnosti. Avtorica v tem eseju preučuje transformativni potencial učenja in izobraževanja odraslih v konfliktnih in postkonfliktnih kontekstih, pri čemer poudarja njun prispevek k družbeni preobrazbi, učnim centrom skupnosti, vključujočim programom za marginalizirane skupine prebivalstva in razvoju vizij za prihodnost. Na podlagi okvirov Organizacije Združenih narodov za izobraževanje, znanost in kulturo (UNESCO) – vključno s Priporočilom o izobraževanju za mir, človekove pravice in trajnostni razvoj iz leta 2023 ter Marakeškim akcijskim okvirom iz leta 2022 – v eseju postavlja v ospredje vprašanje, kako lahko vseživljenjsko učenje spodbuja kritično mišljenje, empatijo, solidarnost in demokratično sodelovanje. Učenje in izobraževanje odraslih delujeta kot katalizator za trajnostni mir, socialno vključenost in kolektivno delovanje, saj posameznikom in skupnostim omogočata, da se spopadejo s stisko, ponovno vzpostavijo zaupanje in se vključijo v konstruktiven dialog. Vlaganje v izobraževanje odraslih je človekova pravica in družbena nujnost, saj omogoča pridobivanje pomembnih kompetenc za gradnjo miru, kot so empatija, solidarnost in skrb za okolje.

• Keywords: gradnja miru, transformativno izobraževanje, vseživljenjsko učenje, učenje odraslih