Environmental Education as Peacebuilding: Integrating the WEFE Nexus in High Mountain Ecosystems

Linda Atuesta, Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible (Colombia)

Environmental conflicts in high mountain ecosystems are increasingly shaped by competing demands for water, energy production, food security, and biodiversity conservation. Colombian páramos, which provide water for millions of people, face mounting pressures from agricultural expansion, energy interests, and socio-economic inequalities. These tensions highlight the need for educational approaches that move beyond environmental awareness toward active environmental peacebuilding. This paper presents the Educational WEFE-Nexus for Sustainability and Peace Model (EWSP), a design-based and participatory educational framework developed to address socio-ecological conflicts through integrative nexus thinking. The model combines Environmental Education and Peace Education principles within the Water–Energy–Food–Ecosystems (WEFE) framework to foster systemic understanding and conflict transformation competencies. The study employs a Design-Based Research (DBR) methodology integrated with Participatory Action Research. A pilot implementation is conducted through an international simulation (SIMONU), where students represent different countries deliberating on governance strategies for the protection of Colombian páramos. The simulation serves as a deliberative peacebuilding space in which participants negotiate trade-offs between ecological protection, energy development, and food production while applying nexus-based analysis. Preliminary findings from the design phase indicate that integrating nexus governance into educational simulations enhances systemic reasoning, strengthens dialogue capacities, and promotes cooperative problem-solving approaches. The proposed model contributes to environmental peacebuilding scholarship by demonstrating how formal education can function as a laboratory for conflict transformation and multi-scalar environmental governance. This research offers a replicable educational strategy for regions experiencing socio-ecological tensions, positioning education as a proactive mechanism for environmental peacebuilding.