Interest Groups
The Environmental Peacebuilding Association® (EnPAx®) has a variety of active Interest Groups to engage researchers, practitioners, decision makers, and students alike.
EnPAx® Interest Groups are spaces for collaborative work, networking, mentoring, and sharing knowledge and expertise. Although specific activities will vary depending on the Interest Group, activities may include, among other activities, organizing panels, webinars, and other events; preparing technical papers and other publications; selecting and maintaining a group of experts that can be contacted for information by individuals and groups outside the Association; and organizing session(s) at the Association's global conferences (e.g., the First International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding and Second International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding). Interest Groups are encouraged to focus on assessing what we know about particular issues within that topic, taking stock of the evidence base, and developing an agenda for further research and action.
Following are the Interest Groups that exist and are under development. Please keep an eye on this space for new Interest Groups as they are developed. To express interest in participating in a particular Interest Group or to suggest possible Interest Groups, please email association@environmentalpeacebuilding.org.
Participation in Interest Groups is open to all members of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association®. Read more about membership here.
Africa
The Africa Interest Group of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association® assembles academics, practitioners, and decision makers interested in local, national, regional, or international issues concerning the relationship between natural resources, the environment, conflict, and peacebuilding in Africa. In alignment with the Association's purpose, the Africa Interest Group is multidisciplinary and nonpolitical in nature. Its operations are limited to educational and scientific goals as defined in the Mission, Purpose, and Actions.
Big Data and Frontier Technologies
The Big Data and Frontier Technologies Interest Group seeks to collect and share information on how to use big data and frontier technologies for environmental peacebuilding. With the UN Environment Programme, it is in the process of producing a flagship report on frontier technologies for environmental peacebuilding, to be released in 2022.
Climate Change, Disasters, and Resilience
Building on a nascent body of evidence on the links between natural-hazard related disasters and dynamics of peace and conflict, the Interest Group on Disasters and Resilience aims to examine normative constructions of disasters to better understand the potential contributions, and limitations, of Disaster Risk Reduction to achieving and sustaining peace. Through the lens of environmental peacebuilding, this innovative Interest Group will bring together physical and social scientists, policymakers, and others from diverse disciplinary fields related to disasters, climate, and conflict and peace.
Education
The Mission of the Education Interest Group of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association® is to provide resources for educators, practitioners, and students to advance their knowledge and knowledge-based practice in environmental peacebuilding. Environmental peacebuilding education includes one or more of the following:
Forest
The Forest Interest Group provides a venue for sharing knowledge and expertise and offer networking and mentoring opportunities related to the interplay between forest resources and environmental peacebuilding. A session on Forests, Conflict, and Peace was held at the First International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding in October 2019. Other activities of the interest group may include organizing panels, webinars, and other events; participating in events organized by other organizations; preparing technical, policy and white papers and other publications; selecting and maintaining a database of experts that can be contacted for information by individuals and groups outside the Association; and generally promoting learning and understanding of the role forest resources play in conflict and environmental peacebuilding.
Gender
The Gender Interest Group of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association® brings together individuals and institutions committed to ensuring that intersectional gender perspectives are fully incorporated into environmental peacebuilding approaches. The Gender Interest Group is committed to the principles of inclusion and diversity and to addressing the broad range of gendered experiences and identities in its work and deliberations.
Law
The Law Interest Group seeks to enhance understanding of legal elements and implications of environmental peacebuilding, and to advance research and learning on this topic. This Interest Group explores ways of protecting the environment before, during, and after armed conflicts. In addition, the Group explores emerging approaches to international law on environmental peacebuilding, for example how international law related to gender, climate change, environmental security, indigenous peoples, investment, trade etc. can shape environmental peacebuilding. Finally, the Group follows closely the work that is developing on this topic in different fora, including the International Law Commission, the International Law Association and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
The Interest Group is open to all Association members. The Chairs of the MENA Interest Group are Suleiman Halasah and Peter Schwartzstein.
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)
The M&E Interest Group seeks to enhance learning and capacity to assess and document the results of environmental peacebuilding, and to track progress, unintended consequences, and learning for the future. This Interest Group will explore the reasons for undertaking monitoring and evaluation, the primary approaches that currently exist (and their strengths and limitations), and emerging and proposed alternative approaches to monitoring and evaluation that might address the limitations of existing approaches.
Transitional Justice
The Transitional Justice Interest Group (TJ-IG) is a platform that assembles diverse professionals around the pillars of truth telling, justice, reparations, guarantees of non-recurrence, memory, and memorialization within transitional justice practice. In alignment with the Association's purpose, the Transitional Justice Interest Group is multidisciplinary and nonpolitical in nature. Its operations encompass policy analysis, educational, and scientific goals as defined in the mission, purpose, and actions of the Association. Additionally, the Transitional Justice Interest Group aims to bridge the disconnect between environmental and ecological issues in the transitional justice field and mobilize practitioners to support these efforts. The Interest Group aims to facilitate exchanges of information and dialogue; stimulate research and awareness; and promote capacity building on matters of the environment, ecosystems, and biodiversity in transitional justice. The Interest Group envisions that transitional justice practice, processes, and institutions will progressively, through continuous evidence-based research, consider and incorporate the thematic area of the environment, ecosystems, and their biodiversity within the larger transitional justice framework, planning, and implementation processes.
Water
The Interest Group on Water seeks to enhance the multidisciplinary knowledge, research, and practice on the use of water as an incentive for peace. Areas of interest include the protection of water infrastructure, migration, and rivers’ rights. Members will discuss and examine the different scales of cooperation on shared water resources ranging from the global and regional to basin and local levels. The strengths and weaknesses of different models for water management and protection will be considered with a view toward preventing and resolving water disputes, and to helping countries manage water to recover after conflict.
Young Professionals
The Young Professionals Interest Group provides a peer-led platform aiming to support young professionals entering or currently working in the field of environmental peacebuilding. Through connecting an active and diverse network of peers with broad academic and career interests in environmental peacebuilding, this group will create access to opportunities ranging from mentorship, knowledge sharing, networking, and engagement at the EnPAx annual conference, while facilitating learning exchange through webinars and discussion forums tailored to the groups’ diverse interests.