The Initiative for Peacebuilding
The Initiative for Peacebuilding brings together multidisciplinary research, engagement, and education to advance peacebuilding and conflict prevention in the Indo-Pacific region.
Sustainable peace is one of the essential conditions for global security and wellbeing. One way that peace is pursued is through the prevention and transformation of violent conflicts, and the conditions that give rise to these conflicts. Another is through supporting the attitudes, institutions and structures that can sustain peaceful societies.
With deep regional expertise and capabilities which bridge research and practice, the Initiative for Peacebuilding contributes to peacebuilding and conflict prevention by:
- researching peacebuilding in innovative and regionally grounded programs
- engaging with peacebuilding practice and policy from the standpoint of a university-based initiative
- educating the current and next generation of peacebuilding practitioners and researchers
Peacebuilding Research Programs
Strengthening Diplomacy and Conflict Prevention
This research program focuses on the importance of strengthening diplomacy and aid as critical to peace and security. Even before the pandemic, peacebuilding was under-resourced, a situation which was worsened by severe underfunding of diplomacy, aid, and development. With priorities shifting to COVID-19 responses, local peacebuilders fear further reductions in financial support and attention from international, government and non-government donors. Engaging with researchers from across the humanities and social sciences enables a dynamic exploration of case studies from across the region, where partnerships already exist. Example projects relate to: the current efforts to re-vision diplomatic renewal in foreign policy in Australia; the importance of dialogue and relationship-building in relation to Northeast Asia; and professional development modules that can support enhanced policy and practice in conflict prevention.
Indo-Pacific Peacebuilding Practice Innovations
This research program focuses on innovations in peacebuilding and conflict prevention among key Indo-Pacific case studies (such as Myanmar, Bougainville, and Solomon Islands). The program seeks to examine how peacebuilding organisations, states, and non-state actors are working to adapt their efforts to today’s complex challenges. It provides opportunities for reflection and the strategic re-visioning of peacebuilding efforts, while learning from, sharing, and supporting new opportunities to advance peace. An example project involves collaboration with key First Nation mediators in Australia, and Southeast Asian and Pacific peacebuilding organisations, to examine what is working in relation to conflict transformation efforts. This is achieved through the collaborative investigation of partner experiences in Myanmar, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, and Central and Northern Australia.
Keep up to date with our latest news and events
Current news and events
Event recordings
Myanmar's Future with Her Excellency Daw Zin Mar Aung
Conversation Series with André de Quadros on freedom dreaming, storytelling and reconciliation
Pursuing Conflict Transformation and Peace in Myanmar symposium
Conversation Series with Lesley Pruitt on arts and peacebuilding
Passcode to access: wZiG+4yn
Conversation Series with Tecla da Silva on women mediating peace in Timor Leste
Passcode to access: v8&@bp#s
Past events
Core staff
Professor John Langmore AM
Professor John Langmore initiated the Initiative for Peacebuilding concept. Between 1963 and 1976 he worked in Papua New Guinea as a public servant and academic where he led the preparation of the first national plan. Between 1976 and 1984 he was an economic advisor to the Australian Labor Party and proposed the negotiation of the Accord. In 1984 he was elected as the Member for Fraser in the House of Representatives and was re-elected four times.
One of his achievements there was chairing the committee which planned the adoption of the first comprehensive committee system for the House of Representatives.
Dr Tania Miletic
For the past 20 years Dr Tania Miletic has been engaged in policy-oriented research, peacebuilding practice, teaching post-graduate subjects in peace and conflict studies, and supporting actors engaged in peace processes in the Asia-Pacific region.
Tania is a Faculty member on the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies Applied Conflict Transformation Studies PhD program and a former consultant to CPCS from 2006-2012. She has collaborated with Chinese academics in mainland China for over a decade in research and teaching on contemporary conflicts within China.
Dr Mujib Abid
Dr Mujib Abid is an Afghan-Australian scholar of modern Afghan history, peace studies and political theory. Mujib’s work foregrounds critical traditions that self-locate in the Global South, including postcolonial and decolonial approaches, as well as other traditional and Islamic knowledge perspectives.
Mujib’s PhD thesis interrogated Afghan encounters with colonial modernity, examining modernist power and politics of dissent in Afghanistan. The work is also an attempt at theorising embodied and representational agency against coloniality from the geohistorical location of Afghanistan.
Professor Joseph Lo Bianco
Professor Joseph (Joe) Lo Bianco is professor emeritus in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne. He is a specialist in bilingual education, literacy studies, and conflict mitigation with four decades of work in peacebuilding efforts in various South and Southeast Asian settings, especially Sri Lank, Myanmar, South Thailand and Malaysia. Prof Lo Bianco is series editor of Springer Language Policy books and has published over 40 books and major reports and more than 150 academic papers.
Joe leads the Initiative for Peacebuilding’s research on Peacebuilding and Language, focusing on issues of justice, communication and voice.
Mr Russell Rollason AM
Russell has more than 20 years of experience in civil society organisations, having served 12 years as Executive Director for ACFOA (now the Australian Council for International Development) and four years as the elected Chair of the Geneva based International Council for Voluntary Agencies. He has also worked as a consultant and team leader for two Asian Development Bank technical assistance projects in Asia, and for other NGOs and companies.
In 1998, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, for services to international development and humanitarian aid through the Australian Council for Overseas Aid (ACFOA) and promotion of social justice in Australia.
Ms Laura Raicu
Laura works with the Initiative for Peacebuilding supporting the implementation of the Bougainville Senior Leadership Professional Development Programme 2023-2024.
Laura Raicu is a peacebuilding practitioner with experience supporting local peacebuilding initiatives in Papua New Guinea, in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and Hela Province. Prior to working in PNG, Laura contributed to enhancing settlement outcomes for immigrant and refugee communities in Australia through research, analysis and programme and policy development. Between 2021-2024 Laura led a peacebuilding pilot project and research and analysis of peace and conflict drivers in Hela Province in the Highlands of PNG.
Dr Gillian Howell
Dr Gillian Howell is a Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. Her award-winning research and community-engaged creative practice advance our understanding of the cultural, social, and educational contributions of music-making in places impacted by war and colonial violence. Focused on processes of peacebuilding, dialogue, and the restoration of cultural practices, her highly original research makes theoretical and empirical contributions to the scholarly fields of community music, applied ethnomusicology, peace and conflict studies, and development studies.
Ms Tess Smurthwaite
Tess Smurthwaite is a Research Development Officer in the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Arts, where she works across the Initiative for Peacebuilding and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures.
Tess has qualifications in art history and arts and cultural management, and has previously worked for Melbourne University Publishing, the Mietta Song Competition and the Abbotsford Convent Foundation. She was Fiction Editor and Deputy Editor of Australian literary journal Meanjin from 2016-2024. Tess has edited several Australian novels and short story collections in a freelance capacity, and has worked as a tutor for students of publishing and editing.
Ms Denise Nichols OAM
Denise Nichols has worked in international development, human rights, emergency response and disaster preparedness for over three decades.
She is a humanitarian specialist and practitioner with experience in refugee and post conflict environments in Asia and the Pacific especially in, Thailand, Myanmar, and Solomon Islands. She was deployed to Kosovo in the aftermath of the conflict working on peace building and recovery with women and people with disability. Denise previously worked with Oxfam Australia and other non-government international development organisations as well as AusAID (now DFAT) as an emergency manager, trainer, and as a disaster management advisor.
Mr Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai
Mr Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai is the former Chief Peace Negotiator of the Islamic Republic.
Prior to this role he served as Chief of NDS, Acting Minister of Defense, Head of the Joint Secretariat of High Peace Council, deputy to the Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration Commission DDR). In addition, he was responsible for the disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) and served as Minister of Telecommunication and initiated the public-private partnership. Before this, he served as the head of an NGO and also as one of the first members of the Human Rights Commission.
Ms Akuc Deng
Akuc Deng is a Research Assistant at the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Arts, working in the Initiative for Peacebuilding. She also holds positions as a Casual Academic and a Research Assistant at Deakin University. Akuc has a strong background in academic research and community engagement, having previously worked as a Community Researcher at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. There, she was involved in community-based projects aimed at improving the wellbeing of socially disadvantaged communities of migrant and refugee background. Her role involved rigorous research, data collection, data analysis, and report writing.
Akuc is in the final stages of her Ph.D. and holds a Master of Education, a Bachelor of Education, and a Bachelor of Arts (Australian Studies).
Board members
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- Associate Professor Jennifer Balint, Head of School, Social and Political Sciences
- Professor Erika Feller, Professorial Fellow, Melbourne School of Government
- Dr Emma Leslie AM, Executive Director, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (Cambodia)
- Professor Adrian Little, Pro Vice Chancellor (International) and Professor of Political Theory
- John McCarthy AO, former senior Australian diplomat, analyst, and writer
- Professor Lesley Stirling, Dean, Faculty of Arts
- Associate Professor Tilman Ruff AO, Nossal Institute for Global Health
- Father Daniel Madigan SJ, Newman College, The University of Melbourne
Research affiliates
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From the School of Social and Political Sciences:
- Professor Derek McDougall, Professorial Fellow, SSPS
- Dr Carla Winston, Lecturer in International Relations, SSPS
- Dr Rachael Diprose, Senior Lecturer in Indonesian Studies, SSPS
- Dr Anne Decobert, Lecturer in Development Studies, School of SSPS
- Dr Lesley Pruitt, Senior Lecturer in Development Studies, SSPS
- Dr Nerkez Opacin, Teaching Associate, SSPS
- Professor Maria Rost Rublee, International Relations, SSPS
From the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning:
- Ika Trijsburg, Research Fellow in City Diplomacy
From outside the University of Melbourne:
- Dr Siad Darwish, Environmental Peacebuilding and Gender Advisor
- Dr Dolly Kikon, Collaborator on Food Systems, Conflict and Peacebuilding
- Professor Sanjay Barbora, Tata Institute of Social Sciences
- Dr Anouk Ride, Independent Researcher, Solomon Islands
- Mr Soth Plai Ngarm, Research Affiliate
- Dr Gabrielle Grant, Research Affiliate
- Dr Ali Albakaa, Research Affiliate
- Dr Michael Main, Research Affiliate, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University
- Dr Dan Evans, Research Affiliate, Senior Policy Analyst at the Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy and Defence Dialogue
- Atikah Nuraini, Research Affiliate, Pannasastra University
PhD candidates
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- Jacob Berah, who is undertaking research into UN Special Political Missions and the politics of peacebuilding
- Sophia Htwe, whose research aims to develop a better understanding of the role of Myanmar’s civil society organisations in peacebuilding in the Rohingya conflict
- David Lozada is researching the social conflicts within and between social actors who mobilised against president Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’
- Syed Ali Akash, whose central research question examines the complementarity and incongruity between state-led and locally-driven approaches to peacebuilding
Bougainville Senior Leadership Professional Development Programme 2023-2024
The BSLPDP is an Australian government programme implemented by the University of Melbourne Initiative for Peacebuilding with financial support from the New Zealand Government. The programme supports the professional development needs of senior government officials (President, Ministers and Secretaries) from Bougainville and the Government of Papua New Guinea (GoPNG).
Peacebuilding Perspectives Conversation Series
The Initiative for Peacebuilding launched a Conversation Series in 2021 to hold space for deeper listening to Australian-based peacebuilders as well as discussion of important dimensions of their peacebuilding work. Hosted by Dr Tania Miletic, these conversations continue in 2024 with a fascinating and diverse range of peacebuilders from Australia and the world.
Preparations for the UN Summit of the Future
In September 2024 Australia will participate in the United Nations Summit of the Future and the people of Australia are invited to contribute ideas and suggestions for what Australia should seek to achieve through the Summit. In partnership with other collaborators, the Initiative for Peacebuilding is planning a series of briefing papers to stimulate discussion of key issues on the agenda for the Summit with interested Australians and community organisations.
Myanmar Conflict Transformation
Since 2021 the Initiative for Peacebuilding has led research and engagement activities concerning conflict transformation in Myanmar. In collaboration with the Australia Myanmar Institute in February 2024, the Initiative for Peacebuilding convened a major symposium in on pursuing conflict transformation and peace in Myanmar post-military coup. This hybrid symposium brought together Myanmar and Australian government leaders, researchers and practitioners to reflect on and further prospects for conflict transformation in Myanmar through presentations, panel discussion and participatory engagement.
Policy Submissions and Policy Brief Series
Since 2017 Dr Tania Miletic and Professor John Langmore have contributed to and published numerous policy briefs about peacebuilding which have been submitted to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In 2023 the Initiative made a submission to DFAT’s New International Development Policy and delivered a range of briefings to high level government actors and parliamentarians in partnership with the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies.
Visiting Scholars Program
The Initiative is delighted to host Dr Jeremy Simons as a visiting scholar in 2024. Jeremy is a senior research fellow at the Te Ngāpara Centre for Restorative Practice (Victoria University Wellington) with over 20 years of experience as an educator, organiser, and community-oriented researcher. His current scholarship and research support restorative initiatives in education, justice sectors, and community contexts. Having been born and raised in the Philippines he is curious about how culture interacts with restorative justice, peacebuilding, and community development.
South Sudanese Peace Leadership Program
Hosted by the Initiative for Peacebuilding, this three-day peace leadership program is tailored to the critical role Australian South Sudanese community leaders and peacebuilders have in supporting longer-term peace, both within their communities in Australia and for political development and social healing in South Sudan.
Peace Education Project
Professor Joseph Lo Bianco is developing an event that focuses on peace education, drawing together cases and experiences internationally to emphasise the importance of education for peacebuilding.
Contacts
Professor John Langmore
Chair of the Board, Initiative for Peacebuilding
T: +61 419 897 489, E: langmore@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Tania Miletic
Assistant Director, Initiative for Peacebuilding
T: +61 437 272 287, E: tmiletic@unimelb.edu.au
Tess Smurthwaite
Coordinator, Initiative for Peacebuilding
E: smurthwaite.t@unimelb.edu.au
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The Initiative for Peacebuilding brings together multidisciplinary research, engagement, and education to advance peacebuilding and conflict prevention in the Indo-Pacific region.
Sustainable peace is one of the essential conditions for global security and wellbeing. One way that peace is pursued is through the prevention and transformation of violent conflicts, and the conditions that give rise to these conflicts. Another is through supporting the attitudes, institutions and structures that can sustain peaceful societies.
With deep regional expertise and capabilities which bridge research and practice, the Initiative for Peacebuilding contributes to peacebuilding and conflict prevention by:
- researching peacebuilding in innovative and regionally grounded programs
- engaging with peacebuilding practice and policy from the standpoint of a university-based initiative
- educating the current and next generation of peacebuilding practitioners and researchers
If you are interested in supporting the Initiative, please refer to our downloadable brochure. Funds donated via the link below go directly toward supporting the activities of the Initiative.