The scholarship on PCVE, CT and Peace studies today can be described as an industry. However, the lack of a “quadruple helix” engagement model for collaboration to meet challenges in Malaysia, Southeast Asia and globally means that there are gaps of understanding the phenomena, including a reeducation of the youth on the peril of nuclear weapons and its possible use in terrorism. While the stakeholders often work in silos, a collaborative and sustainable platform for sharing insights – ideas, experiences, expertise, and solutions – needs development. This synergy reflects the 5Ps of the SDG and Malaysia’s own Insan Sejahtera (balanced individual) model.
The main challenge is to conceptualise the meaning of “peace” and “justice” as something the is meaningful to be demonstrate through education. This is best done through Learning by Doing where the experiential part of education is emphasised. The aspect of “peace” and “justice” transcends the human boundaries. It involves nature, its preservation and relevance to a lifestyle that delivers “peace” and “justice” to all forms of life and creation. The whole of institution and of community approach in the nurturing of “peace” and “justice” is the key to meeting such challenges via strategic collaborations and capacity building.
The activities in support of the policies mentioned above culminate in the creation of a series of modules or courses by IIUM and collaborators (e.g. USM, UMS, and UMT among others) that can be utilized for various educational for sustainable development purposes i.e. modules and certificate courses to MA level programmes in PCVE/CT, and Peace Studies suitable for policymakers, practitioners, researchers and activists in these fields. The materials can also be used for informative and educational engagement with stakeholders for capacity building. A web portal dedicated to PCVE, CT and Peace is also being set up collaboratively by IIUM, USM, SEARCCT and MPI to facilitate education, training and sharing of best practices amongst journalists, researchers, activists and practitioners in these fields. Subgrants are already being discussed for 2021 in relation to new research and content creation for the sustainability of the portal encompassing issues such as COVID-19 and security, decoloniality and the terrorism industry, and the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, ratified by Malaysia in September, and which recently came into force on October 24th, 2020.
The project gained significance like the proverbial snowball through empowerment from strategic collaborations. From the humble beginning of a research group, it expanded to include national and international partners. Likewise, the forging of peace can only be done when we as a community build bridges across people and organizations from various divides.
For more info, please click the button below
