Peace Lab

Designing and implementing innovative approaches to sustainable peace.

The Peace Lab at the University of York brings together world-leading research and teaching from across the University to explore, design, and implement innovative approaches to sustainable peace.

The Peace Lab aims to find more and better ways to prevent violence, reduce human suffering as a result of war, and promote sustainable peace. We harness the power of our extensive research in areas related to peace - including conflict, security, migration, human rights, development, and social cohesion - to find out what works and what does not work and to develop new, often experimental, approaches to peace in close collaboration with practitioners.

Launched in 2024, the Peace Lab is the first of its kind in the UK. It draws on interdisciplinary research expertise from four University of York research centres: the York Centre for Conflict & Security; the Centre for the Comparative Study of Civil War; the Centre for Applied Human Rights; and the Interdisciplinary Global Development Centre.

The University of York, with its commitment to being a University for Public Good, is the ideal place for a Peace Lab. The University has a strong tradition of applied research and our peace-related research expertise is matched by few other universities. We have a vibrant student community, with an excellent cohort of students interested in exploring innovative approaches to peace.

With its proud Quaker tradition, the city of York is also a perfect location for our initiative. York is a City of Sanctuary and a City of Human Rights. The Peace Lab forms part of this tradition and contributes to its further development.

In today’s volatile and uncertain world, we need to find more and better ways to prevent violence and reduce human suffering as a result of war. At the Peace Lab we harness the power of research to find out what works and what does not, and develop new approaches in close collaboration with practitioners to bring us closer to sustainable peace.

Professor Nina Caspersen and Professor Graeme Davies, Co-Directors of the York Centre for Conflict and Security, Department of Politics & International Relations, University of York.

Who we are

The Peace Lab is based at the York Centre for Conflict & Security in the Department of Politics and International Relations, where over 25 academic staff currently work on issues linked to conflict, security, peace, development and human rights.

Led by Co-Directors Professor Nina Caspersen and Professor Graeme Davies, we work with colleagues in departments and centres across the University of York including the York Law School, the Centre for Health Economics, the Department of Environment & Geography, the Department of Psychology, and the Department of Sociology.

Our Research

Our innovative approach brings together world-leading researchers from across the university under three streams of work:

Conflict prevention and early warning
Effects of war and violence
Sustainable peace including a Peace Data Hub

Find out more about our research

Partnerships with Practitioners

The Peace Lab works closely with policy makers, practitioners and peace activists - at the local, national and global level - to design and implement innovative approaches to preventing violence and promoting sustainable peace and social cohesion. We are committed to research that is applied; research that really makes a difference, and we have existing collaborations with a range of stakeholders.

Two of our specific areas of expertise are peace processes and the political transformation of armed groups. We have been advising both international and national actors on pathways to peace and the integration of former armed actors. We are currently expanding this work to provide more and even better advice on peaceful transformations, and develop new approaches as part of these activities.

Our objective is to become a hub, the go-to place, for innovative, evidenced-based advice on sustainable peace.

Global Network

Our Peace Lab was created in collaboration with the J immy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University, and is part of a rapidly expanding Global Peace Labs Network. By combining our efforts, this network of leading universities aims to enhance research, teaching, training, and community engagement programmes that contribute to global peace and security. Find out more about the work we are doing.

Supporters

The Peace Lab and its recent projects have been made possible by funding from the US Embassy in London, the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, and the Folke Bernadotte Academy, Sweden.

Student Involvement

Our brilliant students are central to the Peace Lab. Students on our UG and MA programmes benefit from a unique student experience as we bring practitioners into the classroom and involve students directly in our research. By engaging our students in the design and implementation of innovative approaches to sustainable peace, we develop the skills of the next generation of peace researchers and peacebuilders.