Build Peace 2023

Build Peace 2023 was also the 10th anniversary of the Build Peace conference. This milestone took place in Nairobi, Kenya, from December 1-3. The theme was “How technology and the arts influence identities relevant to peace & conflict“, and the slogan: walk backwards into the future.

Build Peace 2023 gathered over 250 practitioners, researchers, artists, technologists and activists from around the world to explore the relation of technology and arts with identities and peace and conflict. The conference theme was a reflection of the importance that identities play in conflict dynamics anywhere, and particularly in Kenya and the East African region, where this 10th iteration of the conference took place. The conference was 3-day long, and each day highlighted one of the sub-themes, each representing an area of innovation:

Digital peacebuilding: this theme focused on how conflict transformation practitioners use technologies to explore identities and shape interactions. In particular, we payed special attention to sharing success and failure stories of digital peacebuilding work over the past decade.

Conflict-sensitive technology: this theme explored how technology design can respond to an understanding of the impact technologies have on conflict, identity and how we interact with each other.

Arts & Personhood: this theme highlighted how artists use their practices to explore identities and how those shape our interactions. We connect the rich field of peacebuilding & arts to the concerns and practices of digital peacebuilding, understanding that artistic, creative and embodied practices are often the catalysts of profound conflict transformation and healing.

All recorded conference presentations can be watched on our YouTube playlist, and the full conference program is available here. The opening remarks are also available in written-form here.

Build Peace 2023 was brought to you by Build Up hosted by Busara, and made possible thanks to the generous support of our sponsors.