The sixth Build Peace conference took place in San Diego, USA and Tijuana, Mexico on November 14 – 16, 2019. The conference theme was “Borderlands: Dividing and Bridging Communities with Technology, Storytelling and Arts”.

Build Peace 2019 took place in San Diego, USA, at the Kroc School of the University of San Diego, and in Tijuna, Mexico, at the Escuela Libre de Arquitectura. The conference hosted over 200 peacebuilders from more than 30 different countries who came together to discuss peace, conflict, and the resilience fostered along borders, examining how social innovation through technology, storytelling, and the arts can both create and bridge divides.

Borders – whether physical, social, or digital – and their creation are often at the center of dynamics of oppression and can be root causes of violence. They can also be the center of the connection between divided communities. At Build Peace 2019, we asked ourselves: how can technological, storytelling, and artistic innovation increase physical, social, and digital divides? And how can technological, storytelling, and artistic innovation help bridge physical, social, and digital borders?

We organized our collective inquiry across three sub-themes. Physical borders: exploring the transformational role of technology, storytelling, and the arts on migration and movement across borders. Social borders: exploring how technology, storytelling, and the arts affect (positively or negatively) the demographic, cultural, and political barriers between communities. Digital borders: exploring emerging divides and growing polarisation in the online environment, as well as efforts at depolarisation and digital organizing against violence.

All conference presentations can be watched on our YouTube channel and the full conference program is available here. The conference opening remarks are available here and the conference report is here.

Build Peace 2019 is brought to you by Build Up and Activate Labs. 
Build Peace 2019 is made possible thanks to our hosting partner.
  
Build Peace 2019 is made possible thanks to the generous support of our sponsors.