Peace Education across Borders: Regional Governance, Collaboration, and Reconciliation in ASEAN

• In Event: Regional Pathways to Reconciliation through International Education: Identities, Institutions, and Cross-Border Collaborations

Proposal

This study explores cross-border peace education initiatives and research collaborations within the ASEAN region, highlighting their role in advancing ASEAN’s wider goals of peacebuilding and reconciliation. Although ASEAN has established regional mechanisms to promote peace education—often aligned with human rights education—their application across member states remains diverse. Regional networks such as the ASEAN University Network for Human Rights Education (AUN-HRE) and the Strengthening Human Rights and Peace Research and Education in ASEAN/Southeast Asia (SHAPE-SEA) have been central in promoting peace education, yet their influence varies depending on national contexts.
ASEAN’s social, cultural, and political diversity has resulted in varied approaches to peace education curricula. These differences reflect local histories, contemporary challenges such as ethnic tensions or religious conflict, and the integration of human rights education within political systems that differ widely in openness and governance (Ryu, 2024). Diversity in approaches allows for context-sensitive strategies and innovative practices, but it also leads to fragmented efforts, uneven institutional resources, and competition with other national priorities. This study critically evaluates whether cross-border cooperation in teaching and research helps to overcome such limitations or, instead, perpetuates disparities in peace education development across the region.
The research is guided by two central questions:
What strategies are employed to facilitate cross-border collaboration in peace education, and how are these implemented both institutionally and regionally?
What are the anticipated and actual outcomes of these cross-border efforts, and what obstacles hinder the long-term sustainability of such collaborations?
To address these questions, the study adopts a mixed-methods design that combines policy analysis, institutional case studies, and semi-structured interviews. At the macro level, it examines policy documents and organizational reports produced by AUN-HRE and SHAPE-SEA, focusing on their governance frameworks, stated objectives, and records of implementation. At the micro level, the research investigates selected higher education institutions involved in peace education partnerships, analyzing their curricula, joint research projects, and cross-border teaching initiatives. Document analysis provides insights into the scope and patterns of regional collaboration, while interviews with key stakeholders yield deeper perspectives on both the achievements and challenges of implementing these initiatives.
By situating peace education within ASEAN’s regional governance framework, this study seeks to develop a nuanced understanding of how cross-border teaching and research contribute to reconciliation processes and peacebuilding. At the same time, it interrogates the structural barriers—such as uneven institutional capacities and conflicting political agendas—that limit the effectiveness of regional collaboration.
Ultimately, the findings aim to clarify how peace education partnerships in ASEAN function as both opportunities and constraints for regional cooperation. By identifying promising practices as well as systemic shortcomings, this research provides policy-relevant insights for enhancing the quality, effectiveness, and sustainability of cross-border peace education efforts. Such analysis contributes not only to scholarly debates on education and regional governance but also to practical discussions on strengthening ASEAN’s collective capacity for peacebuilding and reconciliation.

Author

• JungHyun Jasmine Ryu, The University of Tokyo