Build Peace 2026 will take place from November 13-15, in Waterloo, Canada, co-organized with the Kindred Centre for Peace Advancement.
Every year, the Build Peace conference explores emergent challenges to peace in a digital era, and peacebuilding innovations to address these challenges. It holds an interdisciplinary space to address the most pressing topics and transformative practices in peace, conflict and innovation.
This year, the conference theme is “Enabling Encounters”, and it is co-organized with the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement at Conrad Grebel University College and the University of Waterloo, with the support of the Balsillie School of International Affairs and the Global Centre for Pluralism.
Whether it is your first, fifth or tenth time attending, we warmly invite you to bring your questions, ideas and experiences as we chart the future together.
- Check out the Conference Program
- Register to attend the conference
- Explore the conference theme and subthemes
- Contact the organizers to support the conference
About Build Peace
Build Peace is a global conference series and community of practice that brings together practitioners, activists, academics, policy makers, artists and technologists from around the world to share experiences and advance knowledge on emergent challenges to peace in a digital age, and peacebuilding innovations to address these challenges. Under this umbrella, each year Build Peace focuses on one central theme, linked to the location where the conference takes place.
The most public aspect of Build Peace is a conference event: an inter-disciplinary space that runs over three full days. Around 300 people gather annually at Build Peace conference events. Participants come from more than 60 different countries, working in national and international NGOs, the UN system, academic institutions, civil society organisations, grassroots organizing and the private sector.
Build Peace is a program of Build Up, a global non-profit that implements programs, conducts research, and develops technical solutions to engage with conflict and build societies in which everyone can thrive.