Since 2014, the Build Peace annual conference has brought together practitioners, activists, technologists, academics, and artists from more than 75 countries to explore emergent challenges to peace in the digital era, and the innovations in peacebuilding that seek to address them. The conference is co-created and run by How to Build Up in collaboration with country partners.
This year’s conference was hosted by the International Catalan Institute for Peace in Barcelona, Spain, from November 21-23. The overall theme was Towards a Pluriverse of Peace: in a time marked by oppression, division and othering, inequality and a deep erosion of trust, participants grappled with ways to reclaim and give meaning to peace.
The conference featured 32 plenary speakers, 26 workshops, 5 art instillations, and one commemorative mural painted by many of the over 300 attendees.
Paul Heidebrecht, the Centre for Peace Advancement’s Director, facilitated a workshop for the founders of PeaceTech initiatives, creating space for reflection and inspiration. He was also able to reconnect with colleagues from the Council on Technology and Social Cohesion, and meet many more potential collaborators.
The conference ended with the announcement that Build Peace will be coming to Waterloo in 2026, the first time it has been held in Canada. The Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement is looking forward to collaborating with our participants and partners to host this global gathering that will weave together peace, technology, and the arts from November 13-15, 2026.
