This summer, I took part in the Emerging Leaders Programme, which was part of the Caux Dialogue on Land and Security (CDLS) 2018. I am currently between my Bachelor in Economics and my Masters in Development Studies and found this experience extremely enriching, both on a personal and professional level.

The 10 of us on the programme were the youngest participants in the conference. On top of the ‘regular’ conference schedule, we had a tailored programme, which aimed to give us additional tools and insights. A great group spirit quickly formed between us, and sharing those few days together allowed us to create meaningful links and friendships.

What I especially cherished was the constant stimulation to learn, develop and share ideas with other participants. Everyone was eager to discuss and teach. I gained new knowledge about land degradation and conservation and how they link to conflict and peace-building, a subject I have always been interested in.

Throughout the conference, I could feel the strong determination of speakers and participants to do something about the state of the planet and society. The diversity of nationality, age, background and profession made the event even richer.

Coming back from the forum, I am determined to take this learning process further and to find the best way to use my knowledge and skills in the fight to restore land and to prevent conflicts rising from tensions around resources. I have realized the importance of these topics for development and will include related courses in my curriculum, which I had not planned to do. In my personal life I will continue to reduce my environmental impact and encourage the people around me to do the same. I hope to take part in CDLS again next year, with new insights to share and a stronger knowledge base to build on.

I recommend the Emerging Leaders Programme to anyone willing to take action and learn more about land and security.

We, the participants of the Caux Dialogue on Land and Security 2018, comprise senior officials of governments, parliaments, international organizations, financiers, business, NGOs and media from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, met on July 17 - 21 at the Caux Conference Centre, and have formally endorsed this Declaration.

Conscious that land restoration is a key driver of food, water income and energy security as well as climate resilience and mitigation, we acknowledge the urgent need to scale up and multiply transformative sustainable land based solutions to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030.

We recognise that a robust policy framework and targeted financing are needed to prevent more land degradation and to restore our degraded landscapes, and we see an urgent need for a paradigm shift in our governance systems towards a more inclusive and comprehensive assessment and accounting of natural capital.

We call for the strengthening of dynamic and enabling environments at local, national and regional levels, and for the mainstreaming of landscape restoration approaches across national and regional development strategies for promoting peace and security.

Having discussed ways in which this might be done from the standpoints of our diverse organizations, disciplines and backgrounds, we offer these key recommendations and observations structured under three broad headings:

Policy frameworks to incentivize land restoration and avoid perverse incentives

1. Implement land governance policies and systems that provide appropriate land tenure security and that guarantee local communities’ land use rights, including those of women and youth;
2. Map the degradation status and vulnerability and the potential for restoration, at both local and landscape levels, of lands as a decision support tool, ensuring transparency and the accountability of landscape stakeholders in the process;
3. View farmers and local communities as agents of transformation and provide high-level political support to landscape restoration;
4. Eliminate perverse incentives that promote degradation, and devise positive incentives that reward the adoption of land restoration practices such as agroforestry and regenerative ecosystems;
5. Provide opportunities for women and youth to diversify their livelihoods through local communities and civil society organizations in order to help de-incentivize migration; and
6. Promote comprehensive assessment, valuation, and accounting of natural capital at national and corporate levels.

Financial tools and innovative mechanisms available as incentives for land restoration

7. The single most significant step to reduce GHG emissions from terrestrial ecosystems is to scale up global land restoration financing. The restoration of lands and ecosystems can provide at least a third of the total mitigation target required to keep temperature rise in line with the internationally agreed target of staying well below 2 degree Celsius;
8. The restoration of land, the preservation of biodiversity, climate change initiatives and the peace agenda must converge because integrated approaches that offer multiple benefits, such as agroforestry and regenerative agriculture, are more likely to succeed, offer a much higher return on investment, and can more easily leverage public - private financing; co-operation between the three Rio-Conventions is pivotal for holistic approaches;
9. The global funds needed to address land degradation and climate change significantly exceed current financial flows. Additional investments in land restoration are critically important since a full quarter of the global land area has been degraded over the past half-century, with impacts that range from exacerbated climate change to worsening conditions especially for the most vulnerable and poorest. The full societal cost of degradation is extraordinarily high, with estimates ranging up to $6 trillion a year, or 8% of world GDP;
10. Public funding alone is not sufficient to address the current needs. 95% of climate finance goes to mitigation, of which 80% is targeted at the private sector, while only 5% of climate finance goes to adaptation initiatives. There is a need to scale-up private sector finance for land restoration and adaptation;
11. Public concessional finance has a key role to play in mobilizing private finance. Global funds such as the GEF, GCF and LDN Fund as well as bilateral and multilateral institutions and national public finance, must be deployed strategically to leverage, de-risk and crowd in private as well as impact investors, including through blended (public-private) finance structures;   
12. Results-based mechanisms (such as payment for ecosystem services and adaptation benefit mechanisms) can encourage private sector investments at scale in efforts aimed at the land and ecosystem restoration, and facilitate decentralized financial flows;
13. Innovative financial and monitoring technologies such as artificial intelligence and distributed ledgers (e.g. blockchains) have huge potential to unlock private financing, facilitate impact investing, and encourage farmer participation in land restoration projects by providing secured accountability and trust in complex, multi-actor transactions; 
14. Enhanced accountability and transparency is needed in the use of emerging technologies such as blockchain for land restoration / adaptation projects through standards, tracking, monitoring and verification of results;
15. Engaging and empowering key stakeholders, including affected communities and civil society actors (who support vital nexus of impact, finance and innovation), is critical; and
16. We must make sure that new and innovative financial instruments focusing on land restoration and climate change adaptation and resilience solutions are explored with particular emphasis on accountability, scalability, and decentralization, and that the UNCCD, UNFCCC and CDB are encouraged to use COPs as fora to promote land restoration.

The impact of land restoration on migration and conflict

17. Migration is a major global phenomenon across regions and nations, and within nations, that needs to be managed as a priority; 
18. Land degradation diminishes livelihoods which in turn drives conflict and migration, while sustainable land management including the restoration of degraded landscapes have the potential to alleviate pressures that drive conflict and migration;
19. A key solution is to address the migration push factor that is ecosystem degradation by prioritizing land restoration across the Sahel region as well as in other hotspots around the globe. The financial, human, and political cost of sustaining the livelihoods of those who may migrate is far lower than coping with poorly managed mass migration;
20. Women’s empowerment and youth’s education are keys to success on the ground. Jobs, livelihoods and value chains for income generation in the context of sustainable landscape management will also play a major role in mitigating the environmentally induced push factors of migration;
21. Land restoration can foster close collaboration among diverse stakeholders and support shared prosperity, including in post-conflict areas to support healing of land as well as that of local communities;
22. There is a need for seeking further evidence to understand the linkage between land degradation, conflict and migration, as well as looking into smart policy options to reduce conflict through land restoration; and
23. Building on ongoing efforts, there is an urgent need to undertake in-depth research by the International / National Agencies and partner institutions on human and societal benefits from land restoration needs.

Together with our partners, we commit ourselves to implement these recommendations to the maximum extent of our possibilities.

We call upon leaders, experts and key stakeholders at all levels to join us in this endeavor.

Collectively, we strive to build new partnerships to support the approaches outlined above.

Violent extremism touches communities around the globe. There is a need for ways to reintegrate those who have committed violent extremist acts back into their communities. So Towards an Inclusive Peace (TIP) 2018, part of the Caux Forum, explored the power of restorative justice as a peacebuilding approach to transforming violent extremism. Nearly 150 people from over 40 countries took part from 11 to 15 July. In addition to those who had come specially for the event, the 2018 Caux Scholars acted as co-facilitators, helped with logistics and ensured the conference’s success.

‘There’s never been a more crucial time for working to create a more inclusive society,’ said Amina Khalid,head of IofC UK’s Sustainable Communities programme and a trustee of Somali Initiatives for Dialogue and Democracy (SIDD). Inclusive peace means bringing to the table religious leaders, activists, youth from all walks of life to create sustainable and lasting change. Participants heard from counter-terrorism and community policing expert David Smart, Superintendent in the National Counter-Terrorism Policing HQ in the UK, who stressed that ‘tackling extremism is a team effort’. Restorative justice practices such as narrative change, peace circles and dialogue techniques can help facilitate more inclusive processes in communities around the world.

Mohamed Abu-Nimer, senior adviser to the KAICIID Dialogue Centre in Vienna, stressed the role of inter-religious dialogue in creating inclusive social structures which are resilient in the face of violent extremism. KAICIID’s programme manager Moise ‘Mike’ Waltner ran a two-day workshop, which offered tools and techniques to help participants engage in inter-religious dialogue to bridge divides in their own communities. Other participants took part in restorative justice circles led by Thalia González.

Melinda Holmes, senior adviser and programme manager of the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) offered a three-day workshop on gender perspectives in peacemaking. She examined the different roles men and women play in conflict situations and the different ways extremism affects them. For example, women who lack agency due to social structures can become more vulnerable to violence. Participants also learned about ICAN’s Better Peace Tool, which seeks to create more inclusive peace processes by putting the lessons of gender perspectives into practice.

TIP also offered training in self-care, including presence-in-action, human rights education, peace circles and more. These sessions focused on the way personal transformation and inner peace are linked to community-building and creating a shared understanding within a community. Global peace starts with inner peace, and personal change can create global change. As Barbara Hintermann of Initiatives of Change Switzerland explained at TIP’s opening, ‘At Caux, we believe change comes from within.’ If we are truly to create an inclusive peace, we must start by creating space for inclusivity in ourselves and in our own communities.

In 2019, Towards an Inclusive Peace will focus on integrated approaches to transforming violent extremism. Join us from 9–14 July 2019 as we examine the role of resilience in creating inclusive communities, through a holistic focus on prevention.

• Watch the interview with Chelsea Higgs Wise, Narrative Change Officer of the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation enterprise from Initiatives of Change USA here
• Read the daily blogs and discover TIP as it happened
• Watch the interview with Melinda Holmes, Senior Advisor and Program Manager at the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) here
• Find all the pictures of the event on Flickr
• Find out more about Towards an Inclusive Peace 2018
• Discover the reports and highlights 2018

During a workshop over three days’ time at Towards an Inclusive Peace, Melinda Holmes, senior adviser and program manager with the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), taught participants about gender perspectives in peacemaking.

Melinda Holmes opened the session by explaining how much of the existing discourse around extremism has involved approaches such as counter-terrorism (CT) and countering violent extremism (CVE). These perspectives are often more militarized in their approach and fail to take into account topics such as gender and youth involvement in solutions to addressing violent extremism. If preventing and transforming violent extremism is our goal, we must include gender in our approach to involve both men and women in the affected communities.

Next, the group delved into the different roles men and women play in conflict situations and the unique ways extremism affects men and women in their communities. For example, women who lack agency due to social structures can become more vulnerable to violence. Women may also radicalize men through a process called “domestic radicalization” in societies which are either matriarchal or patriarchal in structure. Violent extremism can also take hold when marginalization and stereotypes of extremists are present, or the belief that particular groups are de-facto extremist in nature. By reforming security sector approaches and working with the cooperation of groups like the National Counterterrorism Center, we can develop ways to address violent extremism which are more inclusive and holistic and which take into account gender perspectives.

This workshop also examined the role of toxic masculinity, gender norms, non-binary identities, and intersectionality in creating inclusive societies and changing patriarchal systems. One way to help create equity is by forming feminist groups and support systems which can challenge patriarchy by generating awareness of equity issues and sharing lessons learned from the field. By working together to share our knowledge, skills, and experiences, we can create communities which are inclusive to all, regardless of where they fall on the gender spectrum.

• Find out more about Towards an Inclusive Peace 2018
• Discover the reports and highlights 2018

By Shannon McClain, with assistance from Caux Scholars Program

The last full day of Towards an Inclusive Peace was focused on the challenges of reintegration and deradicalization. Amina Khalid, Head of Programme for Sustainable Communities and founder of Peace Begins at Home, and Sergey Markedonov, Associate Professor at Russian State University for the Humanities, led the discussion. 

Sergey Markedonov discussed the challenges in Russia and Chechnya of how to rebuild statehood after the collapse of the USSR and in particular challenges to political and ethnic group identity. As generations change, it’s necessary to understand the perspectives of youth and religious groups. Inter-generational dialogue is key to creating a lasting peace. “I try to explain the experience of my country - it’s my contribution,” says Sergey Markedonov. Understanding the history of one’s country is also key to creating and sustaining a peaceful and inclusive narrative. “Peace is won by teachers of history and other teachers.”

Amina Khalid continued by explaining that “there’s never been a time more crucial than this in working to create a more inclusive society.” Treating political, religious, and other refugees fleeing violence as a problem is a problem in and of itself. She shared her personal story of growing up as a refugee in Somalia and immigrating to the United Kingdom at a young age. “A new and positive narrative is emerging,” she said. By working to develop sustainable communities, we can enable and empower individuals to create positive change. This change happens from the bottom-up, starting at the personal and local level, rather than top-down. Justice starts by building relationships with each other.

In the afternoon, participants went to workshops to learn about gender perspectives in peacebuilding, disrupting dominant narratives of racism, circle processes, presence-in-action, peace circles, peace cafes, and peace education programs. In the peace circle workshop, participants learned how people can be reconciled through restorative circles. Through the power of forgiveness, peace circles can contribute to building a more inclusive and peaceful society. Participants shared personal stories of growth and change as well as things that can disturb peace in peoples’ minds. The workshop was tied to self-care and seeking inner peace, because when one has inner peace one does not feel the need to be violent.

Thanks for reading! Follow along with our discussion on social media with #CauxTIP and #CauxForum.

• Find out more about Towards an Inclusive Peace 2018
• Discover the reports and highlights 2018

By Shannon McClain, with assistance from Caux Scholars Program

During a workshop over two days’ time at Towards an Inclusive Peace, Moise “Mike” Waltner, Programme Manager of the International Fellows Programme at the International Dialogue Centre in Vienna (KAICIID), taught participants about inter-religious dialogue as a tool for peacebuilding.

The session opened with a discussion about what dialogue is and what it is not. Dialogue, Moise “Mike” Waltner explained, is not negotiation, debate, or discussion - it is instead a social contract, sharing, and surfacing that which is hidden. The purpose of interactive dialogue is not just to raise awareness but also to improve social cohesion. Interactive dialogue can build bridges between different religious groups.

By using tools such as appropriate communication skills, interactive activities, and creating safe spaces, we can also create effective dialogue. It’s important to note that the multiple religious, ethnic, and social identities people bring to the table can play a significant role in the way we interact with others. The role of inter-religious dialogue is to achieve an environment of trust and peace. Inter-religious dialogue can also help prevent violent extremism through restorative justice processes. “This training is really related to the restorative justice concept,” one participant said. “It represents a good starting point for those who are interested and reveals the most important factors that lead to violent extremism.” The training also shared factors that could prevent or transform violent extremism in communities by engaging in inter-religious dialogue.

Inter-religious dialogue could be led by faith leaders, community participants, or individuals in the religious group. In any case, facilitating inter-religious dialogue requires building collective understanding and shared trust between participants in order to create a safe space for dialogue to take place. With these factors in place, dialogue is more likely to be successful and to create the opportunity for personal growth and community-level action. It’s also possible to build stronger ties between different faith groups using inter-religious dialogue as a tool for local community building.

• Find out more about Towards an Inclusive Peace 2018
• Discover the reports and highlights 2018

By Shannon McClain, with assistance from Caux Scholars Program

On July 13, the third day of Towards an Inclusive Peace 2018, the group opened with a discussion about community approaches to violent extremism. Panelists David Smart, National Coordinator for Prevent in the UK, Gulalai Ismail, Founder and Chairperson of Aware Girls in Pakistan, and Amjad Saleem, Manager of the Inclusion, Protection, and Engagement Unit at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies kicked off the discussion.

Communities must be at the center of any bottom-up, local approach to addressing violent extremism. “It’s also really important that schools and authorities take responsibility,” explained David Smart. “Tackling extremism is a team effort.” By involving youth and women, community-based efforts to prevent and transform violent extremism will be more successful. With 1.8 billion people on the planet between the ages of 18 to 24, engaging youth is key to building narratives of non-violence and peace.

“I believe that the world has a lot to learn from the civil society organizations from Pakistan,” said Gulalai Ismail. While violent extremism is a global issue, the Youth Peace Network in Pakistan has helped build prosperous and peaceful communities by offering alternative paths for young people. With dialoguing, workshops, and peace circles, they have found success in preventing violent extremism.

“Extremism happens when people are on the periphery, when they are left out,” said Amjad Saleem. Not just inclusion, but the recognition of human dignity is important to build resilience to withstand the draw of violent extremism. Ensuring that basic needs are met such as access to services can help communities recover from the shock of extremist actions.

After breaking into community groups to discuss the morning’s plenary, participants joined workshops to learn about inter-religious dialogue, gender perspectives, ethics education, racism and narrative analysis, personal transformation, self-care, and peace circles. In one session on gender perspectives, Melinda Holmes, senior adviser and program manager with the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) explained how to address extremism inclusively and holistically. Much of the discourse around extremism has involved approaches such as counter-terrorism (CT) and countering violent extremism (CVE). These often militarised perspectives fail to take into account topics such as gender and youth involvement in solutions to addressing violent extremism. If preventing and transforming violent extremism is our goal, we must include gender perspectives in our approach to involve both men and women in the affected communities.

Join us tomorrow as we discuss the challenges of deradicalization and reintegration. Follow the conversation on social media with #CauxTIP and #CauxForum.

Today at Towards an Inclusive Peace, we discussed the power of restorative justice. On July 12, Dr. Carl Stauffer, Associate Professor at Eastern Mennonite University, and Thalia González, Associate Professor of Politics at Occidental College, opened the conversation with a discussion about how restorative justice practices can address violent extremism. Restorative justice isn’t just saying sorry, it’s “doing sorry” through active listening and participating in the restoration process.

The voices of the marginalized and victimized must be centered in these processes, explained Carl Stauffer. He shared that restorative justice practices may include facilitation and mediation techniques, as well as circle processes. Thalia González described how restorative justice can work in school systems to break the school-to-prison pipeline which furthers punitive justice practices. In juvenile justice systems, restorative justice (although not always called that) can also help repair harm and bring reconciliation to offenders and victims.

The afternoon was comprised of several workshops about restorative justice and self care. Trainings included guidance and information about inter-religious dialogue, gender perspectives, practical tools, personal change, and human rights education. Nearly 150 participants spread out among five sessions in the afternoon to explore and learn from presenters, speakers, and each other.

In one session, titled “Restorative Justice: From Theory to Practice,” Thalia González, who is also a Senior Visiting Scholar at Georgetown Law, taught participants how to have honest and open conversations using a circle model. With circles, it’s important to use language carefully and respect the cultures of all participants in the group. This model can set the stage for building shared values, trust and confidence between those involved. Using natural elements such as the environment, water, stones, and sticks can also be a powerful way for the group to connect individuals and open the discussion.

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about how communities can address violent extremism at the local level through narrative change techniques, ethics education, and more.

Follow the discussion online with #CauxForum and #CauxTIP!

On 11 July 2018, Initiatives of Change (IofC) began its second year of the three-year Towards an Inclusive Peace programme in Caux, Switzerland.

The programme kicked off with remarks from IofC Switzerland Secretary General Barbara Hintermann. She explained that youth are one group especially at risk from recruitment by violent extremists. As a result, young people need opportunities such as work and education but also an understanding of each other which can build shared trust and resilience.

His Excellence Faisal Bin Muaammar, Secretary General of the KAICIID Dialogue Centre spoke next about refugees. “Peace is not possible when some citizens are robbed of their dignity,” he said. "The solution is not found in fear or blaming the other but instead in the belief that all have equal rights. Education can build a tolerant understanding of the other and create a more inclusive peace."

To round out the opening ceremony, Towards an Inclusive Peace Managing Directors Eliana Jimeno and Johannes Langer discussed the pressing need to discuss violent extremism as it impacts communities around the world. Rather than taking a militarized approach, this event takes into account community-level solutions and identifies root causes of violent extremism.

So what’s next for the event? Towards an Inclusive Peace 2018 will involve different training tracks, one focused on restorative justice and one focused on self-care. The restorative justice track is comprised of tools, training and techniques to help participants address violent extremism in their own communities. We’ll answer the question, “How can restorative justice practices help build a peacebuilding framework for violent extremism?” Training sessions will include inter-religious dialogue as a tool for peace, gender perspectives, ethics education, circle processes and more.

For those who are interested in self-care, Towards an Inclusive Peace offers a unique track with training sessions focused on this topic. These sessions include presence-in-action, human rights education, peace circle guidance and more. Towards an Inclusive Peace also offers an open track on its final day for participants to propose a session and engage in discussion.

What else can participants expect at Towards an Inclusive Peace? In addition to exciting panels and plenaries each day, participants will take part in special community groups which have a unique role in the Caux Forum. Community groups will form during the first day of the event and participate in service activities. Taking part in these offers a break from the traditional roles and rules of a typical forum event, where speakers and facilitators are often separate from participants. By working together in service, everyone at Towards an Inclusive Peace will have the opportunity to break barriers and have interesting conversations.

We are thrilled to begin this year’s Towards an Inclusive Peace event! Join the discussion on social media with #CauxTIP and #CauxForum.