UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies
The UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies of the University of Innsbruck was established in June 2008 as a consequence of the systematic research on the interpretations of peaces and the unique approach to Peace Studies as developed at the Unit for Peace and Conflict Studies and its MA program for Peace Studies since 2001. The agreement was been signed between the UNESCO, represented by its Director-General Koichiro Matsuura, and the University of Innsbruck, represented by its rector Karlheinz Töchterle. In light of the excellent results achieved and confirmed by the positive evaluations of the reports on its activities in 2015 and 2019, UNESCO renewed the agreement concerning the UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies at the University of Innsbruck until June 2027.
According to the agreement the main purposes of the UNESCO Chair are:
- The promotion of an integrated system of research, training, information and documentation in the field of peace studies
- The facilitation of collaboration between high-level, internationally recognized researchers and teaching staff of the University and other institutions in Austria, in Europe and North America, and other regions of the world
- The reinforcement of the existing network of cooperating partners through further regional, as well as international, cooperation
- The enhancement and complement of the already existing on-line teaching methods
- The exchange of professors, researchers, and students with other universities within the framework of UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme
Current UNESCO Chairholder for Peace Studies at the University of Innsbruck
Dr. Rina M. Alluri is Assistant Professor, Head of the Unit for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Innsbruck since 2022. She co-leads the newly established regular Master’s Programme in Peace and Conflict Studies and is the Speaker of the Research Centre INNPeace. She was born in Mumbai, India, raised in Ibadan, Nigeria and then migrated to Vancouver, BC Canada (Turtle Island). She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Basel, Switzerland and conducted her post-doctoral research at the University of Zurich. She has lived, worked and engaged with topics related to business and peace, natural resource conflicts, conflict affected diasporas, decolonizing peace education and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). She has focused her career as a peace academic and practitioner in conflict affected contexts in Asia and Africa. She is of mixed Indian and Filipina descent and is a Canadian citizen. She is a member of the Austrian UNESCO Commission.
The UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies of the University of Innsbruck was established in June 2008 as a consequence of the systematic research on the interpretations of peaces and the unique approach to Peace Studies as developed at the Unit for Peace and Conflict Studies and its MA program for Peace Studies since 2001. The agreement was been signed between the UNESCO, represented by its Director-General Koichiro Matsuura, and the University of Innsbruck, represented by its rector Karlheinz Töchterle. In light of the excellent results achieved and confirmed by the positive evaluations of the reports on its activities in 2015 and 2019, UNESCO renewed the agreement concerning the UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies at the University of Innsbruck until June 2023.
The six corner stones of the Manifesto 2000 are:
- Respect the life and dignity of each human being
- Practise active non-violence
- Share time and material resources
- Defend freedom of expression and cultural diversity
- Responsible consumer behavior
- New forms of solidarity
In line with these corner stones, Innsbruck became famous for its unique approach to transrational peace philosophy, elicitive conflict transformation (Lederach) as its practical application and elicitive conflict mapping as its very specific method.
The UNESCO Chair promotes research and publication in this field and currently cooperates for this end with the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena/Germany in the Academic Alliance for Reconciliation in the Middle East and North Africa AARMENA and its Ersamus+ Program Capacity Building for Higher Education in the same area. Further the UNESCO Chair engages in capacity building and curriculum development in various projects around the world.
Since 2008 the UNESO Chairholder at the University of Innsbruck was Prof. DDr. Wolfgang Dietrich. Born in Innsbruck in 1956 and Austrian citizen, Wolfgang Dietrich was educated in Austria and England, received a Ph.D. in history and literature at the University of Innsbruck in 1980 and a Doctor of Laws LL.D. at the same University in 1984. In 1990 he was promoted to the degree of Adjunct Professor in Political Science. He was co-founder of the MA Program in Peace, Development, Security and International Conflict Transformation in 2001 and its Academic Director from 2013 to 2021. He worked and taught mainly in Central and Latin America, but also in India, Eastern Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, the USA and many European countries. His focus is applied conflict transformation, peace philosophy and peace education.
The UNITWIN UNESCO Chair Programme
Launched in 1992, the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme, which involves over 700 institutions in 116 countries, promotes international inter-university cooperation and networking to enhance institutional capacities through knowledge sharing and collaborative work. The programme supports the establishment of UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks in key priority areas related to UNESCO’s fields of competence – i.e. in education, the natural and social sciences, culture and communication.
Through this network, higher education and research institutions all over the globe pool their resources, both human and material, to address pressing challenges and contribute to the development of their societies. In many instances, the networks and chairs serve as thinktanks and bridgebuilders between academia, civil society, local communities, research and policy-making. They have proven useful in informing policy decisions, establishing new teaching initiatives, generating innovation through research and contributing to the enrichment of existing university programmes while promoting cultural diversity. In areas lacking expertise, chairs and networks have evolved into poles of excellence and innovation at regional or sub-regional levels. They also contribute to strengthening North-South-South cooperation.
2024 Keynote talk. International peace and security. UNESCO Chairs Seminars: Towards a pact for the future. Chapter 2:
International Peace and Security. May 16, 2024.
2024 Panel Chair. Panel 4: Peace & Women: Centering women and feminism as a core principle of peace and peacebuilding. Global
Perspectives on Peace in Times of Conflict. May 6-7 Vienna. Jewish Museum Vienna and Salzburg Global Seminar. More
info: https://www.salzburgglobal.org/multi-year-series/pathways-to-peace-initiative/pageId/11128
2023 Participant. Vernetzungstreffen der UNESCO-Lehrstühle 2023. December 19, 2023. Vienna.
2023 Podium Panellist. Rethinking Peace and Conflict in the Age of AI Podium. Collaborative workshop and podium discussion with
The Department for the Theory and Future of Law, UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies, University of Innsbruck and the Advisory
Board on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence of the Austrian UNESCO Commission. December 12, 2023. More
info: https://www.uibk.ac.at/en/peacestudies/rethinking-peace-and-conflict-in-the-age-of-ai-podium/
2023 Guest speaker. Global Justice and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Austrian Commission for UNESCO Internal Planning
Workshop. September 26, 2023.
2023 Expert Recommendations. Harnessing intercultural competencies for peacebuilding: Report (2023).
Available: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000388190
2023 Panel Speaker. UNESCO Regional Expert Consultations and Recommendations on Intercultural Competencies for
Peacebuilding: Europe. 20 June 2023.
2023 Guest lecture. On Peace: Future visions of liberation. UNESCO-Eurac Research Online lecture series: The World in 2050.
April 11.
2023 Keynote lecture. On Peace: Reflections on knowledge and its liberation. UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies Inauguration. Where
are we going? Futures of peace, dialogue and global citizenship. 26 January. University of Innsbruck. More
info: https://www.uibk.ac.at/de/events/info/2023/unesco-chair-event/
2023 UNESCO Chairs Workshop. University of Innsbruck. 26 January. Participants included Youth Representative of the Austrian
Commission for UNESCO Dominic Ellwardt, UNESCO Chair for Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue, Univ.-Prof. Pablo
Argarate, University of Graz.
The UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies has been actively engaging with other UNESCO Chairs in Austria and globally through giving keynote talks and guest lectures, participating in expert regional consultations and organizing workshops and panel programs in collaboration with globally through the UNESCO UNITWIN Networks and locally through the UNESCO Austrian Commission. In addition to numerous activites, the UNESCO Chair is the project lead for an Erasmus Plus Project on Peace Education with a consortium of partners from Finland, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. She continues to participate in the Erasmus Plus Project on Peace and Reconciliation in the AARMENA Project with partners from Germany, Jordan and Palestinian Territories. And is part of the organizationi board of an Aurora Network conference on the role of higher education in peacebuilding aimed to take place in Innsbruck in early 2025.