Publications

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE OFFICIAL POSITION OF THE UNIVERSITY FOR PEACE

Melissa Wild Having spent my career in cross-cultural and cross-sectoral spaces, building and facilitating peace programs - be it intergroup dialogue, youth engagement or educational programs -, and having worked as a community mediator for the last five years as well, I have witnessed the enormous amount of creativity and innovation both required to build peace programs as well as to resolve and transform conflicts. Sometimes, such creativity and innovation can get lost when

What if all high school students emerged as changemakers equipped to build a more just, peaceful, and sustainable future? Young Leaders for Peace (YLP) exists to imagine just that. YLP launched in June 2025 at the University for Peace (UPEACE) in San José, Costa Rica, as a two-week summer experience that equips young people with the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to lead efforts for peace in their communities and beyond. Co-founded by two high school students motiva

What if all high school students emerged as changemakers equipped to build a more just, peaceful, and sustainable future? Young Leaders for Peace (YLP) imagines exactly that: a world where young people lead with collaboration and peacebuilding at their core. Hosted at the University for Peace (UPEACE) headquarters in San José, Costa Rica, YLP is a transformative two-week summer program designed to cultivate the knowledge, skills, and values youth need to become leaders of pea