Evens Peace Education Prize

The Evens Prize for Peace Education sought to detect, recognize and share inspirational practices in the field of conflict transformation, the focus of our former peace education program.

The specific focus of each call for applications helped to raise public awareness about questions that deserved our attention.

Since its inception in 2011, the kind of topics brought to the fore have included teacher training in conflict transformation, schools that have established truly integrated approaches, social skills in early childhood and how to address sensitive topics in the classroom and beyond. You can read more about the winning practices below.

The European scope of the prize allowed core questions to be considered from different angles and to understand how an issue both manifests itself and is dealt with in different European contexts. In that sense, the prize was our main research instrument. It also supported nominated candidates to reflect consciously on their approach, to develop the European dimension of their work and to position themselves as part of a European community of practice.

The procedure comprised an open call launched in all the countries of the European Union and a first selection based on formal criteria, target group and general content of the submitted applications. All selected organizations were then visited by a staff member of the foundation and detailed visit reports were prepared for the jury deliberations. The winner was selected by an independent international jury of experts.

Each of the the laureates received a monetary prize of €25,000, part of which was dedicated to the dissemination of the award winning practice in Europe.

The award ceremony usually took place in the country of the laureate, and on that occasion all shortlisted candidates were invited to a seminar to exchange practices. By bringing the participants together, the Prize offered an opportunity to create European peace education networks, thus contributing to a European movement for change.

The Evens Prize for Peace Education sought to detect, recognize and share inspirational practices in the field of conflict transformation, the focus of our former peace education program.

The specific focus of each call for applications helped to raise public awareness about questions that deserved our attention.

Since its inception in 2011, the kind of topics brought to the fore have included teacher training in conflict transformation, schools that have established truly integrated approaches, social skills in early childhood and how to address sensitive topics in the classroom and beyond. You can read more about the winning practices below.

The European scope of the prize allowed core questions to be considered from different angles and to understand how an issue both manifests itself and is dealt with in different European contexts. In that sense, the prize was our main research instrument. It also supported nominated candidates to reflect consciously on their approach, to develop the European dimension of their work and to position themselves as part of a European community of practice.

The procedure comprised an open call launched in all the countries of the European Union and a first selection based on formal criteria, target group and general content of the submitted applications. All selected organizations were then visited by a staff member of the foundation and detailed visit reports were prepared for the jury deliberations. The winner was selected by an independent international jury of experts.

Each of the the laureates received a monetary prize of €25,000, part of which was dedicated to the dissemination of the award winning practice in Europe.

The award ceremony usually took place in the country of the laureate, and on that occasion all shortlisted candidates were invited to a seminar to exchange practices. By bringing the participants together, the Prize offered an opportunity to create European peace education networks, thus contributing to a European movement for change.

2017

New-Bridge Integrated College in Loughbrickland, Northern Ireland, was the laureate of the Evens Prize for Peace Education 2017.

For the 2017 biennial European prize, the Evens Foundation looked for strategies implemented in secondary schools for dealing with ‘hot topics’ in a constructive way. 13 high quality projects from all over Europe were selected for the shortlist.

According to the international jury of experts, New-Bridge Integrated College developed an impressive and strongly embedded project that continues to break new ground in relation to integrated education in Northern Ireland, and of which the approach is very transferable to other EU countries and contexts.

Read more about the 2017 edition.

2015

Ghent nursery Tierlantuin won the Evens Prize for Peace Education 2015.

In this edition of the biannual European prize, the Evens Foundation looked for initiatives and practices that strive to awaken and strengthen the social competence of preschool children – below the age of 6 – with particular focus on skills that facilitate a constructive attitude towards conflict.

The independent jury of international experts was particularly impressed by the nursery’s visibility and accessibility within the neighbourhood, the strong parental and community involvement, and the ongoing and natural integration of diversity.

Read more about the 2015 edition.

2013

The Ecole Léon Jouhaux in Villeurbanne, France, received the Evens Prize for Peace Education 2013 for the introduction of innovative methods in constructive conflict management and for its success in the implementation of genuine peace at school.

With the 2013 Evens Prize for Peace Education, the foundation wanted to recognise and distinguish an elementary school in Europe that integrated and systematically implemented peace education principles in it.

The independent jury of experts was particularly impressed by the practices set up to improve and encourage the participation of children in the classroom and in school life, the involvement of parents and the system applied for enforcing rules.

Read more about the 2013 edition.

2011

The Escola de Cultura de Pau, Barcelona, won the first Evens Prize for Peace Education for its teacher training in conflict transformation.

Through this prize, the Evens Foundation wanted to honor an organization, association or institution that offers training programs to current and/or future teachers in learning how to manage interpersonal and/or intergroup conflicts in a positive and constructive way. In this respect, learning was considered to be a process of personal change, in the sense that how we learn is as important as the content of that learning.

The Escola was awarded the prize for its teacher training in conflict management, organized in the framework of its peace education program.

Read more about the 2011 edition.