Turning Research into Action for a Safer World

Since 1999, it has been the mission of the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding (CCPB) at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) to help citizens seek realistic ways to improve human conditions locally and globally. The Center works with ordinary citizens to prevent violent conflict and, if violence occurs, to explore paths to sustainable peace and reconciliation, and share what we have learned. Turning research into action, the CCPB takes an integrated approach in studying the best grassroots peacebuilding methods in both domestic and international conflicts, and utilizes those findings in direct engagement in peacebuilding efforts in neighborhoods in Orange County and Los Angeles, California as well as in such selected communities in Northern Ireland, the Middle East, Bosnia/Herzegovina, and the former Soviet Union.

The Center for Citizen Peacebuilding conducts research, advances education and organizes action to improve and expand citizen peacebuilding in the United States and around the world. The Center hosts lectures and conferences involving prominent citizen peacebuilders, including Nobel Peace Prize Laureates; trains local and international peacebuilding practitioners, including gang intervention workers; and facilitates peacebuilding efforts in conflict zones.

By integrating all three aspects, we promote knowledge about positive role models and foster constructive change.