The purpose of this symposium brings together academics, Aboriginal leaders, and practitioners who are working in conflict-sensitive and violence-affected communities here in Australia and in our region to exchange ideas, pose questions, analyse experiences and debate strategies. The convenors hope that through such an exchange we can collectively clarify current thinking and improve approaches to building a sustainable peace in our communities and in the region.

During this symposium we adopted a popular education approach which provides all participants with the opportunity to engage actively with the thematic questions posed in the invitation, namely:

• Why is Aboriginal Australia a post-conflict society?
• How can the development experiences of Aboriginal Australia inform international practice in sustainable peacebuilding and development?
• Should models of development that incorporate good peacebuilding and adult education practice be used to enhance approaches to Aboriginal community education and development?
• How can we facilitate a greater contribution by Aboriginal development workers, adult educators and community peace activists to peacebuilding and development efforts in the region?

  Papers uploaded

  Day 1 Program

  Day 1 (afternoon) Program

  Day 2 Program

  Synopsis (Mick's Map PDF)

  Program (PDF)

Symposium Format

Presentations: Each session consists of thematically linked presentations of 15-20 minutes each.

Discussants: 2 specialists in the field comment for approximately 5 mins on the preceding presentations with reference to one or more of the thematic questions to help focus the participant dialogue session which follows.

Panel Discussion on Justice and Reconciliation: This is an interactive session with four speakers who have expertise on the topic. Each speaker presents a 10 minute perspective challenging conventional thinking/approaches to the issue.

Participant Dialogue: These are interactive 30 min sessions with a facilitator who guides the questions and comments from the participants to one or more presenters/discussants/panelists