Objective: Envision what peace looks like in this community. 

Process:

• Have participants close their eyes and imagine a peaceful future (10, 20, 30 years from now). Ask guiding questions like: What do relationships look like? How does the community feel? What changes have taken place?

• After the individual reflection, put participants in small groups. On a large piece of poster paper, ask groups to draw an image of peace in their community that reflects the visions from each person.

• Have each small group present their image to the larger group.

• In a large group discussion, identify common themes from these images and use these to start brainstorming social goals.

Outcome: A shared vision of peace that can inform practical, goal-oriented social goals.

In small groups, reflect on and share an early memory of violence that you experienced or witnessed. As you share, consider how this experience connects with Johan Galtung’s triangle of violence. Specifically, identify the following elements within the context of your story:

1. Direct Violence – What physical or visible acts of harm occurred? Who was directly affected by the violence?

2. Structural Violence – How might systems or institutions have contributed to the perpetuation of harm?

3. Cultural Violence – What cultural norms, beliefs, or ideologies justified or normalized the violence in the situation?

*Facilitator Note: Before starting the activity, facilitators should ensure that participants are familiar with the triangle of violence framework by providing a clear explanation of its components. Additionally, facilitators should show one or both of the above video clips that highlight peacebuilders' lived experiences with violence. These will help ground participants in the discussion and foster deeper understanding.

Objective: Reveal how certain knowledge systems are positioned as superior while others are dismissed, reinforcing violence.

Instructions: 

1. Draw a Pyramid - Give groups a large sheet of paper with a blank pyramid. Ask them to brainstorm different sources of knowledge and place them in a hierarchy based on how society values them. (Ex. science, religion, oral traditions, personal experiences, media, formal education, folklore, etc.)

2. Analyze the Hierarchy - Discuss: 

   • Who decides which knowledge is "legitimate"?

   • What happens when alternative knowledge systems are ignored?

3. Challenge the Pyramid - Ask participants to flip the hierarchy: What would the world look like if knowledge at the bottom of the pyramid was centered instead?

Debrief Questions: 

What biases exist in how we define "truth" and "legitimacy"?

How does dismissing certain knowledge systems lead to violence?

Objective: Encourage participants to question everyday beliefs and structures that reinforce a single worldview.

Instructions:

1. Write Down "Common Sense" Ideas - Ask participants to list 5 statements that they consider to be common sense (e.g. "Democracy is the best form of government" or "Hard work leads to success").

2. Interrogate the Statements - in small groups, pick one statement and discuss: 

   • Where did this idea come from?

   • Does everyone in the world agree with it? If not, who might see it differently?

   • What structures (education, laws, media) reinforce this as the "correct" worldview?

   • Has this idea ever been used to justify harm or exclude other perspectives?

3. Reframe the Narrative - Try rewriting the statement from a different worldview's perspective. 

Debrief Questions: 

How do we absorb dominant worldviews without realizing it?

Whose voices and experiences are overlooked when one worldview is treated as universal?

What's one assumption you now see differently?

What's one thing you can do to make space for alternative worldviews in your own learning or activism?

Objective: Identify core values that the group as a whole would like to see reflected in the social goals that they create.

Process:

• All participants have access to sticky notes. Each person will write down 1 - 5 values (1 per sticky note), and put them on a designated wall/whiteboard in the room. Sticky notes may say things like justice, equity, safety, etc.

• Once everyone has posted their sticky notes, the group will work to cluster similar ideas together.

• As a group, discuss why these values are important and how they can guide specific social goals.

Outcome: A visual map of values that can act as a foundation for agreed-upon social goals. 

Objective: Define key priority areas for social goals.

Process:

• As a group, brainstorm 5 structures/institutions that are within their spheres of influence, or with which they are most familiar and connected (education, health, justice, environment, economy).

• Set up 5 stations around the room, each labeled with the top 5 structures/institutions that the group shared out. 

• Participants will rotate in small groups, brainstorming and writing down specific goals for each category.

• After all rotations, each station's group shares their top 3 goals with the larger group.

Outcome: A set of initial ideas across different structural categories that the group can narrow down and refine. 

Objective: Understand interconnected social goals. 

Process:

• Start with a large sheet of paper or whiteboard, and in the center, write "Peaceful Community" or alternatively, one of the social goals that the group has identified from a previous activity. 

• Participants will add subgoals around this central goal, drawing connecting lines to show how one goal might lead to or support another (ex. education improvements lead to less crime). 

• This web of interconnected goals helps participants see the complexity, but also the possibility of achieving peace. 

Outcome: A visual representation of social goals and how they are interconnected, encouraging a holistic approach. 

Objective: Visualize a realistic, step-by-step journey toward peace by creating a storyboard that outlines key milestones and actions. 

Process:

1. Introduce the Concept of Storyboarding

   • Explain that participants will be creating a Peace Storyboard, which is similar to how filmmakers create storyboards for a project. But in this case, they are outlining the journey toward a peaceful community. Provide examples of what their storyboards might look like (boxes with illustrations OR steps). 

2. Defining the Goal

   • Encourage participants to start envisioning what they want a peaceful future for their community to look like. Write down a few key features of this peaceful vision as a starting point for their storyboard to work towards.

3. Storyboarding Steps to Peace

   • Divide participants into small groups. Each group receives a set of large index cards or sheets of paper to draw or write out the key steps toward achieving peace in their community. Encourage creativity and artistic representations! Ask participants to be prepared to share any relevant metrics associated with each step (ex. if access to education is improved in Step 3, we would expect to see high school dropout rates decrease). 

4. Timeline Creation and Prioritization

   • Groups should tape their timeline on a wall or larger sheet of paper to be ready to present to the larger group. The facilitator should remind them that some steps may be taken simultaneously, and some steps may take longer periods of time to accomplish - remind groups to reflect this as they form their timelines. 

5. Presentation and Feedback

   • Each group will present their storyboard, explaining the path to peace they envisioned and the steps involved. The facilitator should encourage group feedback.

6. Final Reflection

   • What part of this process was most challenging?

   • How can this storyboard (or the process) be used in future community organizing and peacebuilding efforts?

Outcome: Participants leave with a visual, step-by-step plan for reaching peace, grounded in action and measureable milestones. The storyboard serves as a tool for creating both short and long-term goals for peacebuilding.