Part of the Aurora Peacebuilding Conference is the High Level Panel discussion ‘Universities Peacebuilding Practices and Knowledge Diplomacy’, in which Rector Jeroen Geurts will participate. This plenary session will address the role of higher education in promoting peaceful relations, and the importance of knowledge diplomacy, especially with regions experiencing conflict and post-conflict recovery. Another noteworthy meeting of the conference is the ‘UNESCO Chair meeting on Peace’ where Jeroen Geurts will have an exploratory discussion on joint peace education initiatives with Aurora partners.
Several dignitaries will contribute to the conference, including Oleksandra Matviichuk, a Ukrainian human rights lawyer whose organisation received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. Also, fellow rectors Veronika Sexl (Universität Innsbruck) and Martin Prochaszka (Palacký University Olomouc, also Aurora President) will attend. VU Amsterdam also has a solid delegation of around 20 students, scientists and staff from different disciplines presenting their research and activities in roundtables and workshops. This provides a good basis for possible follow-up steps.