What if we learned to live together as well as we learn to read or count?
That is the challenge of our peace education project, which we are currently carrying out in after-school activities throughout Geneva’s primary schools. By providing workshops in art, cooperative games and innovative spaces for dialogue, we support children in exploring emotions, friendships and finding ways of dealing with disputes without violence. Peace, which is anything but an afterthought, can be learned, practised and built from an early age. This article takes a look at the initiative, providing children with the keys to a new way of living together.
Since the beginning of January 2025, Helpcode Switzerland has been implementing the project ‘Peace education for social cohesion in the school environment through various art forms’, in partnership with the MonteSole Peace School, EduCoop and GIAP. The team works in extra-curricular activities at several primary schools in the canton of Geneva. Through a series of workshops, the children participate in playful and creative activities that stimulate the development of essential social skills such as respect, tolerance, cooperation and non-violent conflict management.
Experience-based teaching
In all of the workshops, games are used as teaching devices. Through movement, cooperative games, theatre, music and the visual arts, we promote awareness of ourselves and others, stimulate empathy and strengthen social cohesion. Children are not given ‘lessons about peace’: they experience it, feel it and build it together!
A participatory approach, as close as possible to the children’s lives
The activities are adapted to the specific needs and dynamics of each group of children (approximately fifteen participants per group, divided according to age). By observing and listening to their experiences, concerns and wishes, we co-design the workshops with the children to make them as meaningful as possible. It is within this trusting atmosphere that sincere discussions can emerge about everyday tensions and ways of overcoming them together.
Positive initial results
Following the first two cycles of the project, the teams in charge of the activities provided us with positive feedback. As well as discovering new teaching tools, some of them mentioned how our approach had given them fresh ideas about how they work with children on an everyday basis. A culture of peace takes time to build, and we acknowledge that this is an ongoing process.
This project aims to contribute to that process by offering adults (educators, youth workers, teachers, parents) practical tools to encourage listening, cooperation and dialogue, while combating discrimination, harassment and conflict in the school environment. Taking one step at a time, through listening, understanding and creativity, we hope to plant a few seeds for a more peaceful, inclusive and caring school and society.
