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Activities
SAUP Summer Schools
A one-week summer school is organized every year at a different location bringing together all network partners. The overarching aim of the summer schools is to prepare the lecturers of the partner universities for teaching in their peace and conflict degree programs and to provide them with further subject-specific and didactic training. In addition, the summer schools will be a space where innovative teaching methods can be taught and trialed together, thus preparing participants to act as multipliers at their respective home universities.
SAUP Summer School 2024 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
The first activity of the DAAD funded SDG Partnership Project “Southeast Asian University Partnership for Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation (SAUP)” took place from August 12th – 19th in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Regional Conference, which was attended by participants from Germany, Timor-Leste, the Philippines and Cambodia, was co-organised with the GIZ Civil Peace Service.
Five staff members from the Center for Conflict Studies attended the event and contributed workshops on “Everyday Peace: Developing and Comparing Initial Indicators” and “Do No Harm: A Brief Introduction to the approach of the Local Capacities for Peace Project”. In addition, the conference agenda offered a range of workshops on Faith-based Transitional Justice and Trauma-informed pedagogies, as well as field visits to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and the ‘Killing Fields,’ allowing participants to directly engage with Cambodia’s post-conflict landscape.SAUP Summer School 2025 in Marburg, Germany
The annual Regional Conference of the DAAD funded SDG Partnership Project SAUP (Southeast Asian University Partnership for Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation) took place from July 14th to July 18th 2025 in Marburg. The event, which was co-organised with the GIZ Civil Peace Service, was attended by participants from Timor-Leste, the Philippines and Cambodia and Germany.
The conference, held under the theme “Didactics in Peace and Conflict Studies”, offered a variety of workshops, including “The Nexus of Peacebuilding and AI” and “Constructive Alignment in Module and Course Planning”. Furthermore, Prof. Adam Kochanski (University of Guelph, Canada) contributed a lecture on “Practicing Norm Localization in the International Human Rights Regime” and participants and individuals interested were welcomed to join a public roundtable on “Teaching Peace and Conflict in Troubled Times”. During these workshops and events participants actively engaged in discussions on the use of teaching tools, different higher education systems and their respective structural constraints, as well as potential research collaborations. Additionally, the conference agenda included a tour of Marburg’s old town, as well as a guided visit to the Marburg University Library.South-South-Exchange
South-South-Exchange in Mindanao, Philippines 2024
The South-South-Exchange in the Philippines took place from November 26th to December 3rd 2024. The participating institutions were the Mindanao State University Iligan Institue for Technology, UNPAZ and Centro Nacional Chega! from Timor-Leste financially supported by GIZ SAUP and the German Academic Exchange Service through Marburg University. The week-long event focused on themes of peace education and peace research.
The participants from Timor-Leste gained wide-ranging insights into MSU-IIT not only through discussions and exchanges with the staff and faculty members but by attending peace education classes together with students. In addition to the educational aspects of peace, the institutions explored research methodology and the possibilities of collaborative peace and conflict research projects. By visiting the MSU Marawi Museum and Ground Zero, a site of conflict between the Philippine government and non-state armed groups, the participants expanded their knowledge on the political context in Mindanao. The program also included a visit to sites of ecological and sustainable tourism like a waterfall located between two Philippine municipalities.South-South-Exchange in Dili, Timor-Leste 2025
From 4th to 8th November 2025 the SAUP South-South Exchange took place in Dili, Timor-Leste. A total of 32 people from MSU-IIT in the Philippines, the Royal University Phnom Penh and the Buddhist University in Cambodia, UNPAZ and Centro Nacional Chega! as well as the GIZ SAUP staff attended.
During the first day UNPAZ shared their curriculum on Peace- and Conflict studies including the challenges and lessons learned during its development. The activities on the second day were lead by MSU-IIT. The Philippine university presented a Virtual Memory Project and conducted a workshop on proposal writing. The third day gave the participants the possibility to gain deeper insights into the context of Timor-Leste. Starting with a visit at Centro Nacional Chega! and an exhibition on Timor-Leste‘s colonial past, the Indonesian occupation, resistance and gaining independence from colonial rule, Centro Nacional Chega! presented their workings which opened room for discussions on Transitional Justice. Building on that, the following day‘s programm included a visit to a former prison as well as conversations with its survivors. The last day was used to discuss how to further establish collaborations and joint projects by the participating institutions.North-South-Exchange
During the summer term 2025 the Marburg University welcomed seven Erasmus students from the Royal University Phnom Penh in Cambodia, MSU-IIT in the Philippines as well as UNPAZ in Timor-Leste.
Five students arrived in Marburg at the beginning of the summer term of 2026. The students are participating in courses at the Center for Conflict Studies.
The exchange takes place within the framework of the SAUP partnership project (Southeast Asian University Partnership for Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation) and is made possible by Erasmus funding for cooperation with partner countries outside the European Union.Trip to Berlin 2025
In the summer semester of 2025, we welcomed seven students from Cambodia, Timor-Leste and the Philippines to the Center for Conflict Studies Marburg.
The students travelled together to Berlin in June. During the excursion, the students explored various chapters of German history and places of remembrance culture and politics. Among other things, the students took part in a postcolonial tour of the Humboldt Forum, visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Berlin Wall and the Topography of Terror.
Trip to Berlin 2026
In May 2026, five Erasmus students from the Philippines, Cambodia, and Timor-Leste took part in a three-day long excursion to Berlin. The trip offered insight into Berlin’s and Germany‘s historical and political development while also creating opportunities for cultural exchange.
The trip started by exploring some of Berlin‘s most famous sights, including Museum Island, the Victory Columns and the TV Tower. By visiting the Memorial of the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Jewish Museum, the Berlin Wall Memorial as well as the East Side Gallery, the students engaged with places of remembrance that reflect Germany‘s past. In addition, the group had the chance to visit the federal parliament of Germany, the Bundestag.
Virtual Exchanges and Lecture Series
In 2025 and 2026, the network organized several online and virtual events dealing with different topics in the realm of Peace and Conflict Studies. This opens the room for academic debates among the institutions, sharing practices and experiences, as well as discussions on current research and challenges in the field.
· September 25, 2025 Transitional Justice Online Forum: Presentation of Yasmira Moner (Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology) „The Transitional Justice and Reconciliation in the Bangsamoro, Philippines“
· December 3, 2025 Transitional Justice Online Forum: „Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Tribunal: Understanding Transitional Justice: The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia”
· March 18, 2026 SAUP Virtual Exchange talk: Sir Primitivo III Cabanes Ragandang – associated Professor at MSU-IIT (Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology) “From the Field to the University: Reflections on Positionality, Research, and Peacebuilding in Practice”
· May 6, 2026 Transitional Justice Online Forum: Presentation by Hugo M. Fernandes (Executive Director Centro Nacional Chega!) „Timor-Leste’s Transitional Justice Journey: Victims, Reparations and Reconciliation”
