From 17 to 20 September 2025, the National University of Colombia in Bogotá hosted the Summit of the International Alliance of Postgraduate Schools for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the closing event of the Doctoral Studies Support Programme (DSSP), one of the seven postgraduate schools. As part of this event, a DSSP alumni meeting was held, which included the activity “Let’s Talk About Peace!”, inspired by the #1000cranesforpeace campaign of the ‘Circles of Peace’ project, an initiative developed between the Service for Mission, Ecumenism and Development (DiMOE) and the Baden-Württemberg Development Policy Confederation (DEAB) since June 2024. ‘Circles of Peace’ seeks to create spaces and participate in events that promote reflection on the value of peace in today’s world. It falls under SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) and is based on the recommendations of the Final Report of the Colombian Truth Commission and its legacy, which aims, among other things, to promote coexistence in the territories, build peace and prevent the repetition of violence.
DSSP Alumni Meeting. Photos: Felipe Giraldo
The #1000cranesforpeace campaign, in turn, was inspired by the legend of the thousand cranes, which tells that whoever folds a thousand paper cranes will have a wish granted by the gods. The legend became famous thanks to the story of Sadako Sasaki, a girl in the city of Hiroshima who fell ill with leukaemia after the atomic bomb and intended to fold a thousand paper cranes for her recovery. Aware of the collective construction of peace, this campaign has been inspired by this story and has begun to fold paper cranes and invite all those who want to fold paper to spread peace through their own interpretations, to promote a space for reflection and to foster a globally and culturally diverse understanding of the importance of peace in the contemporary world.
Thus, at DSSP, we wanted to join this campaign to fold cranes for peace in Colombia and around the world and take this opportunity to reflect on our contributions to peacebuilding through our research. The invitation to the DSSP alumni meeting was to fold cranes and discuss peacebuilding in Colombia, from the perspective of research contributions, everyday life, and each person’s role in society. While folding the cranes, the following questions were discussed: What do you consider your contributions to peacebuilding in Colombia? How can we contribute to peacebuilding from our role in society?
Approximately 35 scholarship holders attended this activity and folded 55 cranes, which travelled to Germany, in Bonn, and will continue their journey until they join the #1000cranesforpeace in Stuttgart. Among the reflections that took place in this space, it is worth highlighting the analogy made by some participants between the process of peacebuilding and that of folding cranes, as collective and shared efforts between various actors. There were also reflections on the relational nature of peacebuilding and the importance of recognising communities in this process and understanding peace from the perspective of conflict transformation rather than the absence of conflict.
On behalf of the DSSP coordination team, we would like to thank all our beneficiaries for their participation in this meeting and their willingness to take part in an activity that differed from the academic format and to open their minds to reflect on something as important as peacebuilding from the perspective of each individual’s role in society.
Contributions to peacebuilding from the DSSP. Photos: Carolina Tobón