British Academy funded project, under its Knowledge Frontiers Scheme
This research project explores the vital yet often overlooked role of local faith actors (LFAs) in fostering community resilience, peace, and reconciliation in response to global disorder. Despite their deep-rooted presence and influence in local communities, LFAs have been marginalised in international peacebuilding, development, and humanitarian efforts - particularly in relation to the ‘intangible’ or spiritual dimensions of their work.
Through participatory action research in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Burundi, the project aimed to:
- Deepen understanding of both the ‘tangible’ (material) and ‘intangible’ (spiritual) contributions of LFAs to peace and resilience.
- Co-develop a conceptual framework with LFAs to promote broader recognition of their work and foster more inclusive partnerships with international actors.
By centring LFAs’ lived experiences and spiritual insights, this project contributes to reimagining peacebuilding approaches that are more locally grounded and spiritually attuned.
Find our research & policy reports, video reflections from participants and our conceptual framework below.
Research & Policy Reports
Explore our research findings and policy recommendations:
Philippines Country Report (pdf)
Sri Lanka Country Report, File DownloadHidden Peacebuilders Speak: Reflections from Participants
Hear directly from religious leaders in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Burundi as they reflect on their peacebuilding work, its connection to their faith, and their experiences participating in the project. This video also contains reflections from our lead researcher, Professor Emma Tomalin, and partnered practitioner Dilshan Annaraj of World Vision International.
As part of the British Academy-funded Knowledge Frontiers research project on the Intangibles of Peacebuilding, Do No Harm for Faith Groups workshops were conducted with faith leaders in the Philippines, Burundi and Sri Lanka. In this video we hear from them about how their reflections on the workshop, on their communities and on how their faith can motivate them to promote peace in their communities.
This project was implemented jointly by University of Leeds, World Vision International, the Joint Learning Initiative for Faith and Local Communities, University of East London, Ateneo de Manila University and Rema Burundi.
You can find all 167 of our videos collected over the course of the project here
Conceptual Framework
Formulated through the distillation of some of the key lessons and findings from the research, our new Conceptual Framework on Faith-Informed Peacebuilding is available below:
