PeaceRep awarded the RSE Mary Somerville Medal
PeaceRep has been recognised by the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), Scotland’s National Academy for science and letters, for its pivotal role in networking peace and conflict organisations and supporting the establishment of digital peace processes.
PeaceRep is a consortium of research and non-governmental institutions led by the University of Edinburgh Law School. We are a team of 50+ researchers, mediation practitioners, lawyers, data scientists, managers, and communications professionals dedicated to reimagining peace and transition processes in changing conflict contexts. We work on interdisciplinary research on peace and transition processes, innovative ‘PeaceTech’ and data, and peace process design and support across the Middle East, East and North Africa, and Asia.
The PeaceRep team has been awarded the RSE Mary Somerville Medal, which recognises exceptional achievement in research in teamwork and collaborative endeavour within Scottish Higher Education Institutes (HEI), between Scottish HEI and other institutions/businesses, and within other institutions, nationally and internationally.
In the medal citation, the RSE commended PeaceRep for its collaborative work.
“RSE/Mary Somerville Medal is awarded to the PeaceRep Team, who is represented by Scottish researchers and international collaborators conducting research, policy and impact work on peace and conflict studies at both the local and the global scales. The team has played a pivotal role in networking peace and conflict organisations across Scotland and Northern England, and in supporting the establishment of digital peace processes, including in Yemen.”
PeaceRep’s Executive Director Prof Christine Bell said:
“At a time when the world seems perilously engaged in war, this medal affirms the importance of continual peacemaking in dark and dangerous moments. Our team at the University of Edinburgh – many of whom started their careers with this project – has been privileged to work as part of a wider team of groups in Scotland, but also including local peacebuilders in contexts as varied as Afghanistan, Syria, South Sudan, Iraq and Yemen. The award of the medal will encourage us, and we hope others, to continue to explore how new technologies can be used to harness innovation in research and practice. We are honoured to accept it, and in turn pay our tribute to those we work with who are struggling to address the violent conflicts in which they live.”