Introducing the first edition of the Hiroshima International Conference on Peace and Sustainability hosted by the Network for Education and Research on Peace and Sustainability (NERPS), Hiroshima University, Japan, IEREK is proud to announce that the conference will be held from 1 to 3 March 2022.

Since the late 1980s, and in order to regulate the increasingly detrimental impacts of humans on the environment, transition towards sustainability has been high on the agenda of researchers and policy makers alike. Meanwhile, peace considerations have expanded in recent decades to include the varied types and sources of conflict, from inter-state to intra-state conflicts due to various social, political, economic, and environmental factors.

Academic and policy circles widely recognize sustainability and peace as intrinsically interrelated. The concepts of sustainability and peace are multi-dimensional and constantly evolving, and the pathways of their relationship are complex and dynamic. Some studies have highlighted the myriad factors and mechanisms that influence this relationship, particularly that of between climate and conflict (e.g., IPCC 2014; Koubi 2019). They shed light on the mediating role of political institutions, economic conditions, and social practices, especially in understanding the implications of climate for security (e.g., Hendrix and Haggard 2015; Koubi et al. 2012; von Uexkull et al. 2016). However, there is still a need to better understand the pathways where sustainability and peace interact considering the different factors and contexts that are constantly shaping and reshaping the conditions for sustainable and peaceful societies (e.g., Fisher et al., 2021; Sharifi et al. 2021).

The Hiroshima International Conference on Peace and Sustainability is a platform to facilitate transdisciplinary research and policy conversations on the peace-sustainability nexus. The overall goal of this conference is to facilitate inter- and trans-disciplinary dialogue and collaboration between various stakeholders working on issues related to peace, sustainability, or their nexus. Through facilitating interaction between stakeholders that focus on peace and/or sustainability, it is hoped that the conference will foster further research and practice on the peace-sustainability nexus. Students, researchers, and practitioners are invited from different disciplines and sectors to present their research and initiatives and explore new partnerships and collaborations.

The Hiroshima International Conference on Peace and Sustainability 2022 is planned as a hybrid event, where various presentation contingencies will be planned.  Students, researchers, and practitioners are therefore encouraged to submit abstracts.