Young Leaders turn Peace Education into Action

How can young people use media, the arts and global citizenship education to advocate for peace?

That question brought 40 young leaders from 30 countries to Seoul from 8 to 12 June 2026 for the 12th Youth Leadership Workshop on Global Citizenship Education, organised by APCEIU in partnership with UNESCO MGIEP and the GCED Youth Network.

Held under the theme “Translating Peace into Action: Leveraging Media and the Arts for Youth Advocacy,” the five-day workshop explored how young people can respond to conflict, inequality, misinformation and polarisation through creative, youth-led action.

Participants worked with Global Citizenship Education and Social and Emotional Learning approaches, reflecting on peace, human rights, media literacy and AI ethics. They also explored how storytelling, visual arts, theatre and digital campaigns can help translate complex issues into messages that move people.

Across the week, young leaders shared their own peacebuilding initiatives, learned from examples from Tanzania and Korea, and visited the War and Women’s Human Rights Museum to reflect on historical memory, women’s rights and the human impact of war.

The workshop closed with participants developing individual action plans to take back to their communities. To support this next step, APCEIU is launching a Mentorship and Grant Programme, through which ten participants will receive expert mentoring and support to implement their initiatives over three months.

For DEAR practitioners, the workshop offers a useful example of global education in practice: combining critical thinking, empathy, media literacy and creative advocacy to help young people move from reflection to action.

Read more here.