The Journey Behind the Proxi-Temporal Peacebuilding Framework

The Proxi-Temporal Peacebuilding Framework emerged through the development of the International Institute for Peacebuilding in Active Conflict (IIPAC) and reflects the integration of several years of academic research, professional peacebuilding practice, and international collaboration. It was developed in response to an increasingly evident gap between international peacebuilding policy and the methodologies available for researching peace while organized violence remains active.

An Interdisciplinary Foundation

The framework draws upon a broad interdisciplinary body of scholarship, including participatory and transdisciplinary research, peace and conflict studies, critical pedagogy, feminist peace research, relational epistemology, and community-based participatory research. It has been particularly influenced by developments within the United Nations Sustaining Peace agenda, which recognizes peacebuilding as a continuous process extending before, during, and after conflict. While this policy shift significantly broadened the conceptual understanding of peacebuilding, it also highlighted the absence of a coherent methodological framework capable of operationalizing research during the temporal condition of active conflict.

A Practical Research Architecture

The Proxi-Temporal Framework therefore represents an attempt to synthesize these theoretical developments into a practical research architecture. Rather than replacing existing peacebuilding theories, it integrates their principal insights within a coherent framework specifically designed for conflict-embedded research, education, and institutional collaboration. Its continuing development is closely connected to IIPAC’s partnerships with universities, educators, and civil society organizations working in conflict-affected settings, where the framework continues to evolve through dialogue, collaboration, and critical reflection.

The Proxi-Temporal Peacebuilding Framework continues to evolve through research, dialogue, and collaboration with universities, practitioners, and communities working in conflict-affected settings. At its heart is a commitment to ensuring that peacebuilding research remains responsive to the realities of people living through violence, rather than relying solely on retrospective understandings of conflict.

But what gap does the framework actually seek to fill? In the next article, The Missing Piece in Peacebuilding, we explore the problem that inspired the development of the Proxi-Temporal Peacebuilding Framework and why a new approach to researching peace during active conflict is needed.