The 2023 Basel Peace Forum took place from January 19-20 and focused on borders.
Borders are an integral part of our daily lives. As a social construct, they are randomly drawn or clearly defined, have historical or cultural backgrounds, and result from international treaties or political negotiations. Borders separate states, cities and people, but they are also crossed by humans, goods, objects, ideas and practices. In recent years, a tendency to retreat behind national borders has been observed in many places, despite current social phenomena calling for a transnational perspective. What influence do migration, climate change, or pandemics have on borders? And how is all this related to peace and conflict?
Our participants attended an innovative hybrid program, ranging from panel discussions and speaker debates to creative workshops. We got inspired by brilliant minds and new ideas and exchanged with participants from all over the world!