Corridors is an initiative that aims to foster dialogue and cooperation between societies from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the European Union. Together with local partners, we develop joint learning and capacity-building opportunities in the field of formal and informal peace education. A specific focus and key competence of Corridors is the facilitation of cross-regional dialogue and cooperation around protracted conflicts in the post-Soviet space and beyond. We develop and implement projects that enhance knowledge transfer and create new opportunities for direct people-to-people contact across the conflict divide. Therefore, joint education and academic cooperation are used as tools to revitalise exchange and cooperation between conflicting sides. In a cross-regional framework, we strive to facilitate cooperation between academic and civil society stakeholders to revitalise dialogue between communities. Corridors aims to enhance awareness and understanding of the context and dynamics around protracted conflicts in specific regions and on an international level. Corridors is designed using a cross-thematic approach, linking capacity building and cooperation in the field of formal and non-formal education with dialogue activities in an innovative way.

We are pleased to announce the call for participants for our project "Advancing Young Scholars and Peacebuilders Careers". The project aims to strengthen the capacities and future prospects for young researchers and civil society activists from the whole Caucasus region. Within the project we will: (1) offer training on vital skills and input on relevant topics by international experts and scholars; (2) facilitate dialogue and networking among selected candidates; and (3) strengthen the visibility of the participants within the expert community and enable knowledge transfer from the Caucasus into international discourses. To achieve these objectives, the project consists of several components. 

• The one-week workshop "Protracted Conflicts: Current Challenges and Future Perspectives in the Caucasus” in Berlin, August 10 – 15, 2020 (TBC)
• Support for collaborative or individual academic articles or opinion papers of the workshop participants 
• The joint print and online publication “Corridors-Proceedings Vol. II”

We invite young actors from the fields of conflict research and civil society conflict transformation from Georgia/Abkhazia, Armenia/Nagorno-Karabakh/Azerbaijan, and Russia to apply for the project. This includes advanced students, graduates, doctoral candidates, lecturers, and civil society activists up to 40 years of age. 

Thanks to the generous funding of the German Federal Office (#CivilSocietyCooperation), we will cover the project-related costs, including travel, accommodation, full board, and excursions. 

Please apply not later than by 26 June.

Given the uncertainties of the current pandemic, the fall-back date for the workshop is September 2020. If it is not possible to hold an international workshop in Germany by then, we will convert the project into a condensed online learning and exchange format, which is strongly oriented towards the needs of the selected participants.

Together with the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena (FSU) we are pleased to announce the call for participants for the Corridors Summer School "Strengthening Peace Education Capacities in the Caucasus". The Summer School, which will take place 31 August – 05 September 2020 in Neudietendorf (Germany), aims to introduce the participants to the fundamentals of conflict analysis and peacebuilding. Moreover, we strive to train the participants on core competencies in the field of dialogue, mediation, and self-awareness.

Thanks to funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), all workshop-related costs, including travel, accommodation, excursions, and full board, are covered by the organizers.

The Corridors Summer School is open to students and recent graduates from the South Caucasus, Russia, and Germany with knowledge in political and social science, international relations, cultural studies, and neighbouring disciplines. We ask all interested students and young graduates to send us a short application by 5 July 2020 latest. The application should include a brief letter of motivation (max one page) and a curriculum vitae. Please send your application to Christopher Brucker (Christopher.Brucker@uni-jena.de). If you have further questions, please contact us. 

Given the uncertainties of the current pandemic, we will aim to find an alternative date later this year if it will be not possible to hold the summer school in September.