This post was orginially published by Leiden University College The Hague on Linkedin, as part of their 15th anniversary celebration in 2025 with the theme ‘Global challenges, local impact’. To kick off this anniversary year, they shared fifteen stories in recent weeks about how LUC students, researchers and alumni contribute to social issues in the Netherlands.
Global challenges, local impact: how can we strengthen the ecosystem of The Hague as an international city? How do we ensure a real dialogue about peace and security here in The Hague between peace workers, policymakers and researchers from conflict areas worldwide?
The Fireside Peace Chats, organized in collaboration with The Hague Humanity Hub and the Knowledge Platform Security & Rule of Law provide just that: informal, personal conversations about the challenges and opportunities for peacebuilding.
This initiative is the tenth example of how Leiden University College (LUC) has a local impact.
Maja Vodopivec, assistant professor at LUC: ‘Leiden University College functions as a bridge between various international stakeholders in The Hague and contributes with a unique global and interdisciplinary perspective, based on deep understanding of different local contexts. By educating a new generation of students with critical thinking skills and innovative ideas, LUC plays an important role in strengthening the ecosystem of The Hague as an international city.’
These meetings bring together a diverse learning community of practitioners (from both NGOs and governments), researchers, policymakers, students and citizens. Participants included experts and organizations such as Peace Boat Japan, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) Northeast Asia, peace workers from South Korea and Mongolia, the Public Movement for Multinational Georgia, the Peace Academy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as NGOs from the Philippines, West Africa, East Africa, Sri Lanka, Colombia, and many other regions.
At Leiden University College (LUC), we will celebrate our 15th anniversary in 2025. We kick off this anniversary year with 15 inspiring examples that show how LUC students and researchers, thanks to their interdisciplinary and international perspective, have a direct impact on Dutch society. More information about our anniversary.
The next edition of the Fireside Peace Chat will be on 10 March with Professor Kyungmook Kim on The Zainichi Korean Community, the Division, and Peace Movement. More information and registration here. To find out more about Fireside Peace Chats visit the project page.