Abstract:
The post conflict environment in Sri Lanka remains to face problems of reconciliation, social
cohesion and sustainable development. Peace education has been introduced in the higher education context, but there is limited research on the impact of peace education in changing
students’ perceptions and in promoting inclusive practices. Thus, this study fills the gap by
exploring the impact of peace education on social cohesion and sustainable development among
the students of the peace studies field of study at Kelaniya University with the primary aim
of investigating the impact of peace education on the understanding of social inclusion and
sustainable development among peace studies students of Kelaniya University. In addition, the
research had two specific aims: to find out what has worked and what has not in embedding
peace education in wider development pursuits; and to discover the stories of peace students
about reconciliation and community involvement. Qualitative case study design was used in
this study, and the peace studies programme of Kelaniya University was used as a case study.
Primary and secondary data was gathered, where primary data was collected through in-depth
interviews, focus group discussions and secondary data was collected from different literary
sources. To this end, a narrative analysis was employed to learn about personal stories and
personal experiences, and highlight how students make sense of peace, sustainability and social
cohesion. Results indicated that through peace education, critical awareness of reconciliation
and inclusive and sustainable development is created. Students demonstrated their ability to
describe transformation, using language and focusing on empathy, intercultural dialogue, and
community responsibility. But there were challenges regarding the inadequate institutional support
for peace education translation to community-based activities, and the conflict post context
between theory and practice in Sri Lanka. Moreover, the study reveals that peace education is
one of the major components that can contribute to social cohesion and the sustainable development in Sri Lanka’s post conflict situation. Stories of empathetic and inclusive understanding can help universities to become catalysts for reconciliation. Strengthening of the institution and integration with community-based development project is recommended to improve the effect of peace education.
