Carter School marks first year leading UN academic network on peace and justice

One year after becoming the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) Hub Chair for Sustainable Development Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University is expanding its role as a global convener of research, education, and partnerships aimed at advancing peace and sustainable development.

The appointment positioned the Carter School at the center of an international network of universities working to advance SDG 16, one of the Sustainable Development Goals that underpins progress across the entire 2030 Agenda.

For Dean Alpaslan Özerdem, the first year has reinforced an important lesson: Universities have an increasingly important role to play in addressing complex global challenges.

"Serving as the UNAI SDG 16 Hub Chair has never been about institutional prestige," said Özerdem. "Our goal has been to demonstrate that universities can become trusted global conveners, bringing together scholars, students, practitioners, and policymakers to translate knowledge into action."

Rather than creating another academic network, the Carter School has focused on building an international platform that connects research, teaching, outreach, and practice. Working alongside vice chairs at the University of Oxford, Narxoz University in Kazakhstan, and the University for Peace in Costa Rica, the Hub has emphasized collaboration across regions and disciplines while placing students and early-career scholars at the center of its activities.

That approach reflects the Carter School's broader philosophy that peacebuilding today requires expertise extending beyond traditional conflict resolution.

"Peace today intersects with technology, climate change, governance, migration, public health, and many other fields," Özerdem said. "Universities are uniquely positioned to bring these different perspectives together."

The coming year will build on that momentum. The Carter School plans to deepen engagement with students and young professionals while expanding partnerships across the UNAI network. A key initiative will be the Carter School's upcoming Peace Week, which will bring together universities, international organizations, and practitioners to explore emerging approaches to peace, justice, and institutional resilience.

Faculty members involved in the Hub say the initiative has created new opportunities for international collaboration and applied research, while students have benefited from greater engagement with UN practitioners and global experts working at the intersection of policy and peacebuilding.

That student engagement has also translated into opportunities for students to take an active role in shaping the Hub's programming and creating spaces for emerging scholars to contribute to global conversations.

"This spring, as students involved with the UNAI SDG 16 Hub, we organized the SDG 16 Graduate Student Research Symposium, bringing together 36 graduate researchers from 19 universities across the globe," said Carter School PhD student Kamran Mamedovi. "The symposium created a space for emerging scholars to exchange ideas across borders and disciplines and demonstrated the power of the SDG 16 Hub to connect diverse perspectives and give the next generation of scholars a meaningful voice in global conversations on peace, justice, and sustainable development."

As the international community enters the final years of the 2030 Agenda, the Carter School sees the Hub as an opportunity to demonstrate how universities can move beyond generating knowledge to helping solve global challenges.