Positive Peace is supported by a set of eight interrelated factors (or Pillars) that the IEP has empirically proven to increase the peacefulness in a community in long-lasting and resilient ways.
Peace that is underpinned by having the attitudes, institutions and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies is referred to as Positive Peace.
High levels of Positive Peace occur when attitudes make violence less tolerated, institutions are more responsive to society’s needs, and structures underpin the nonviolent resolution of grievances.
Rotary International envisioned the importance of Promoting Positive Peace with the involvement of Rotarians throughout the world. In this connection, RI entered into a Strategic Partnership with the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP) in 2017, to promote Positive Peace
Rotary and the IEP established the Rotary Positive Peace Activator Program which functions as an international network of Peace Builders trained in the IEP Positive Peace Framework, equipped to provide peace training and project support to Rotarians. RI-IEP has trained and appointed approximately 400 Positive Peace Activators around the world. Approximately 200 Rotarians from all global regions are Positive Peace Activators. Rotary’s partnership with the IEP ended in December 2025 after the successful conclusion of the Positive Peace Activator training programme.
Positive Peace is supported by a set of eight interrelated factors (or Pillars) that the IEP has empirically proven to increase the peacefulness in a community in long-lasting and resilient ways.
The Positive Peace Framework encompasses concepts of Systems Thinking where each pillar is a system which also impacts the other seven pillars in varying degrees to effect change. The Theory of Change entails Inputs, Outputs, Outcomes and Impact.
The essence of Peacebuilding is found in four disciplines, each of which requires Moral Imagination. These four disciplines of Peacebuilding are the Centrality of Relationships, the Practice of Paradoxical Curiosity, the Provision of Space for the Creative Act, and the Willingness to Risk.
Citation: Lederach, John Paul. The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace.
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