As we start 2026, we’re reflecting on the fact that working in conflict resolution education and community cohesion during turbulent political times often feels like a long, unpredictable game of snakes and ladders.
Just when it seems we are making progress, another outbreak of violence or a new incident of hate sends us sliding back down the board. It can be disheartening, especially for those on the front line who live the consequences of polarisation and racism every day - the dehumanisation is distressing. Yet this work has never been about guaranteed success or easy wins.
At SNS, we stay in the game because we believe it is the right thing to do and because we know that, over the long arc of history, investing in human connection is the best way forward for all of us. We are not driven by comfort or certainty; we are driven by conviction. What we do is difficult precisely because the forces pushing in the opposite direction are powerful. But that is also why our work matters.
I often think of our role in Peace Education as acting like a subtle drag on the sociopolitical pendulum. Left unchecked, that pendulum can swing dangerously to the extremes at either end, pulling societies apart and deepening the fractures between communities. We cannot measure exactly how much our efforts slow that swing, but we know that without deliberate interventions to build empathy, critical thinking, and shared humanity, the momentum towards division would be far stronger.
The real source of hope lies in the next generation. The young people we work with are developing what I would call the “muscle memory” of dialogue and conflict resolution. Even if they find themselves momentarily at the bottom of a snake, these skills help them climb back up with greater resilience and insight.
In the end, when we look back on our life’s work, we will be grateful we chose this path. As Yuval Noah Harari reminds us, solving the human trust problem is among the most important tasks of our time - and it is a task worth dedicating our lives to.
- Sharon Booth, Executive Director and Founder at Solutions Not Sides