“Horizontal Peacebuilding”: A New Concept Developed by IFIT’s Territorial Trust in Colombia

“Horizontal peacebuilding” is a new concept pioneered by IFIT’s Territorial Trust in Colombia.

Prevailing concepts of locally-led peacebuilding focus on vertical relationships between elites and communities – or more generally, between a “centre” and a “periphery”.

The approach is understandable but overlooks a critical horizontal level of peacebuilding in which 1) trans-local and inter-territorial relationships and collaborations are prioritised, and 2) the role of “go-between” or mid-level peacebuilders is central.

The DOI registration ID for this publication is: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13741268