Provider

Description

Rondine: Creative Conflict Transformation

Rondine Cittadella della Pace (Citadel of Peace) is a unique international organization dedicated to transforming conflict through education and peaceful coexistence. Located in a small medieval hamlet in Tuscany, just outside Arezzo, Rondine has become a global reference point for its commitment to reducing armed conflict and promoting dialogue and human connection as tools for peacebuilding.
At the heart of Rondine’s mission is the World House, a transformative 18-month residential program that welcomes young people from regions marked by violent conflict. Here, individuals who once saw each other as enemies choose to live together, learn from one another, and engage in a process of personal and collective growth.

Participants of the World House engage in a multi-layered journey:

• Daily life in community, learning empathy and trust through shared experiences;
• Capacity-building training, focused on emotional intelligence, non-violent communication, and conflict transformation;
• Civic engagement, with active involvement in public events, volunteering, and educational outreach;
• Formal education, including graduate-level academic training at Italian universities, aimed at preparing fellows for leadership in high-conflict or transitional contexts.

This immersive program allows participants to face conflict not as a dividing line but as a space for encounter and growth. Once completed, World House alumni return to their countries empowered with the tools to act as changemakers, applying the Rondine Method—a human-centered approach to conflict transformation—within their own communities.

Where / Served area: Italy, Arezzo

Website: www.rondine.org

Why on TravaPowa: True travel begins with curiosity, a willingness to question, and the courage to encounter the unfamiliar. It requires openness—to people, to contradictions, to perspectives radically different from our own. This same openness is the foundation of peace.

Rondine turns this encounter into a radical act of dialogue. It is a journey not across land, but through tension, discomfort, and growth. Here, peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to navigate it creatively, transforming division into opportunity.

• A journey through conflict – Rondine brings together young people who come from opposing sides of real, ongoing conflicts. In Tuscany, they live the paradox of peaceful coexistence with the “enemy,” facing the Other to transform themselves.
   
• From encounter to action – Participants don’t just learn about peace—they train to become changemakers. Equipped with emotional intelligence, facilitation skills, and academic tools, they return to their home countries ready to lead social transformation in communities facing division, trauma, or instability.
   
• Global challenges, local scale – Rondine brings the complexity of global conflict to the intimate, quiet environment of a Tuscan hamlet. This small-scale, community-based context becomes a micro-laboratory where deep interpersonal work can happen—far from political noise and pressure.
   
• Addressing the root causes of conflict – Rondine fosters inner transformation and human connection as a basis for peace. It trains individuals to deal with the origins of conflict—fear, misunderstanding, resentment—and to respond with empathy, courage, and responsibility.
   
• For a more just and sustainable world – By fostering civic responsibility and conflict transformation, Rondine contributes to the broader vision of inclusive, peaceful, and sustainable societies, fully aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals—especially SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

Take Action:  Want to enable impactful youth mobility and boost your CSR/ESG commitment on the topics of peace and conflict resolution? Get in touch with the TravaPowa team.

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© Image credit: Rondine Cittadella della Pace. All rights reserved