Peace Design is a participatory, iterative design process that enables frontline communities, movements, and civil society organizations to collectively co-design strategies for justice, peace, and systemic transformation. At its core, Peace Design is about building shared futures—inclusive, co-created, and rooted in equity and radical inclusion. Peace Design begins with centering lived experience, transformative relational culture, and reflective practice that fosters collective action for systemic change. In peace Design, the structure channels power in that the participatory and experiential methodology opens up the agency and power to people. Peace Design is a process that knows when we design with and for the margins we design for the whole. 

Unlike traditional development program design models that rely on external expertise and hierarchical decision-making, peace design merges design thinking and behavioral and systems change processes, participatory action research, and sustained dialogue. Peace Design prioritizes collaborative co-design, critical reflection, and power-sharing. It is a dynamic and adaptive methodology that moves between reflection and action back to reflection and so on, ensuring that communities continuously assess, iterate, and refine their approaches to designing peace. Peace Design was co-created in community and is for community. Through this process, civil society organizations, social movements, and changemakers gain the agency to shape their own strategies, narratives, and structures, leading to transformation. 

The Peace Design Process Frameworks:

Reflection, Action, and Transformation

Peace Design operates through three interconnected frameworks, which are perspective, purpose, and power. Each of these elements guides participants through a structured yet flexible process of co-design. Throughout the process of Peace design, the work of reflective practice is central—ensuring that every step is informed by lived experience, continuous learning, and iterative adaptation. Reflective Practice is integrated into the six stages of Peace Design and includes whole group accompaniment, personal coaching, mentoring, and a two-way evaluative process that shifts power and enables learning from all sides. Perspective: Grounding in Relational organizing and culture building

Perspective is the foundation for understanding the context, systems, and positionality within them. Through creative play, sustained dialogue, deep analysis, and reflection, this phase fosters deep curiosity, active listening, deep democracy, and trust-building. The Perspective framework recognizes that meaningful change is only possible when rooted in authentic relationships. Before communities can co-design solutions, they must first understand the ecosystem they operate in, identify power structures at play, and critically reflect on their own positionality within these systems. This process ensures that any intervention is informed, intentional, and aligned with the lived realities of those most impacted.

This stage includes the first two methodologies:

1. Curious Empathy

Curious empathy is a practice of deep listening, sustained dialogue, and mutual understanding where participants engage with different perspectives and lived experiences to build collective wisdom on an issue, system, or problem. Curious Empathy invites participants to step outside of their assumptions, ask meaningful questions, and hold space for complexity. Through this process, communities develop shared understanding and trust, critical for co-designing effective and sustainable solutions.

2. Naming

Naming is the process of mapping and naming the current context, problem or system it includes exercises that seek to identify root causes, see historical patterns, and identify systemic barriers that shape the present. By critically analyzing power structures, participants can recognize where power presently lies, what the roots are to the issue at hand, who holds influence, who is marginalized, and where change is most needed. The Naming process creates the conditions for co-design, holding dearly to the idea that Paulo Freire wrote so powerfully about in the Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

“Those with the power to name the world hold the power to change the world.”

Purpose: From Vision to Co-Design

purpose is where imagination meets strategy. It is about moving from ideas to concrete co-design through a process of iteration and prototyping, ensuring that solutions are tested, visionary, and actionable.  At this stage, participants explore possibilities, prototype interventions, and collectively refine their strategies.

This stage includes the next two methodologies:

3. Imagine

Imagine is a guided ideation process that encourages participants to envision new futures beyond the limitations of existing systems. By using brainstorming, speculative design, storytelling, and scenario planning, participants can explore alternative pathways to peace and justice. This is an essential step in shifting from reactionary responses to proactive, transformational solutions.

4. Co-Design

Co-Design is where collaborative innovation happens. This method emphasizes participatory planning, prototyping, and iterative development—ensuring that solutions are not imposed from the outside but emerge from collective wisdom and lived experience. From prototyping solutions to designing action plans and real-world testing, participants refine their approaches in a workshop test kitchen, ensuring that their interventions are adaptable and responsive to evolving needs.

Power: From Concept to Actionable Change

The Power framework moves from planning into action and on to long-term impact. This is where designed solutions become tangible initiatives, policy efforts, or collective action campaigns. Power is about shaping new systems and structures that uphold justice, peace, and equity. However, true transformation requires ongoing reflection, adaptation, and power-sharing, which is why this stage is deeply iterative and dynamic.

This stage includes the final two methodologies:

5. Action

Action is the culmination of the Peace Design process—where participants move from vision to implementation, launching initiatives and mobilizing for impact. It ensures that co-created solutions go beyond theory to become tangible, transformative interventions. Rooted in community leadership and power-conscious organizing, action is supported through mentorship and coaching, ensuring that movements and civil society actors steer their change rather than being dictated by external agendas.

6. Reflection

Reflection is a continuous practice in Peace Design, becoming especially vital in this final stage. Through participatory evaluation, storytelling, visual media, and methodologies such as accompaniment, coaching, and mentoring, Activate Labs collaborates with social movements and civil society to assess impact, capture lessons learned, and refine strategies based on lived experiences. This reflective process ensures that movements remain adaptive, relevant, and sustainable. Reflection often results in tangible outputs such as reports, graphic recordings, visual summaries, infographics, videos, toolkits, and other resources that support ongoing learning and strategy development.