Berghof Foundation Operations gGmbH
Established in 1971 and based in Germany, Berghof Foundation is an independent, non-governmental and non-profit organisation, supporting conflict-affected actors in their efforts to achieve sustainable peace through peacebuilding and conflict transformation. Berghof’s mission is creating space for conflict transformation through applied research, peace education and practical engagement in dialogue and mediation support. The concept of conflict transformation rests on the conviction that violent political and social conflicts can be transformed into trusted and nonviolent collaboration, eventually leading to sustainable peace. Following key values of inclusivity, ownership and multi-partiality, Berghof supports actors in peace(building) processes, inspires reflective learning and encourages creative new thinking.
Berghof’s Conflict Transformation Research Department builds on long-standing experience in analysing and engaging in war-affected or post-war regions. Its central aim is to support the active participation of conflict stakeholders in inclusive processes of nonviolent resistance and conflict transformation. It does so by conducting collaborative research, offering capacity-building assistance and providing policy advice regarding the roles of formal and informal actors as peace- and state-building agents in asymmetric state-society conflicts.
Berghof Foundation is the coordinator of the PAVE project and leader of Work Packages 1 and 8 concentrating on the project’s management and on communication and disseminating the project’s results. Their work also contributes largely to defining key terms and concepts needed throughout project implementation, formulating policy recommendations arising from the project findings, and fostering cooperation with relevant H2020 projects. They will support the empirical research especially through the foundation’s Beirut office, whose staff will conduct fieldwork and co-organise stakeholder committee meetings in Lebanon.