The workshop, organized by AIA Fellows Summar Iqbal Barbar and Ifedayo Grace Malachi, addresses an important dimension of the Academy’s chosen annual theme of translocalism and sub-national diplomacy. The aim of this workshop was to use concrete examples from the Global North and Global South to gain a clearer understanding of categories such as diaspora, cultural heritage, and translocality in their function as peace infrastructures. In the first section, Prof. Dr. Farhan H. Siddiqi, Prof. Dr. Mujtaba A. Isani, and Dr. Aliru Abiodun Adiatu discussed the key categories of cultural heritage, mobility, and peace architectures. Summar Barbar and Ifedayo Malachi then presented their case studies of the Kartarpur Corridor between India and Pakistan and the Lake Chad Basin for discussion. The day concluded with Prof. Dr. Jochen Hippler giving an overview of his book on the relationship between Islam, identity, and the state in Pakistan, which he has just completed and which will be published later this year.

On the second day of the workshop, Prof. Dr. Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, Dean of Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, Pakistan, discussed the role of religious actors in conflict transformation with Prof. Hippler. AIA Associate Fellow Dr. Inci Öykü Yener-Roderburg reported on her research on faith-based actors in the diaspora, focusing in particular on how they can bridge the gap between humanitarian aid and long-term peacebuilding. The final session focused on the complex relationship between diaspora settlement, gender issues, and post-conflict integration. Bayan Anouz spoke about the Syrian diaspora and Dr. Fatmeh Hippler spoke about the Afghan diaspora.. At the end of the workshop, all participants agreed on the significant peacebuilding potential inherent in the identities and communities of the local diaspora and that further research is needed in this area.