Lisenka Sedlacek

“What I really like about the academy is that the facilitators have a lot of experience in Peace & Conflict Work all over the world. Coming from different backgrounds, everybody brings something important into the Academy."

Lisenka Sedlacek peace advisor for Creative Methods for Conflict Transformation

Lisenka Sedlacek is a peace advisor for “Creative Methods for Conflict Transformation” with a strong artistic profile. Growing up in Münster, Germany, she attended drama school and worked eight years as an actor before studying International Relations. Addressing the question: “Under what conditions can participatory theatre contribute to conflict transformation in (post-) conflict areas?”, Lisenka developed a framework for theatre project design in developing countries. As an actor by profession, she has been working for over two years with the Civil Peace Service of GIZ in Al-Karak, Jordan, implementing a “Theatre for Change” project, combining classical theatre with methods of “Theatre of the Oppressed” by Augusto Boal. She implements elements of voice training, creative writing and storytelling for social change from a peace education perspective in her workshops. Lisenka is working with a focus on youth and girl’s empowerment and developed the theatrical method of “stage-fighting” as a tool for conflict transformation.

She started to take seminars with the Academy for Conflict Transformation since 2018 on subjects such as Peace Psychology, Gender in Peace and Conflict Work, Dealing with the Past, Trauma and Resilience, Team Building and Forum Theatre, among others.

Lisenka shared with us her experience as an alumnus at the Academy for Conflict Transformation:

“What I really like about the academy is that the facilitators have a lot of experience in Peace & Conflict Work all over the world. Coming from different backgrounds, everybody brings something important into the Academy. It’s very nice and helpful to get to know so many people who are doing such a great job in peacebuilding and to learn about the different projects everybody is doing. You feel a great sense of community, you can network and make friends; we all have a common goal and it’s inspiring to find people trying to achieve the same.

Working with people and their stories that impact you on an emotional level can be challenging; looking into young people's eyes that have so much hope for change really touches you. The courses were crucial to my work, as they helped me to step out of the context, be more analytical and see new perspectives.”

Lisenka wishes more people, especially young people in marginalized countries, would have the chance to be part of the Academy for Conflict Transformation in order to empower themselves and to bring these tools and methods into the world.