Helen Berents

ARC DECRA funded project

I held an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship from May 2020-April 2024. My fellowship project Youth Leadership and the Future of Peace and Security (DE200100937) explored the role of youth-led advocacy and leadership in the context of the establishment of an international ‘Youth, Peace and Security agenda’. It examined the role of youth in local, national and international contexts to contribute to more inclusive, durable peace. It generated new insights into best practice for including youth in peace and security policies, and contributed to growing global recognition of youth peace advocacy by providing richer understandings of how to support and empowering youth in conflict-affected contexts.

— — —

If you are researching or working in this space, please feel free to get in touch. I’d love to hear about and connect with others working on the YPS agenda.

— — —

Work on youth, peace and security produced during the DECRA fellowship

I will provide updates on the research and outputs from the work as the project progresses and publications come out after it has concluded

End of fellowship symposium “Youth-ed Futures of Peace and Security”

In May 2025 I hosted a symposium in Brisbane, Australia, with support from the Griffith Asia Institute (GAI). You can read more about the symposium in a short piece from GAI here.

A recording of my keynote from the symposium, Peace Expertise, which overviews the findings and the in-progress book project from the fellowship can be watched on YouTube directly here.

Collected information about and outputs from the symposium can be found here.

Resources

Relevant Publications

Berents, H. 2024. ‘What we give up to get where we’re going’: compromise in the institutionalizing of youth peace advocacy. Globalizations. Online-first. (Open-Access)

Berents, H., C Bolten and S McEvoy-Levy (eds). 2024. Youth and Sustainable Peace. Manchester University Press.

Berents, H., C Bolten and S McEvoy-Levy. 2024. “Introduction“. In Berents, H., C Bolten and S McEvoy-Levy (eds). Youth and Sustainable Peace. Manchester University Press.

Berents, H. 2024. ‘Institutionalising a radical vision: The idea of youth, and the Youth, Peace and Security agenda‘. In Berents, H., C Bolten and S McEvoy-Levy (eds). Youth and Sustainable Peace. Manchester University Press.

Berents, H, C Mollica, C Odgers-Jewell, H Payne, S Spalding. 2024. Conducting Care-full Research: Collaborative Research amidst Corona, a Coup, and Other Crises, International Studies Perspectives, [online first]

Beier, JM and H Berents (eds). 2023. Children, Childhoods, and Global Politics. Bristol University Press

Berents, H. 2022. ‘Power, Partnership, and Youth as Norm Entrepreneurs: Getting to UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace, and Security‘, Global Studies Quarterly, online first. [Open-access]

Berents, H. and Mollica, C. 2022. ‘Reciprocal institutional visibility: Youth, peace and security and ‘inclusive’ agendas at the United Nations‘, Cooperation & Conflict, .

Altiok, Ali, Berents, Helen, Grizelj, Irena, & McEvoy-Levy, Siobhan (2020) Youth, Peace, and Security. In Hampson, Fen Osler, Özerdem, Alpaslan, & Kent, Jonathan (Eds.) Routledge Handbook of Peace, Security and Development. Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon, pp. 433-447.

Berents, Helen & Mollica, Caitlin (2020) Youth and peacebuilding. In Richmond, Oliver & Visoka, Gizem (Eds.) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Reports

Spalding S, Odgers-Jewell C, Payne H, Mollica C & Berents H. 2021. Making Noise and Getting Things Done: Youth Inclusion and Advocacy for Peace. Lessons from Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Myanmar. QUT Centre for Justice. December. [see Project Page for more details]

Berents, Helen & Saji Prelis (2020) More than a Milestone: The Road to UN Security Council Resolution 2250. Search for Common Ground.

Berents, Helen & Mollica, Caitlin (2020) Youth and Peace in the Indo-Pacific: Policy, Practice, Action: Report on the Academy of Social Science in Australia (ASSA) Workshop. QUT Centre for Justice.

Presentations/Talks [that were recorded]

2023. “Youth Leadership for Peace and Security: a Global and Regional Perspective“. Invited seminar, Australian Institute of International Affairs QLD. Brisbane. 10 October

2021. “Youth and Women: Intersection of Identities in Peace and Security“. Invited speaker, ANU Gender Institute WPS Webinar Series. Online. 23 November.

2021. “Despite Conflict, COVID and Coups: Youth leadership and inclusive peace”. Invited Research Seminar. Griffith Asia Institute (GAI), Griffith University. 26 August.

Other

Since January 2024 I publish an occasional newsletter at The YPS Observer with reflections, observations, and commentary on the YPS agenda and on approaches to youth-inclusive peacebuilding more broadly. You can subscribe here.

2024. ‘Seizing the Moment: Youth, Amicability, and Security between Action and Avoidance‘, with Khaled Eman, United Network of Young Peacebuilders. 9 November.

2023. “Finding a place for youth leadership in Australia’s new International Development Policy“, with Katrina Lee-Koo. The Interpreter. 12 September

2022. “Young People’s Voices on the War in Ukraine”. Panelist. Hosted by the Visualising War project, University of St Andrews and Never Such Innocence charity. Online. 9 June.

2022. “Seeing ‘youth’ issues as shared issues”, with Ingrid Valladares. Australian Outlook. 1 June.

2022. “Young feminist leadership is the future of peacebuilding”, with Shadi Roushahbaz and Erika Yague. The Interpreter. 8 March.

2021. “Afghan Youth Fight for their Future“. with Savannah Spalding. Australian Outlook. 20 August.

2020. Roundtable “Futures for Youth Inclusive Peace in the Asia-Pacific”. Hosted by Centre 4 Justice, QUT. 25 November. Co-organised with Dr Caitlin Mollica. To mark the 5^th Anniversary of the UN Security Council founding resolution, Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security. Video available here.

2020. “Solve generational problems by listening to the youth who’ll live them“. with Dr Caitlin Mollica. Lowy Institute, The Interpreter. 7 December

2020. “Thinking Intergenerationally: WPS and the Youth, Peace, and Security Agenda“. Global Observatory. International Peace Institute. 7 October. Part of the WPS@20 series.

Back to ‘Research: Youth, Peace and Conflict‘ or ‘Research Overview‘

Or visit ‘Writings and Media‘ for my full publication list

(last updated 12 January 2025)