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The Peace and Development Programme provides you with comprehensive knowledge within the areas of conflict transformation, peacebuilding, development work and international development cooperation. 

You also gain knowledge about the connection to human rights and security issues. By combining theory with experiences from practice abroad, you will be able to work in a wide range of organisations, both in Sweden and abroad. The language of teaching is English, and the programme offers cross-cultural perspectives and experiences.

The programme provides you with a broad range of in-depth knowledge and analytical techniques through which you will gain an understanding of conflict and peace and development issues, both globally and locally. You will gain insights into development work from an ecological and social sustainability as well as a gender perspective. You analyse conflicts, evaluate conflict resolution strategies, compare peacebuilding strategies, and look into conflict prevention mechanisms. You also look at democratisation and political governance through different theories and approaches to development and development assistance. Throughout your studies, you gain a deeper understanding of different cultures and develop the ability to work within intercultural contexts.

Our international team of teachers has extensive field experience working and doing research in countries facing development and conflict challenges. We draw on this extensive practical knowledge to prepare you for the opportunities and challenges you encounter as a professional in the field. To prepare you for work within our field, the programme offers a variety of activities related to your future professional life, including seminars with experts from organisations working within our field, exercises, and skills training. You can also do an internship, do research or study abroad. Studying in English gives you an additional skill needed to work in international environments, or with international issues at home.

Career outcomes:

The Peace and Development Programme provides you with a comprehensive education that enables you to seek employment within the area of development work, international development cooperation and peacebuilding, as well as conflict and conflict resolution.

In this interdisciplinary field, you can work in many different types of organisations. For example, former programme students today work with security issues such as demining in Afghanistan, as advocates for human rights in Sweden, as conflict mediators in Brussels, as experts in anti-terrorism with the UN in Kenya, or with art projects related to peacebuilding in Somalia.

International possibilities:

Many of our students choose to spend a semester abroad during their studies, usually during their last semester, either studying at a university or doing an internship. This is a great opportunity for you to use the skills and knowledge you have acquired in our programme to practice abroad and at the same time experiencing a new country and culture.

Internships provide an exciting opportunity to apply what you have learned with us in a real working environment. Many of our students choose internships to finalise their education and to gain first working experience. Some even continue to work for those organisations after their internship.

If you would rather like to experience a study abroad semester, Linnaeus University has exchange agreements with hundreds of universities abroad that enable you to study there without additional costs other than what you would spend to study in Sweden. Consult your programme director before making your final choice, so that you can shape your time abroad in the best way possible. In addition to the university's general list of agreements, Peace and Development has two particular programmes for teacher and student exchange, with Javeriana University in Bogotá and with the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Both provide government scholarships to our outgoing students.