Consciousness of the need to abolish war and develop a culture of peace at all levels, from the family to the community to the state to the world as a whole, has been growing greatly over the course of recent centuries, mostly through the consciousness development of one individual at a time."
Individuals learn through participating in civil society initiatives that teach and promote a culture of peace, including mediation and conflict resolution training, as well as social movements representing specific aspects of the culture of peace such as ecology and sustainable development, women's equality, democratic participation and disarmament.
Many believe that history is ultimately determined by the consciousness of people. The psychology of peace activists shows that consciousness develops through action and affiliation. For this reason, the most effective peace education initiatives involve both practice and reflexion.
Most people are greatly influenced by the commercial mass media and national educational systems. Along with most institutions of higher learning, they are so closely linked, directly or indirectly, to the structures of the culture of war, that they often discourage progress toward a culture of peace.
Although there are social movements promoting most of the eight action areas of the culture of peace, these movements do not usually cooperate with each other and do not consider themselves as related to the culture of peace. Often they are in competition with each other for limited funds and membership.
