Networks for Change: Disarmament Education in Practice

On September 23, 2026, Jan Quosdorf, project director of the Arms Control Nego­tiation Academy (ACONA) at PRIF, was a panelist at the Vienna Conver­sation Series, a series of dis­cussions organized by the United Nations Office for Disar­mament Affairs (UNODA) in Vienna. At the event “Networks for Change: Disarmament Edu­cation in Practice,” held at the Vienna Inter­national Centre and online, he discussed edu­cational initiatives on disar­mament and non-proli­feration issues with Dr. Megan MacKenzie, Simons Chair in Peace, Disar­mament, and Human Security at Simon Fraser University. The dis­cussion was moderated by Elena Sokova, Exe­cutive Director of the Vienna Center for Disar­mament and Non-Proli­feration (VCDNP). Quosdorf was invited to share his expe­rience both as project director of ACONA and as national coor­dinator of German youth net­works and advisor for the Joint Education Project of UNODA and VCDNP.

In the age of AI and constant connec­tivity, “our ability to acquire knowledge can also become a constant expec­tation that we know something,” said Jan Quosdorf during the panel dis­cussion. Civil society and youth orga­nizations are impor­tant for creating time and space for original thinking, away from the pressures of exams and con­tinuing education. However, partici­pation in these spaces is fragile and a privi­lege that should not be taken for granted.

Dr. MacKenzie also placed the dis­cussion in the context of the results of a two-day edu­cational workshop that the Simons Foundation had organized in Vienna imme­diately prior, as the second iteration of a pro­gram focused on nuclear disarma­ment edu­cation.

The event was opened by H.E. José Antonio Zabalgoitia Trejo, Perma­nent Representative of Mexico to the Inter­national Organizations in Vienna, and by Rebecca Jovin, Head of the Vienna Office of UNODA. Zabalgoitia referred to the biennial UN General Assembly reso­lution on disarma­ment and non-proliferation education, for which Mexico serves as the lead country, as well as to the 2002 UN study on this topic ini­tiated by Mexico. Jovin presented key trends from the UN Secretary-General’s latest report on disarma­ment and non-proliferation education. The over­arching message is that edu­cation is a tool, a prere­quisite, and part of the infra­structure of disarmament.

Jan Quosdorf is Project Director of the Arms Control Nego­tiation Academy (ACONA) in the Research Department Inter­national Security at PRIF. His research focuses on issues of arms control, non­proliferation, and disarmament.