I am excited to announce the publication of New Perspectives on Healing Collective Trauma: Towards Social Justice and Communal Well-Being. Taylor & Francis, the parent company of Routledge, have made this book available as an open source version. Edited by Scherto Gill, Director of the Global Humanity for Peace Institute of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, it combines interdisciplinary and scholarly perspectives. The book examines how historical injustices, especially enslavement, colonialism, and systemic racism, continue to impact societies today; and it draws on global case studies to offer practical strategies and hopeful narratives that demonstrate how societies can move from entrenched division towards communal healing and shared flourishing.

I am honored to have contributed a chapter on the experience of Initiatives of Change in Richmond VA, as well as the ongoing International Trustbuilding Program in 15 countries. Also featured is Dr Gail Christopher, a prolific writer and presenter who served as senior advisor and vice president at the WK Kellogg Foundation where she was the driving force behind the America Healing initiative and the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation effort in which Initiatives of Change collaborated. Lewis Cardinal, a Woodland Cree educator and educator from the Sucker Cree First Nation in Alberta is another contributor. Over the decades his leadership has spanned local, national and global advocacy roles particularly in promoting indigenous rights, cultural revitalization and community building. The book includes a chapter by Lord John Alderdice who has been involved in almost every aspect of the Irish peace process. The 12 contributions are based on a series of webinars convened in 2023 by UNESCO’s Routes of Enslaved Peoples Program and its partners.

The book can be accessed online at no cost at New Perspectives on Healing Collective Trauma: Towards Social Justice and Communal Wellbeing. Print copies can also be purchased.