About
Vías de Paz grew from the conviction that peace is learned, taught and built every day, in the classroom and on the land.
Mission
To support schools, teachers and communities in building a culture of peace, through educational work rooted in their cultures and territories.
Vision
An education in which peace is not just one more topic in the curriculum, but a way of learning, living together and relating to the land.
Jessica Perez-Meza, founder
PhD Candidate, peace educator and curriculum designer
Jessica Perez-Meza is a peace educator and curriculum designer with more than a decade of experience in education. She is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University, a 2026 scholar of the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC), and a research assistant at the International Social Justice Action Research Lab.
Her approach
Her work focuses on the collaborative design of culturally grounded curricula oriented toward peace education and land-based learning. She is drawn to pedagogies that challenge systemic inequities and create inclusive, justice-centred learning spaces.
In the field
As a transdisciplinary scholar, Jessica uses collaborative and participatory methods to address social injustice in Latin American contexts. She leads participatory action research with communities in Mexico, Peru and Panama, including a recent stay with Emberá students, teachers and community members in Panama.
Sharing what she learns
In September 2025 she presented her research, Co-constructing Peace from the Classrooms: A Community-Based Approach in Mexico, at the Alliance for International Education conference in The Hague, devoted to educating for peace and social justice.
Jessica works in Spanish and English.
What guides us
- Cultural relevance
- Every context is different. We adapt content, examples and languages to the people who will use them.
- Collaboration
- We build with people, not for them. Teachers, students and communities take part in the design.
- Rigour
- Our work is grounded in research and in more than ten years of educational practice.
- Care
- We approach sensitive topics with respect, listening and attention to each group’s well-being.