Abstract
This briefing examines how universities in conflict-affected Mindanao contribute to peacebuilding through everyday academic practice. It argues that universities function as embedded peace infrastructures, where peace is produced through institutional proximity, sustained social presence, and long-term relationships with conflict-affected communities. Drawing on reflexive insights from institutional engagement, the briefing shows how peace emerges through routine academic labor that blurs the boundaries between teaching, research, and community work. It highlights the institutional tensions faced by academics whose community engagement constrains conventional research productivity and reproduces structural inequalities in global knowledge production. The briefing concludes by reflecting on the implications of this model for peacebuilding policy, research ethics, and university governance, calling for greater recognition of public universities as central, yet under-acknowledged, actors in sustaining everyday peace in contexts of protracted conflict.
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