Dr. Laura Villanueva is a transdisciplinary practitioner-scholar in ecosystem-based peacebuilding, conflict transformation, and regenerative reconciliation. She pioneers the “Ecosystem Turn,” a framework that functions as both a paradigm and a methodology. As a paradigm, it challenges static, anthropocentric models of peace, proposing a dynamic, co-evolutionary approach grounded in the interdependence of people, place, and planet. As a methodology, it offers participatory, scalable practices rooted in ecological knowledge and cultural context.
As Founder and Director of Satoyama for Peace: Ecosystems for Peace and Reconciliation (S4P:EPR), she draws on 18 years of fieldwork in Satoyama—traditional Japanese socio-ecological landscapes of human–nature harmony—to develop ecosystemic approaches to peace and reconciliation across diverse settings. Her concept of the Century of Ecosystems envisions a future in which ecosystems are foundational to peacebuilding, offering systemic pathways for collective healing and sustainability.
She argues that peaces and reconciliations do not emerge in isolation but within and through dynamic ecosystems—challenging siloed models that constrain sustainability, scalability, and systemic impact. Her applied framework advances peace and reconciliation studies through the development of ecosystem-based methodologies across municipal, religious, governmental, rural, urban, and digital contexts. She is currently expanding this work in a forthcoming book.