Instituto San José de Calasanz - Argentina

Founded in 1990 by Marcelo López Birra with just 18 children in its initial level, Instituto San José de Calasanz in Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, has grown into a 1,280-student institution spanning early years through tertiary education and a globally recognised beacon for peace education. At its heart lies the Programa de Cultura de Paz y Solidaridad (Culture of Peace and Solidarity Programme), delivered through the institutional subject "Formación Humana," taught from age 3 through the final year of secondary school. This programme is not an add-on,  it is the school's backbone, shaping students into active, empathetic citizens who transform their communities.

The school's global citizenship credentials are extraordinary. It became a UNESCO Associated School (PEA-UNESCO) in 1996, established its own UNESCO Chair in Education for Peace and International Understanding in 2004, joined the CIPDH-UNESCO in 2014, and in 2025 became a member of the Ibero-American Network for Human Rights Education (OEI). In 2021, the Fundación Mil Milenios de Paz declared the school an "Embassy of Peace."

Student-led action has earned international acclaim: a 3rd place in UNESCO's Mondialogo Contest (2006) in partnership with Czech students; the UNESCO Korea SPONGE Award (2021) for a project supporting people experiencing homelessness; and the CIPDH-UNESCO "Pulso Joven" Prize (2024) for environmental sustainability work. In 2024, the Foro Ecuménico Social awarded the school the "Emprendedor Solidario" Prize, and in 2025, the Province of Buenos Aires granted its "Socially Committed Enterprise" seal of quality.

The school's flagship outreach is Casa CEIEC, founded in 2012 as a solidarity project of its tertiary Psychopedagogy programme. Today it serves 120–130 vulnerable children aged 3–17, most referred by state schools, child protection services, and family courts due to learning difficulties and rights violations, including abuse, providing free psychology, psychopedagogy, creative workshops, and meals. Over 500 children have passed through its doors and built resilience. Sister project Escuela de Arte Shunko channels community art workshop fees back into Casa CEIEC.

The school's peacebuilding philosophy is practical and participatory: a Student Council with elected delegates, an Institutional Coexistence Council co-creating school rules with students, families, teachers and leaders, and sister-community ties with the indigenous Qom people. Students run campaigns for people experiencing homelessness ("Frío Cero, Te Abrigo"), tree-planting with the Hurlingham municipality (64 native trees planted), missing-persons searches across western Greater Buenos Aires, and emergency relief — mobilising 20 truckloads for Luján flood victims in 2015 and further convoys for Bahía Blanca in 2025. Since 1998, students have participated annually in Model UN; this year 48 students took part across five simulations.

The programme has drawn personal endorsements from Judge Baltasar Garzón, former UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor Zaragoza, and Taty Almeida of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo. With 80% of graduates having attended since kindergarten, Calasanz proves that peace, when taught from age three, becomes a way of life.