9th Workshop on Visualization for the Digital Humanities

Keynote

Beyond the Numbers: Visualising Invisible Dimensions of Peace
Jan Pospisil, Coventry University’s Centre for Peace and Security (UK)

In today’s era of data abundance, the real challenge lies not in collection—but in revelation. At PeaceRep, we’ve built the PA‑X Peace Agreements Database, now at Version 9 with over 2,100 peace agreements spanning 150+ transition processes from 1990 to 2024. Yet, raw data alone cannot tell us how peace unfolds – or even fails. To bridge that gap, we transform static text and tables into dynamic storytelling instruments. With intuitive dashboards, actor‑network graphs, timelines, and comparative visual tools, the visualizations unlock how peace agreements evolve, who shapes them, and how they ripple through conflict dynamics. But the heartbeat of peace lies beyond the formal text – grounded in perceptions, legitimacy, and lived realities. PeaceRep integrates survey data, mainly the South Sudan Public Perceptions of Peace Survey, and places human experience at the centre of visual narratives. This keynote explores how creative visualisation can elevate latent insights by depicting constitutional milestones, elections, coups, and amnesties alongside agreement signings, while simultaneously combining them with conflict events and perception data. These tools offer more than oversight; they empower adaptive peace building, enabling mediators, policymakers, local teams, and researchers to spot emerging gaps, celebrate progress, and tell the full story of a peace process – not just the signed pages, but the lived realities behind them.