A Pause, a Breath, a New Chapter
In August, the CSP team gathered in Copenhagen for three days of reflection, conversation and looking ahead. On the fourth day, our board joined us for a seminar.
We came together at an important moment in CSP’s journey. A change in leadership had opened space to build on what we have learned, bring fresh perspectives to our work and ask where CSP can make its strongest contribution in the years ahead.
The retreat gave us a well-timed pause, away from everyday work. We began by looking back at what the past year had brought, what had changed, what had been difficult and what had surprised us. We then widened the lens, drawing on what our work and relationships over the past decade have taught us while asking what we might need to do differently.Â
For much of that decade, CSP has explored how international peacebuilding and development systems can better support local leadership. Many of the ideas we have worked with have since gained wider recognition and traction. That progress matters. It has also brought the next challenge into sharper focus: how to translate recognition into greater changes in relationships, power, decision-making, and the use of resources.
This challenge feels increasingly urgent. Conflicts are rising, democratic space is narrowing and many of the institutions created to support peace and international cooperation are struggling to respond. Yet this is not the whole story. People are organising, building alliances and finding creative ways to act. Energy, knowledge and power are already present in communities and movements around the world. The opportunity is to help that power connect across places, grow and gain greater influence.
As our conversations moved between what we have learned and what the present moment demands, one question came to sit at their centre:
What helps people organise over time, connect across places and shape the systems that affect their lives?
This question is helping us sharpen our focus. We want to pay more attention to what allows organising efforts to take root and endure, and to help strengthen the conditions in which people working in different places can build relationships and act together. We want our work to contribute to something more lasting than a good conversation.
Exploring this question also required us to look closely at CSP’s own role and the contribution we are best placed to make.
We are a small organisation with a large ambition. Our value lies in the relationships we build, the connections we make and our ability to convene, accompany and open doors. Our size allows us to remain curious and responsive while staying closely connected to the people and processes with which we work.
At the same time, we must be honest about our position. CSP is a Global North organisation with access, relationships and resources partly inherited because of where we are situated. We want to use these deliberately: to connect people, open doors and direct resources and attention towards work that does not need to be owned by CSP.
This also shapes how we think about working locally. Our engagement in Denmark and Kalaallit Nunaat begins with acting from where we stand, listening to what is already happening and making CSP’s capacity and connections useful to those shaping the work, rather than arriving with solutions or a ready-made agenda.
This direction grows from CSP’s purpose and from what the past decade has taught us. What is changing is where we place our attention, how we work and how clearly we understand the contribution we can make.
We left Copenhagen with a clearer sense of what we want to pursue and renewed energy for the work ahead. We are now turning that direction into practical choices and commitments, and into CSP’s next strategy, which we look forward to sharing soon.
We are grateful for the continued support of our partners, friends and wider community. As CSP takes its next steps, we hope you will continue walking alongside us.