ABOUT US
Tania Miletic
Founder and Director, Peace-Meal Peacebuilding
My late mother was from a small village in the Campania region of Italy. A truly wonderful cook known to many as ‘Mamma’, she nourished you through food and was always welcoming to her table. My late father was from Istria, Croatia. The former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) experienced a series of armed conflicts between 1991 and 2001, and the ripple effects to communities in Australia led me to change my work focus towards a lifelong commitment to contributing to peacebuilding efforts from where I was placed. Whilst my family heritage grounded me in a vocation, my work has extended my web of relations of people working for greater peace.
I presently co-lead the University of Melbourne’s Initiative for Peacebuilding. , working to promote multidisciplinary research, teaching, and developing policies that support effective engagement in conflict prevention and peacebuilding in Australia and Asian and Pacific countries.
I have worked to support actors involved in peace processes and to find ways to support dialogue and understanding in the areas of conflict prevention in political affairs and community engagement. As an academic, I have taught as part of postgraduate peace and conflict studies programmes at Australian and international universities. I have been involved as a faculty member in the Masters and PhD programmes for Applied Conflict Transformation Studies at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS) based in Cambodia. I was engaged, over a decade, as a visiting academic with the Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University, and my PhD research examined the perspectives of emerging leaders in China on contemporary conflicts and their approaches. My research is in the political sciences, specialising in peace and conflict studies. Though I have a background in psychology and an ongoing interest in trauma-informed collective approaches to peacebuilding.
Alongside this work, I founded the Peace-Meal Peacebuilding Initiative. My passions combine through Peacemeal. Sharing food is the most elemental way in which we affirm life. There is a quiet power in sharing food and stories to nourish, build understanding, and create connections.
Read more about the background to the project on the Blog.
Tania Miletic
"My late mother was from a small village in Campania, Italy, A truly wonderful cook known as 'mamma' - she nourished many through food and was always welcoming to our table. My late father was from Croatia and the conflict in the 1990's led me towards a lifelong commitment to peacebuilding. My work has taken me to conflict contexts where I have had the good fortune to come to know, as colleagues and friends, extraordinary people working for peace. Here I combine my passions. Sharing food is the most elemental way that we affirm life. I started collecting stories and recipes from peacebuilders believing these stories are not just interesting, but can inspire hope and agency." Tania
PEACE-MEAL FACILITATORS
Essan Dileri
Essan Dileri
Essan Dileri
Essan is a Peace-Meal Contributor, as well as Host and Facilitator for our 'Naan Wa Namak' Peace-Meal Event, co-hosted by Alternatives to Violence Victoria and with funding from the Jan de Voogd Trust.
Helen Bishop
Essan Dileri
Essan Dileri
Helen Bishop is a Host and Facilitator for our Children's Week events, co-hosted by Alternatives to Violence Victoria and with funding from the Jan de Voogd Trust.
Sophia Htwe
Essan Dileri
Sophia Htwe
Sophia is our Peace-Meal Host and Facilitator for the upcoming Peace-Meal Myanmar event co-hosted by Alternatives to Violence Victoria and with funding from the Jan de Voogd Trust.