The notion of conflict, peace, education and development that characterise discussions about the Solomon Islands immediate past, present and future prospects are complex and interrelated. These terms are interrelated as conflict, peace and education affect development. Likewise, poor development can be one of the causes of conflict. Development as a multidimensional reality consists of interrelated issues such as the economy, health, education, social relations and governance. To this end, a macro-perspective of the relationship between conflict, peace, education and development is important, particularly in post-conflict reconstruction. In the Solomon Islands, conflict has not occurred in a vacuum. It has been strongly influenced by the turbulent socio-cultural variables of the country. Long-term peacebuilding efforts in the Solomon Islands ultimately depend on effectively reconnecting thinking and practice to conflict, peace, education and development.

Conflict is one of the major obstacles to the achievement of both the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and national development goals in any war-torn country. As conflicts are increasingly recurring in the Pacific region, many are seeking answers to deal with the underlying causes. Turning to peace research is one alternative to address problems that gave rise to conflict. However, this paper argues that a peace research that ignores indigenous knowledge and practices is likely to be resisted. Therefore, a practice-based inquiry as opposed to disciplinary and interpretive inquiry can fill existing or potential paradigmatic gaps in peace research. A practice-based peace research in the context of this paper refers to peace research that harnesses the indigenous concept of peace as portrayed in the example of nowe – the Temotu Nendo concept of peace. Theorizing peace as nowe signifies the worldview of Pacific Island people. As such, peacebuilding initiatives that are not culturally grounded would not contribute to sustainable peace. The aim of this paper is to inform readers about the practical issues relating to peace research in Pacific Islands' context.

Solomon Islands has been implementing various post-conflict reconstruction programs after the country emerged from an ethnic conflict. Among the programs is a church-based Inclusive Community Program aimed at revitalising the family unit and the community through series of training workshops covering community related skills, knowledge and attitudes. This paper describes the involvement of the Anglican Church of Melanesia in a peacebuilding and community development program in Solomon Islands. The aim of this paper is to report the initiation and the first stages of the implementation of the program, and includes a case study of how a faith-based organisation engaged in peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction in a conflict society. The church's post-conflict community development program is still being implemented and therefore, this paper is not intended to provide a rigorous evaluation of the program or an assessment of tangible impacts on the community. As a narrative case study, it describes the peacebuilding initiatives undertaken by the State during the conflict and provides insights into why the State's peace activities failed to restore peace. It is the inability of the State to broker peace, which urged the Anglican Church of Melanesia to become involved in the country's efforts to restore peace. After the conflict, the church saw the need to empower the community so that every family would rebuild their lives through an initiative called 'Inclusive Community Program.' Although it is too early to judge the success of the Program, there is evidence in the case study stories that change is taking shape in the community. Thus, the church is envisaging that communities will have families that have improved skills, knowledge and attitudes about healthy lifestyles and sustainable livelihoods.