Outreach and Knowledge Dissemination

I have also lent my expertise beyond the academic field, making outreach and knowledge dissemination for the non-experts another priority in my career.

Gender and equality, conflict and sustainability, diversity and inclusion practices, societal values in the modernised age: these are the main topics in connection with religion that I have discussed in public and with the public.

Collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

Humanitarian organisations have also sought my expertise. Most recently, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) asked me to join their large project on Buddhism and International Humanitarian Law (IHL). This project has involved humanitarians, jurists, Buddhist practitioners, and scholars in the field of Buddhist studies; I was invited in the capacity of leading scholar in Mahayana and Chinese Buddhism. The substantial impact factor of the project is evidenced, for instance, by the outcome of IHL trainings for soldiers in Buddhist countries, starting with Sri Lanka.

I have been academic advisor in the organisation of two major international conferences (Sri Lanka, 2019; Thailand, 2022).

At SOAS, I have organised the Buddhism InsideOut academic/outreach event in July 2022 on the topic; titled “Promoting Restraint During Armed Conflict: Synergies between Buddhism and International Humanitarian Law”, this event brought together on the same stage scholars, humanitarians, ICRC managers, and Buddhist practitioners, and generated a lively discussion on religion, conflict, and sustainability with the public in the audience.

I have co-authored a position paper, later published on Contemporary Buddhism (2020). I have also been co-editor of a special volume of Contemporary Buddhism (2021) and the following book on the topic. Conference speakers and authors of publications included scholars, members of humanitarian agencies, legal experts, army leaders, and representatives of the Buddhist communities.

More on this research, which is part of a larger project on religion and International Humanitarian Law, can be found on the website RELIGION AND HUMANITARIAN PRINCIPLES