The 100 Agents of Change programme was In Place of War’s first major UK-based programme, funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC), overseen by Prof James Thompson at the University of Manchester.

Partnering with 11 grassroots UK youth organisations and In Place of War's international change-maker network, we developed and delivered a programme that brought Global South knowledge to the UK through an online residency programme, mentoring, seed funding & community projects. Forming a Youth Advisory Board (YAB) to advise on the design, the project brought together change-makers (artists, activists & cultural leaders) from conflict zones in 26 countries, all working to create lasting change in their local communities, to share practice with young people in the UK. With a backdrop of Brexit, a global pandemic and an increasingly polarised world we understood that, as one participant put it, “It’s a really rough time to be a young person in the arts” in the UK. But we also knew that there were beacons of hope – young people becoming agents of change, forming international solidarity and using creativity to educate against and fight injustice. 100 Agents of Change was all about sharing skills and knowledge of how to use what we have around us - creativity and our communities - to make meaningful change.

In 2022, In Place of War was a recipient of the Award for Civic Arts Organisations by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, in recognition of the 100 Agents of Change Programme. We are now fundraising for a new and extended three-year model of the programme in the UK, as well as hoping to roll the programme out in Detroit, Northern Ireland and in Europe.