Irwanto worked to build a culture of peace in Indonesia following the mass killings of communists in the 1960s and regional conflicts in the late 1990s. As part of a small UN-supported team, they developed peace education modules and trained over 30 students and teachers as facilitators. From 1998-2005, they worked in over 450 schools and conflict areas in Java, reaching over 1,000 children. Their basic model included training teachers and students over 3 days, holding in-class and out-of-class peacebuilding sessions, and engaging marginalized youth and communities in real-world problem solving. They found working with children and youth to be an inspiring way to promote sustainable peacebuilding.