The Åland Islands Peace Institute conducts projects and research into peace and conflict issues in a broadly defined sense from the vantage-point of Åland and the special status that Åland enjoys under international law. It focuses on autonomy in various forms, minority-related issues, demilitarisation and conflict management. The Institute is a member of several national and international networks of organisations working on closely related issues. The Institute was founded in 1992 as an independent charitable foundation.

The Steering Board includes politicians, researchers and diplomats from Åland, Sweden and Finland and makes decisions relating to the Institute's overall remit, while the Research Council is responsible for the Institute's research activities. The institute is currently led by a director who is an associate professor in international law.

The annual budget of the Peace Institute has been 300,000-400,000 euro. About half of the Institute's annual budget consists of core funding from sources such as the Åland Government, the township of Mariehamn, the Finnish Ministry of Education and the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland. The rest of the funds are applied for from many different foundations and institutions, the largest donors being the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Nordic Council of Ministers and EU funds.