Canadian Centres for
Teaching Peace
Box 70
Okotoks, AB  CANADA
T1A 1S4
Ph: (403) 461-2469

Fax: (309) 407-6576
E-Mail: stewartr [at] peace.ca

Last update:
10 Dec 2006

"think globally, act locally"

CONFERENCE BRIEFING NOTE

Background
Purpose of Conference
Long Term Conference Objectives
List of Follow-Up Activities Designed to Achieve Objective
Theme Of Conference
Target Audience
Target Date, location and example agenda
Other Information
Where Do We Go From Here?

ROTARY 'BUILDING PEACE IN THE COMMUNITY' SYMPOSIUM

Introduction
What makes our conference proposal special?
Conference Design/Architecture
Guest Speakers/Presenters
Awards Presentations
Conference Agenda
Conference Registration Form

Background:

• the genesis of the idea to have a Peace conference came from the 1996 Rotary International ("RI") Calgary Conference and builds upon the 1996 Rotary Peace Cities Conference held in Los Angeles and the 1997 Edmonton and Vancouver Rotary Urban Hope Conferences, and the 1998 Toronto Rotary Conference.

• preparatory work began in earnest upon direction from District Governor Nominee Chuck Masur last October, who's vision was to have a "world class Peace Symposium in Calgary".

• signatories to the Rotary Peace Programs Grant Application include: Robert Scott, Zone 22 Director and Rotary Foundation Trustee; Dan Graham, District 5360 Governor; Wayne Whistler, District 5300 Governor (Los Angeles) and represented by Paul Warner on the Steering Committee; Chuck Masur, District 5360 Governor Nominee; David Stewart, Edmonton (now 5370) and Robert Stewart, Okotoks Co-Chairmen of the District 5360 Urban Hope/Peace Plus Committee.

• notification was received June 24, 1998 that The Rotary Foundation conditionally approved a grant in the amount of US$14,400 (approx. CDN$20,000). The conditions follow our expectation that, once RI endorsement was received, the Conference Steering Committee would have to refine the conference goals, objectives and agenda.

Purpose of Conference:

A milestone event for Rotary International to bring together all peoples of the world in the promotion of lasting peace through "thinking globally and acting locally", "Building Peace in the Community", strategic action planning, networking, and information sharing, the conference will bridge the gap and strengthen linkages formed between and amongst Rotarians, the general public, community organizations, government, industry and academics and ensure a wide choice of sessions that appeal to all and help build successes.

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Long Term Conference Objectives:

1. Developing 'Partnerships for Peace' between local Rotary Clubs and Others;

2. Developing a 'Virtual Centre for Teaching Peace', information dissemination and networking;

3. Activating individual Rotarians, Rotary Clubs and the general public;

4. Raise Peace awareness, education, networking, recognition;

5. Focus the approach to achieve Rotary and Partners peace goals.

List of Suggested Activities During the Conference:

The conference would include:

1. Lectures/presentations by prominent world peace leaders;

2. Exchange of information on current peace programs (and inventory them);

3. Workshops and discussion sessions;

4. Meeting with City, Federal, World Officials;

5. City to City involvement in the peace process;

6. Promoting/educating for peace through: (a) international centres for teaching peace, (b) the internet, (c) 'junior peace achievement' programs (similar to Junior Achievement);

7. Development of (a) potential local solutions to violence problems, (b) strategic peacemaking plan, (c) specific action planning.

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List of Follow-Up Activities Designed to Achieve Objective:

The following is a short list of what we would consider to be the most important follow up activities we hope to encourage:

1. it is our fondest hope that RI will follow up by adopting a "Peace Plus Program", analagous to Polio Plus (reference http://www.lafn.org/community/rotary/ccpolio.htm and http://www.es.co.nz/~rotary/polio.htm ), with ambitious goals (in terms of violence reduction in the world) to be achieved by a specific deadline;

2. it is our plan to support and fast track the development of a Virtual Centre for Teaching Peace, seeking whatever funding may be necessary, from whatever sources;

3. it is our projection that the output from this conference will provide specific material for GSE Teams (and Rotary Clubs) to use in dialogue with countries visited (communities visited) to spread the knowledge and improve "Building Peace in the Community" in those countries (communities);

4. the conference should help activate individual Rotary Clubs, Members and the general public to "Think Globally and Act Locally" in Building Peace in their communities;

5. the feasibility of Rotary volunteers and others delivering "Junior Peace Achievement Programs" in schools will be explored;

6. the promulgation of Rotary Peace Cities;

7. Rotary Urban Hope/Peace Plus Centres such as the one being worked on in Edmonton.

Theme of Conference:

The conference may be considered a prelude to a 1st Annual World Peace Conference (analagous to the Annual World AIDS Conferences - reference http://www.aids98.ch ) - an international peace symposium to help create peace in our families, our communities, our countries, and our world through partners in peace including Rotarians and significant others, through education and action. It could also be considered as a "Peace Unification Program" (uniting the many, many organizations around the world with a similar purpose, who are currently not achieving as much as they could).

Target Audience:

Rotarians, other organizations with a peace and nonviolence mandate, government organizations, peacemakers and peacekeepers, educators, foundations, companies and labour groups, interested individuals. A target of 2,000 participants from Canada, the United States and other countries is suggested for planning purposes.

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Target Date, location and example agenda:

Refer to attached conference program (note - at this stage the program is draft for discussion only and will evolve based on direction from the program subcommittee). The University of Calgary is eager to work with Rotary on this conference. Timing of February 2001 was picked to provide sufficient preparation time, and fall on Rotary Peace and World Understanding Day (RI Founder Paul Harris anniversary). The example agenda is provided for discussion, the most important elements being:

1. the linkages between building peace at the individual, family, community and world levels,

2. an all inclusive conference following a problem solving methodology, gathering and providing information and networks,

3. a value added conference which will help participants to increase their success in achieving their mandate, and

4. concluding with visionary and practical action plans (i.e. talk alone is not enough, the ultimate outcome must be results).

• To give you a clear idea of what might be discussed at the conference, we undertook a formal survey of the 76 Rotary Clubs in our District and found that, while there is general agreement on the significance of the problem of violence in our communities, Rotarians suffer from a general lack of awareness of the issues and current programs, and only 10% of the Clubs are actually doing something that was considered "Building Peace in the Community". We believe this lack of awareness and action can be extrapolated to the public at large. At our conference, we propose to answer the question "What can I do, as a Rotarian or member of the general public, to Build Peace in the Community?" We also propose to provide motivation to individuals to do something. We propose to achieve this through suitable presentations, information dissemination, networking and recognition, among other things.

• What do we mean by "Partners in Peace"? We undertook an informal survey of other boards, agencies and educational institutions with a mandate similar to Rotary's interest in "Building Peace in the Community". For example, in Edmonton alone there are 500 such agencies, another 500 in Calgary, etc. Sadly, the overwhelming majority of these agencies know little about Rotary and our interest in Building Peace in the Community, and most Rotarians similarly know little about them, their activities and resources. We believe that we can promote our Peace Symposium by offering a 'value added service' which potential participants (Rotarians and other agencies) will find attractive if they can be shown how to improve their effectiveness, reduce redundancy and attain their goals through better networking, information exchange, etc.

• What do we mean by a "Virtual Center for Teaching Peace"? The best way I know of explaining this concept is through an up and running prototype, which you can review by visiting http://www.peace.ca on the internet. This sample site was designed by our Conference Chair Robert Stewart to demonstrate the immense possibilities to Rotary and others, and to answer the question "I want to do something to Build Peace in the Community, but where do I start, to understand the issues, etc.?" We believe that Rotary and/or other partners could do a superior job in this regard. We believe that Peace in the Community can be won by empowered individuals and groups, equipped with information superiority, now enabled by the Internet. Our conference has the potential to fast track development of such a web site. ('Brick and mortar' Urban Hope or Peace Centers may be a future outcome, as well. The feasibility of a pilot project in Edmonton is being researched.)

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Where Do We Go From Here?:

The ground work has been completed. The Rotary Foundation grant of $20,000 can be accessed. Calgary and area Rotary Clubs have the opportunity to host a world class conference critical to the mission of Rotary: to help build a better world, and to advance the search for peace in the world.

6. Finalize conference agenda and circulate.

The world is dangerous not because of those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything.

Chair, Urban Hope/Peace Plus Conference Committee

ROTARY 'BUILDING PEACE IN THE COMMUNITY' SYMPOSIUM

"think globally, act locally"
FEBRUARY 17, 18, 19, 2003
UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY
Calgary, Alberta

Introduction

Are you concerned about Violence in your Community, your World, but don't know what to do?
Are you concerned for the Safety of your children, grandchildren, Future Generations?
Does your organization have a mandate related to Violence, but feel you could accomplish more, with more resources and "partners"?
Want to network with champions of the peace movement around the world?
Want to be part of the 'Virtual Centre for Teaching Peace' on the Internet?

Then you must come to the Rotary "Building Peace in the Community" Symposium at the University of Calgary February 2003.

What makes our conference proposal special?

Based on what we have learned at Rotary International, other conferences, and our research, we are confident that we can conduct a successful, results-oriented conference:

1. to motivate Rotarians, other agencies and the public, in a large way, to reduce violence and crime at: (i) the individual level, (ii) family level, (iii) community level, and (iv) world level;

2. to provide a business-like, focussed approach to achieve Rotary & Partners' peace goals;

3. to raise awareness, use new information technology, teach, learn, network, work plan, recognize achievement, and act locally and globally.

We believe to dramatically increase our achievements globally we must start with our own education.

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Sponsors

This Symposium is a 'Partnership in Building Peace' of the Rotary Clubs of District 5360/5370 (Alberta and parts of British Columbia, Saskatchewan and NWT), District 5300 (Los Angeles, California) and the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Sponsors include: Rotary International,

A "Trade Fair" will be run in conjunction with the Symposium to provide an opportunity for Individuals or Organizations to display information and sell goods and services.

Program Overview

Rotary International is seeking to work with you in building a more civic community in the spirit of addressing some of the more significant and alarming global trends that have emerged over the past decade. Rotary International, representing over one million members worldwide, has recently initiated a major new program to address problems in major centres, particularly problems related to urban violence. Peace, in the context of this Symposium, is defined as "the absence of violence".

The Rotary 'Building Peace in the Community' Symposium will bring you together with the leadership of key sectors in building a more civic community - namely representatives from social service agencies, business, Rotary Clubs, government, education and spokespersons directly representing our disadvantaged residents. Your involvement will help us meet Symposium objectives which include to:

1. Develop a common information network on the Internet to support our communities;

2. Raise awareness among community stakeholders of global, national and local emerging trends affecting communities;

3. Strengthen linkages between community stakeholders, particularly business and social service agencies;

4. Determine collaborative, cooperative and achievable plans of action; and

5. Identify specific roles for Rotarians in implementing plans of action.

The Symposium program is designed to bring forward information and perspectives that will help you challenge your views about our own community, consider options relative to existing barriers and opportunities, and identify and commit to the best course of action possible to making your community a better place in which to live. Speakers and panelists are being carefully selected and represent a cross-section of experts at the individual, family, community and world levels [link to speakers]. The process used to evolve the discussion in the breakout sessions provides you with several opportunities to discuss issues, provide input, and to make recommendations that contribute to specific actionable outputs.

The Symposium is an exciting opporunity for you to positively influence the future of our communities and our world. Rotarians are striving to work in partnership with the community to make a meaningful difference to the quality of life of our citizens.

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Conference Design/Architecture

Our research indicates that most individual, family, community and world mission statements include the common words "safe and healthy". Therefore, the mission of the Rotary "Building Peace in the Community" Symposium is to "fast track" the development of safe and healthy individuals, families, communities, and world. In the process, we would like to know from the experts "is eradication of violence by the Year 2020 achievable (within certain tolerances) and, if so, how to do it?"

The conference is designed based on a standard problem resolution methodology (left column below). It is also based on the connectedness, or interrelationship, of Building Peace at the Individual, Family, Community and World levels. That is, what we learn at one level can often be applied to the others. Also, to make a difference at the Family, Community and World levels we must change attitudes and behaviours at an Individual level, and on a broad scale. This model will provide the underlying theme for guest speakers and concurrent workshops will be held for each level below.

= PROACTIVE PEACEMAKING

Guest Speakers/Presenters

Our Conference Committee will be actively soliciting the top speakers in the world who can help Rotary and others to "Build Peace in the Community". Our research has identified the need to seek out futurists, community leaders and builders, organizational specialists, scientific methology, inspirational speakers, to name a few. We will be guided by our approach to a "managed peace". Keep your eyes on this spot to see confirmed speakers as they become available.

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Awards Presentations

Who are the pre-eminent knowledge experts in Peace at the Individual, Family, Community and World levels?

Who are the champions?

Who is making the most significant contributions?

We believe that we should know the answers to these questions, and these contributions should be recognized in a suitable way at our Awards Dinner. Nominations are requested by completing the attached feedback form.

Thursday, February 17 (Rotary World Peace and Understanding Day)

6:00 - 7:30 pm   Registration

7:30 pm   Opening Plenary Session

Introductory Remarks: Mr. Robert Stewart C.M.C., C.A., Symposium Chair

Opening Speaker: Rotary International Director, Urban Peace Initiative

Keynote Speaker:

8:45 pm   Ice-Breaker Wine & Cheese Reception

Friday February 18

8:45 - 8:50 am   Welcome & Program Overview

8:50 - 9:00 am   Greetings from Calgary:

Topic: "Community of the Future - Building a Community from the Inside Out"

9:40 -11:00 am   Concurrent Panel Sessions - The Environmental Scan (Problem identification and information)

1. "Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats in Building Our Community"

2. "Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats in Building Individuals"

3. "Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats in Building Families"

4. "Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats in Building Our World"

11:00-11:15am   Coffee break

11:15-12:30pm   Breakout Discussion Groups - Evaluate Causes

1. "Priorize Causes of Violence - Individual Level"

2. "Priorize Causes of Violence - Family Level"

3. "Priorize Causes of Violence - Community Level"

4. "Priorize Causes of Violence - World Level"

Participants will work in small groups of up to 20 people. Groups will be facilitated and discussion will be guided by a workbook provided for that purpose. The workbook will include background information and general statistics. Participants will be asked to provide an inventory of their programs (proactive and reactive) and needs. In addition, this stage of discussion will encourage participants to look to the future (i.e. '2020 Vision') and decide what our community and world could or should be like at that time - "Where do we want to be?" "Is the eradication of violence by the Year 2020 achievable (within certain tolerances)?" In a later session, participants will look at five year goals which are achievable with existing resources and capabilities.

12:30- 1:30pm   Luncheon:

Speaker:

1:45 - 3:00 pm   Concurrent Panel Sessions - Best Practices/Cases that are Working

1. "Best Practices/Cases - Individual Level"

2. "Best Practices/Cases - Family Level"

3. "Best Practices/Cases - Community Level"

4. "Best Practices/Cases - World Level"

3:00 - 3:15 pm   Coffee Break

3:15 - 5:00 pm   Breakout Discussion Groups - Proposals/Solutions

1. "Proposals/Solutions - Individual Level"

2. "Proposals/Solutions - Family Level"

3. "Proposals/Solutions - Community Level"

4. "Proposals/Solutions - World Level"

Participants will continue to work in small groups of up to 20 people. Groups will be facilitated and discussion will continue to be guided by a workbook provided for that purpose. The focus of the discussion will be to identify five year goals and to prioritize these goals.

5:30 pm   Reception - Cash Bar

6:30 pm   Dinner:

Speaker:

Awards Presentations

Saturday February 19

9:00 -11:30 am   Breakout Discussion Groups

"Action Plans for Building Our Community - An Integrated, Focussed Approach"

Participants will continue to work in small groups of up to 20 people. Groups will be facilitated and discussion will continue to be guided by a workbook provided for that purpose. The focus of the session will be to take the top prioritized goal and to develop up to five action plans that could be initiated and their objectives achieved within a five year period. The top action plan from each group will be presented at the plenary session in the afternoon.

11:30-12:15 pm   Networking Luncheon

12:30 - 1:30 pm   Breakout Discussion Groups

"Community Urban Hope Centres - Free Access to Information, Help and Hope"

Participants will continue to work in small groups of up to 20 people. Groups will be facilitated and discussion will continue to be guided by a workbook provided for that purpose. The focus of the session will be to take the proposal of a network of Community Hope Centres and discuss the need and feasibility."

4:00- 4:30 pm   Next Steps - Action Plans Chair

4:30- 5:00 pm   Concluding Remarks and Symposium Closing

Supplementary Topics of Special Interest - Sunday February 21

9:00 - 9:40 am   Speaker :

5:15 - 6:00 pm   Plenary Session - "Junior Peace Achievement Program: Volunteers in School"

Symposium Chair: Robert Stewart, C.A., C.M.C.; Ph (403) 461-2469, Fax (309) 407-6576, Email: stewartr [at] peace.ca

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