Activities – Canadian Peace Education Foundation for a World Fit For Children

The objects of the Corporation are:  The advancement of education in the methods of achieving the peaceful resolution of conflict, within families, communities and throughout the world, by means of educational programs, research programs, educational television programs, schools, conferences and resource libraries, and other learning materials and venues.

The purpose of the organization is to help significantly reduce the human costs of violence in Canada and abroad through education (i.e. what we are trying to achieve).

Activities, approved by the Board of Directors, will be carried on throughout Canada .  Intended beneficiaries include the general public in Canada , with a particular focus on children (but to be clear, all our activities are inclusive in nature).  As part of their education and training, peace students and educators may be required to travel to other countries.

The organization has been formed for the purpose of giving the majority of its income to qualified donees (eg. Other registered charities), schools, universities and existing educational institutions.  This is the reason for naming the organization the Canadian Peace Education “Foundation”.  However, until peace education capacity is built in Canada among these other organizations, it is recognized that the Corporation may have to deliver peace education programs and services directly.  Hence the negative answer to Q12 at this time.  It is assumed that CCRA will classify the Corporation as a “Charitable Organization” rather than a “Foundation” under its definitions.

Details of activities in peace education include:

-          formal training and instruction through establishing, operating and supporting classes, schools, colleges, universities, and other similar institutions

-          preparation for careers (Typical job opportunities include: Canadian federal government (there are several departments, such as DFAIT, CIDA, foreign diplomats, DND, justice, corrections, health, social services);  Foreign governments; Canadian provincial and municipal governments (teacher education, education systems development, police services, victims services, safe and caring cities, safe and caring schools; responding to real community needs as identified by the community); research institutions; the UN (including many UN agencies, UN Universities, University of Peace/Costa Rica); private research services; businesses (e.g.. international businesses vis international affairs, employee relations, public relations, conflict resolution/ADR); non-government organizations (e.g.. CARE, Red Cross, religions, foreign NGOs; teaching leadership, fund-raising, etc.); individuals (e.g.. target hardening courses, enlightenment seekers); professional futurists; other)

-          improving human knowledge (e.g. the science of peace, peace psychology, etc.)

-          building peace education capacity through establishing, operating and supporting classes, schools, colleges, universities, and other similar institutions

-          organizing and providing formal and informal peace and future studies instruction

-          establishment of workshops, conferences and other venues for communicating, networking, information dissemination, development and instruction

-          development and dissemination of peace education curricula

-          establishment of forums of communication

-          establishment of self-study programs

-          establishing academic chairs and lectureships

-          establishing online learning communities

-          publish online learning materials and instructional modules

-          service-learning in peace education responding to real community needs as identified by the community, by utilizing reflection to combine service and training, through a collaborative process involving faculty, students, administrators, and staff and community partners

-          providing scholarships, bursaries, and prizes for scholastic achievements in peace and future studies

-          undertaking research in the field of peace, for educational purposes and available to the public

-          advancing peace science and related institutions, including maintaining related learned societies

-          providing and maintaining universally accessible peace museums

-          establishing and maintaining buildings for peace education use

-          establishing and maintaining peace resource libraries

-          full and fair presentation of peacekeeping, peacebuilding and peace education facts so that people can draw their own conclusions

-          violence literacy

-          preventing violence, abuse and cruelty

-          protecting the welfare of children and education for a World Fit For Children

-          relationship building

-          training in empowerment, leadership, governance, public accountability, social accountability, peace informatics, Alternate Dispute Resolution/Conflict Transformation, peace psychology, ethics, change management

-          establishing peace societies and similar institutions to build peace

-          establishing safety operations

-          providing peace amenities to benefit communities

-          providing counselling services for peace educators and peace practitioners

-          providing models of peace and futures education

-          development of instructional videos, audios, books, newsletters and other publications

-          development of marketing, advertising and promotional materials

-          promote the preservation of peaceful environments

-          establish and maintain a toll-free telephone line or lines to provide counselling services to the public on matters related to violence prevention, peace education and peace building, and to provide referrals, where appropriate, to appropriate professionals and peace workers

-          raising funds for the above activities, from individuals, corporations and businesses, other registered charities, sales of goods and services, government grants or contracts

-          provision of funding to Qualified Donees in the peace education fields, to carry out activities listed above

-          contracting with peace educators and organizations to carry out activities listed above

 To learn more about the Canadian Peace Education Foundation, see our brochure at http://www.peace.ca/foundation.htm  

 Examples of the Value of Investment and Need for Resources for Peace Education:

"The Canadian Conference on Peace Education was a transformative experience. I have always been actively involved in issues of social justice, both in my private life and as a secondary school teacher, but attending the weekend conference gave me a new and more meaningful context from which to operate. Like the fish who is oblivious of the water in which he lives,  we can be unaware of the violence that saturates our culture. We may understand that there can be no peace without justice, but we need to recognize that peace education is the soil that nurtures the seeds of justice.
     I have been able to transfer what I learned at the conference to my classroom, the staff room and my own home. Formal peace education helps me encourage students to become responsible and caring citizens of the world. It develops global thinking, respect for diversity and the rights of all forms of life. It enables students to recognize social injustice, its contributing factors and  the actions necessary to bring abut justice. Peace education fosters personal growth that allows us and our  students to respond to conflict in non-violent ways.
    It is all too easy to feel overwhelmed by the wrongs in our world, but a sense of powerlessness only supports the status quo. The formal presentations and informal conversations I experienced at the conference, contributed to an enduring sense of optimism and empowerment. I learned that a culture of violence can be transformed into a culture of peace. The Canadian Conference on Peace Education is part of that transformation. Isn't  that an investment worth making?"  Marika Ince, High School Teacher, Ontario