GPC-3: Getting to Know You and Your Community
Come to learn what those who graduated last summer, last year, or in the last decade+ have been doing since graduation and be ready to share your own understanding of peace, what you have been working on, and how you are planning to contribute to positive peace going forward.
An open and reflexive space is intended to be both world-cafe and participant-driven so that our community can see itself, network, and build relationships.
World Café is a facilitation method where small groups meet in virtual tables that then rotate to allow for conversations to build and cross-pollinate. The questions will be designed to focus on what we can do to address violence and build peace in our communities.
Speakers:
Dhruti Shah is a multi-award-winning journalist and author. Currently a freelance creative practitioner, her work encompasses relational dynamics coaching, storytelling consultancy, open-source investigations, training, and public speaking. She honed her craft during 14 years at the BBC and has by-lines in The Guardian, The New Arab, World of Topia and Fortune Magazine. She is the author of the illustrated award-winning financial literacy guide Bear Markets and Beyond: A Bestiary of Business Terms. She is an advisor for the Museum of Colour, a Clore cultural leader and a board trustee for the John Schofield Trust charity. She is a John Schofield Trust Senior Fellow, a Rotary International Peace Fellow and an Ochberg Fellow at the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma. She is also the first recipient of the University of Kent's Centre for Journalism honorary journalism practitioner fellowship. She has received scholarships from International News Media Association Elevate programme, Hoopla Impro, and the Association of British Science Writers. She is also a peace ambassador having completed the Rotary International / Institute for Economics and Peace Positive Peace Academy. She is also a published poet and short story writer. She has her own newsletter and her portfolio is www.dhrutishah.com.
Michael Chew, PhD is an environmentalist, action-researcher, and photographer/designer with degrees in participatory design, social ecology, art photography, critical theory and mathematical physics. He has a background in community-based sustainability programs in non-profit and local government and is passionate about using creativity to empower communities. He co-founded the Melbourne Environmental Arts Festival, a multi-venue community arts festival, and has coordinated various social and environmentally focused creative participatory projects. His international perspectives come from involvement in a range of grassroots global solidarity initiatives: co-founding the NGO Friends of Kolkata to coordinate international volunteer programmes and teach participatory photography; working in Bangladesh on community-based climate adaptation; co-founding the Friends of Bangladesh climate justice solidarity group. He recently completed an action-research PhD exploring how participatory photography can inspire environmental behaviour change across Bangladesh, China and Australia, and a Rotary Peace Fellowship, and is pursuing research in the intersection of ecocentric-thinking and peace. Projects: https://www.ecoimagine.org/projects
Moderator:
Natalija Vojno is a Rotary Peace Fellow (2020-2022, International Christian University) with a decade of experience helping diverse groups align on environmental priorities and actions – be it North America’s Great Lakes or the Nile River. Her work and research to date have been at the intersection of environmental policy and peacebuilding. She has led environmental campaigns, been a speech writer for Ontario's Minister of the Environment, and facilitated multi-stakeholder spaces for foresight and dialogue e.g. Balkan Youth Environmental Assembly (virtual) and Youth in Water Diplomacy (Cairo). She seeks to support systems that enable life on Earth for all by focusing on SDG 6 Water & Sanitation and SDG 16 Peace & Institutions. Natalija is an advisor to the inaugural UNEP Faith for Earth Youth Council. She is also the founder of the mediation and engagement design consultancy Our FutureFirst: https://ourfuturefirst.co/.
Facilitators:
Vikram Kapoor is a conflict resolution specialist and was previously at the United Nations, where he built a conflict coaching program in 40 countries for UN Women, UNDP and UNFPA. Vik is a lawyer by background and also serves as a professional coach. He wrote a book on self-coaching for young leaders called First Serve Yourself, which was an Amazon #1 bestseller and the recipient of a Living Now Book Award ("books for better living"). You can connect with him at www.extra-m.com.
Jeff Pederson's commitment started about thirty years ago while defending forests and communities consumed by fire, like others might a candle dinner or campfire. When not responding to these increasing intensity and frequently destructive events, he was responding to floods, oil spills. In his free time you can find him skiing glaciers or scuba diving WW2 wrecks. Like fire and ice, he learned quickly as he earned a natural sciences degree from dispute resolution and peace negotiations of natural resources, commercial industries, public interest, as well as Indigenous Peoples.
2023 GLOBAL PEACE CONFERENCE (GPC-3): Over 24 hours of peace talks, skills-based workshops and networking
Do you care deeply about your community and looking for ideas to bring about positive change?
Join us on 4 March 2023 for the third 24-hour online Global Peace Conference: an exciting, interactive convergence of thought-provokers, peacebuilders and everyday people building peace in their spheres of influence.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL AGENDA
The theme of this year’s conference is “Strengthening Our Peacebuilding Community”. This theme is an extension of our desire to connect our planet with people power, towards a peaceful and just existence for all. This year’s 24-hour conference has programming in four global geographical regions, with plenaries and skill-building sessions, covering all time zones across the globe and enabling anyone, anywhere, to participate.
This volunteer-led initiative of Rotary Peace Fellows and other members of the broader Rotary peace ecosystem is based on the premise that everyone has the power to change the world. We work in civil society, academia, and government. We work in conflict resolution, sustainable development, and business. We are change makers in our community wherever we are based across the globe, and have a passion to transform conflict into growth and potential.
This 24-hour Global Peace Conference is not a typical academic conference or business networking opportunity. Our value is in dialogue and in collaboration, so everyone—YOU included—has a part to play in making our conference meaningful.
The event will feature:
Local peacebuilders from all over the world
Interactive sessions at all time zones
Ample opportunity for training and networking
Join us by registering above! The conference is free of charge thanks to the generosity of volunteers and donors from the Rotary peace community, including Carol Fellows and Tim Bewley.
If you would like to make a donation to help keep future conferences free and inclusive, please click here. Thank you for your support!
WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS AFTER THE CONFERENCE?
During the inclusive, open planning meetings to prepare for the conference, it was decided to develop a conference declaration setting out positive peace as a unifying concept to unite Rotary Peace Fellows, other peacebuilders, and the Rotary family. The goal is also to articulate a vision for the conference as a vehicle to strengthen the Rotary peace ecosystem and to build relationships with and elevate grassroots peaceubilders. Please provide feedback on the draft conference declaration:
COMMENT ON THE DRAFT HERE
Thank you for your constructive input!