Peace Education Online Communities

While the site us under constuction we encourage you to visit the "Peace Education Online Communities." Support for the CIPE and IIPE is facilitated through a virtual online community. The Peace Education Online Community is an interactive component of the CIPE website that enables members of the global community to communicate and interact with each other through online discussions, collaborative working spaces, an updatable calendar of events, member profiles, reports of institutes, the sharing of files and papers including sample curricula and best practices from local communities, and much, much more. This web-based initiative will aid the CIPEs in connecting to global initiatives and developments in peace education . The Peace Education Online Community is a shared space for IIPE and CIPE participants, members of the Global Campaign for Peace Education, and other concerned educators.

Some Background on the CIPE

The idea for Community-Based Institutes on Peace Education (CIPE) emerged in 2005 from the conscientious work, research and planning of a network of formal and non-formal educators and academics concerned with the role of and possibilities for education in the prevention of deadly conflict; the rethinking of global security; preparing individuals for engaged, democratic citizenship; and the realization of human rights, social justice and ecological balance. Many researchers have provided evidence that education plays a significant role in initiating personal, communal, even structural developments that make qualitative differences in society, economy and politics. These developments have been the avowed aim of numerous education campaigns from the general social goals of UNESCO’s “Education for All” to the normative goals of the People’s Movement for Human Rights Education and the curricular goals of the Global Campaign for Peace Education (three globally recognized programs in education for social transformation). There is general agreement among education authorities that if education is to be an instrument of such change, it must, itself be transformed. This consensus was reflected in the UNESCO Declaration and Framework of Action for Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy, Paris, 1995. Basic and essential to any significant change in education is the professional preparation of educators, most especially teacher educators and trainers of non-formal education facilitators.

Significant discussions on the issues of violence, security and peace take place at the highest levels - far from grassroots educators and their communities whose participation is important for ensuring equitable outcomes to local and global decision-making. While important work is taking place on the ground, grassroots organizations and educators from conflict zones and developing nation states work with very limited resources and have limited access to requisite substantive knowledge and adequate training opportunities. Educators also have limited opportunities to learn, share and strategize with counterparts in other national or world regions, despite the fact that issues related to peace and human security, by their very nature, cross borders and reach into all communities. There is an urgent need to create opportunities for serious and sustained dialogue among frontline educators working on these crucial issues. Such opportunities can enable educators to engage in global civil society and capacitate them to train other educators so that the majority of world citizens can be effectively enfranchised through education for civic participation.

Over the years the IIPE has inspired many participants to develop local initiatives . Several requests have also been made for additional IIPE offerings and we have long agreed that support and activities need to be extended beyond the annual program to serve the growing demand for the type of learning that the IIPE offers for educators from all sectors of society. There are formal and non-formal practitioners of peace education in nearly every community around the world, many of the most experienced are in the IIPE network. However, support networks at the local level barely exist . Furthermore, the existing international activities and training possibilities in peace education rarely reflect local needs and relevant practices. In addition, one of the major obstacles to dissemination of the new methodologies and issues experienced by participants in IIPE is the financial and language barriers which prevent many eager for preparation in peace education from traveling to and participating in an annual Institute.

The CIPE was developed to address these local needs by extending the IIPE communitythrough the creation and coordination of locally based mini institutes (1-3 days) based roughly upon the IIPE. In 2007 the first CIPEs are being organized by former hosts and participants of the IIPE, with assistance and cooperation from the IIPE Coordinators (the Peace Education Center is the coordinating agent of the IIPE and CIPE) in their local communities . Each CIPE program is unique, designed to address locally relevant issues and concerns, drawing upon local human resources, enlisting the cooperation of local institutions, and conducted in the local language.

Goals of the CIPE

To provide local support for peace educators
There are educators practicing peace education in nearly every corner of the world, yet we know little of the existence of each other and the work that we are doing . While the IIPE has brought together people in solidarity from around the world, the CIPE will be utilized to bring people together in learning communities at the local level .

To learn from each other about best practices
The IIPE community is itself its greatest intellectual and practical resource . A world of experts exists amongst the daily practitioners of peace education . As a community of learners we have much to learn from and with each other .

To address current and relevant local content and issues
The annual IIPE is designed to address contextually relevant peace issues and obstacles of the host region . However, every community has its own distinct culture and history, and what might be relevant to one might not be as relevant to another . At the community level the CIPE can be developed to address the most pertinent and relevant issues toward instituting educational change .

To support school and community based peace education initiatives
The IIPE receives numerous requests for supporting emerging peace education programs and initiatives around the world . In many instances, the local community can be better equipped to provide this support . The CIPEs will aid in providing grassroots support with the benefit of being connected to an extensive global community and the IIPE .

To increase the possibility for affecting policy locally, nationally, and globally
Any effective strategy for change or social transformation needs to involve actors at all levels of society . It is not enough to only outreach to policymakers and power-holders . Formal and non-formal educators need to be involved in the process of educational change as they are the most active participants and its greatest stakeholders . Working together we can better show evidence of the need and potential for peace education .

Increase potential for research and new developments in the field of peace education
We are little aware of the diversity of approaches and practices of peace education that exist in the world . We are even less aware of the success stories of peace education . The CIPE will bring the global community closer together through extending networking and sharing opportunities.