| Posted: April 19 2005,08:39 |
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in order to make changes in the report. 
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PROGRESS: Has your organization seen
progress toward a culture of peace and nonviolence in your domain of
action and in your constituency during the first half of the Decade? |
Yes
and no. Information about peacebuilding and nonviolence is much
more widely available now than five years ago, largely due to the
Internet and other telecommunications technologies that make
corresponding with people around the globe much easier and less
expensive. For places that do not have access to large academic
libraries and/or peace research centers, the Web is a goldmine of
information about peace processes and nonviolence. Although the
Internet existed 5 years ago, its reach was not nearly as great as it
is now.
At the same time, of course, people who are
interested in spreading hatred and fear also have access to the same
information technologies--hence the "yes and no."
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OBSTACLES: What are the most important obstacles that have prevented progress?
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Money
is one, which is linked to copyrights. It would be wonderful to
have enough money to be able to buy the permission to put leading peace
and nonviolence books and journals on the web for free downloading, but
this is prohibitively expensive.
Information overload is another
obstacle--there is already a great deal of information available, but
it is hard to tell what is good and credible, and what is not.
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ACTIONS: What actions have been
undertaken by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence during the first half of the Decade?
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We have created and are constantly improving two Websites that receive a great deal of international use.
One
is Beyond Intractability: The Intractable Conflict Knowledge Base which
is essentially an online encyclopedia on better ways of dealing with
difficult and intractable conflicts. It has 300 articles, 4000+
references, 100+ hours of audio interviews with leaders in the field
and more. It is available at www.BeyondIntractability.org.
Our
current work on this project involves adding a few more essays, but
focusing on adding stories--real world examples of what real people and
organizations have been doing to bring about peace and nonviolence in
their own locations (much as you are doing here). We also plan to
start a discussion area where people can around the world can share
ideas about what has worked for them and what might be tried elsewhere.
The other Website is CRInfo: The Conflict Resolution Information Source at www.CRInfo.org.
This is an online clearinghouse of information about conflict
resolution in the broadest sense: from interpersonal to international.
Over 20,000 websites, books and articles and organizations are
listed and coded to make searching easy.
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ADVICE: What advice would you like to
give to the Secretary-General and the General Assembly to promote a
culture of peace and nonviolence during the second half of the Decade? |
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PARTNERSHIPS: What partnerships and
networks does your organization participate in, thus strengthening the
global movement for a culture of peace? |
We
are part of the International Studies Association, the Alliance for
International Conflict Prevention and Resolution, and the Association
for Conflict Resolution. The Beyond Intractability Project is, in
itself, a partnership and network, currently involving over 200 people
and organizations from around the world.
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PLANS: What new engagements are
planned by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence in the second half of the Decade (2005-2010)? |
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Postal address of organization
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UCB 580
University of Colorado
Boulder CO 80305-0580
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E-mail address of organization
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burgess@colorado.edu
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Website address of organization
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www.BeyondIntractability.org; www.CRInfo.org; http://conflict.colorado.edu
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Highest priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Free flow of Information
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Second priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Education
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Highest priority country of action (or international)
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International
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Second priority country of action (or international)
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United States
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