| Posted: May 06 2005,00:05 |
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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? |
ACPACS
has seen progress toward a culture of peace and nonviolence. We have
developed the following indicators to measure this progress:
1.
The increasing number of collaborative partnerships with
organisations designed to build capacity in peacebuilding and
nonviolent conflict resolution strategies. ACPACS has established
partnerships with national and international organisations,
implementing projects designed to build sustainable peace. We have
worked with the National Peace Council of the Solomon Islands, The
Malvatumauri Council of Chiefs in Vanuatu, and a wide range of
Australian government institutions and civil society groups. The
measurable progress we have seen out of these endeavours is a larger
network of peacebuilders - people and organisations with improved
abilities to deal with conflict in a peaceful manner.
2. The
increasing number of individuals and organisations participating in
training for alternative dispute resolution, including mediation and
negotiation. ACPACS facilitates training for individuals, government
organisations, and private sector groups. A culture of peace is
fostered through these workshops, building capacity of communities to
respond to conflict through the more peaceful processes of alternative
dispute resolution.
3. Development of a 'peace network' of
collaborative relationships between national and international scholars
from a range of disciplines. ACPACS currently has 10 Research
Associates working together to clearly articulate the aspects of their
research that foster peace and nonviolence. By supporting collaborative
dialogue and research between academic disciplines, ACPACS hopes to
encourage a culture of peace throughout universities, rather than
solely through Centres for Peace and Conflict Studies.
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OBSTACLES: What are the most important obstacles that have prevented progress?
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Our
centre has been in operation for just over a year. Thus we have not had
an extensive period of time to experience obstacles. However, some of
the obstacles which may hinder progress are:
The insulation of
the disciplines within universities, which often relegates peace
studies to a specialised area, rather than being incorporated as a
strand in all disciplines.
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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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ACPACS has undertaken the following actions:
Intercultural
mediation- APACS staff have been involved in intercultural mediation
and conflict resolution projects both within Australia and the
Asia-Pacific Region. In the Solomon Islands, ACPACS staff worked
collaboratively with Solomon Islanders to develop a training
program/package of Solomon Islands' Style Mediation, a series of
workshops carried out in three locations throughout the Islands. The
workshops were designed both to teach Western skills of peacemaking
through mediation, and to elicit local knowledge of traditional
peacemaking processes. The workshops culminated in action plans for
developing peacemaking processes that combined elements of traditional
peacemaking processes with elements of Western mediation in ways that
built community leader's capacity for peacemaking in the Solomon
Islands, particularly in areas where communities are seeking to repair
disruptions, disarm militants and resolve conflicts in a peaceful
manner.
Created a Regional Research & Practice Centre on
Development and Security in the Asia-Pacific Region - Projects include
the development of an edited text on Security and Development in the
Asia-Pacific Region.
International Colloquium on Research
regarding State and Violence- ACPACS brought together a range of
eminent scholars from around the world to discuss issues related to the
State and Violence. ACPACS staff members are currently developing a
long range research project on this topic.
Decreasing Violence
towards Indigenous Australians- ACPACS has a working group that
consists of scholars whose research addresses violence experienced by
Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. The brief of this
working group is to explore existing research in this area and to
develop a research project focussed on decreasing violence in the lives
of Indigenous Australians.
Peace Education - One of ACPACS
Research Associates, Dr. Ivana Milojevic has developed a university
course entitled Peace Education: Understanding and Negotiating
Conflicts in Our Schools, Families and Communities. It introduces
students to historical and contemporary views of peace and security.
The course explores the role of violence in people's lives and
illuminates how peace education can help deal with this violence.
Peace
Journalism- ACPACS sponsored an intensive week long workshop which
promoted peace and non-violence by training a group of journalists in
skills and techniques leading to more ethical, just and peaceful
discourse in the news media.
Intercultural dialogue project -
ACPACS is working collaboratively with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Unit, developing a project that builds peace through
development of respectful dialogue. The project, entitled 'We Talk, You
Listen' is beginning with a series of Listening Days in which
non-Indigenous Australians listen to the stories of members of the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community. The aim of this phase
of the project is to provide a forum for the stories of Indigenous
Australians, which are often marginalised or silenced, to be heard in
an atmosphere of respect. The Deep Listening phase of this project will
provide a foundation for the more interactive dialogue phase in which
we envision facilitated community dialogues around issues raised in the
listening phase of the project.
The Centre hosted a major
international conference in March/April 2005 on Peace, Justice and
Reconciliation in the Asia-Pacific Region. The conference hosted 300
delegates and provided a space within which academics; policy makers;
foreign affairs, legal, defence and security professionals; NGO
representatives from humanitarian and peace-building organisations, as
well as graduate students with an interest in sustainable peace in the
Asia Pacific region, met and discussed ways in which peace, justice and
reconciliation can be advanced in the region at community, national and
regional levels. The conference focussed on four main areas:
1. Development and Security in the South West Pacific Region.
This
theme will be developed in a discussion of an ACPACS/ International
Peace Academy book on "Development and Security in the South West
Pacific". This book is intended to provide national and regional
academics and policy makers with an opportunity to consider current
development, policing and security policies in the Pacific region in
the light of six new national case studies. 2. The Quest for Justice
and Peace: Listening to Indigenous Voices in Australasia and the
Pacific. This stream considered issues such as the development of
a new contract between indigenous Australians and the State, and wider
questions regarding renewal and reconciliation. The conference provided
space for dialogue between Indigenous and settler Australians and also
amonst Indigenous peoples from Pacific Island states. 3. Law Reform,
Justice, ADR and Mediation in the Asia Pacific Region. This
stream focussed on ways of strengthening the Law and Justice sectors in
the Asia-Pacific region, with a particular focus on the relationship
between law and peace. A specific focus emerged on the ways in
which different island states are endeavouring to ‘marry' customary and
introduced Western law with a specific focus on conflicts over land.
4. The Conflict Prevention/Conflict Management Capacities of
Regional Institutions. This stream provided an opportunity to evaluate
existing mandates and mechanisms in the Pacific Islands Forum
generally, and within the Secretary General's office in particular.
PeaceMAP
- The Centre is hosting a meeting of international visual artists,
musicians, poets and storytellers in September as part of the PeaceMAP
project (Peace through Music, Art and Poetry). This project is already
generating dynamic conversations and exchange between the arts and
cultural sector and those working in the humanities and peace studies.
The project will encompass a series of interconnected workshops,
exhibitions and performances addressing the role of art and cultural
production in peace and conflict resolution.
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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? |
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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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The Australian Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies
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E-mail address of organization
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acpacs@uq.edu.au
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Website address of organization
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www.uq.edu.au/acpacs
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Highest priority action domain of a culture of peace
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International Peace and Security
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Second priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Highest priority country of action (or international)
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Australasia
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Second priority country of action (or international)
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Pacific Island Small States
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