The Transformative Learning Centre at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto presents two events to launch the International Institute for Community Based Peacebuilding: 1) "Grassroots Peacebuilding in Action and Dialogue" Our panel of speakers, from a variety of local and international settings, will share and discuss their challenges, successes, strategies and theories as well as how they conceptualize their peacebuilding work. This event will take place at Innis Town Hall (2 Sussex Ave.) on Thursday June 9 from 7:00-9:30 p.m. Pay-what-you-can (suggested donation $5). - read about the panel below - (2) "Weaving a Web of Peace in Toronto" In partnership with Peacebuilders International, this public event will be an opportunity for members of Toronto's peacebuilding community to dialogue and discuss how community peacebuilding can be advanced in the Toronto area. Using a circle model, this event will create space for people to talk freely across different perspectives and generations. There will be music, food, and tables for groups to display their literature. It will take place at OISE (252 Bloor St. W - at St. George) in room 2-211 on Sunday June 12 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. Attendance is free. More information below. In conflict areas all over the world, thousands of people and organizations are working with great determination and against formidable odds to build bridges between communities in conflict and to lay the foundations for a durable peace. This important and often neglected topic - community based peacebuilding - is the focus of our initiative, the creation of the International Institute for Community-Based Peacebuilding. Community-Based Peacebuilding takes place at a local level and strives towards the creation of lasting peace. These efforts may take many shapes. Community-Based Peacebuilders may: strive to build democracy and help to develop attitudes of inclusion, tolerance, and justice; work to change the attitudes of the majority population toward the minority populations; promote cultural awareness; educate the media about the importance of cultural promotion rather than emphasizing cultural differences; or coordinate events for cultural sharing and understanding. Community-based peacebuilders address not only issues of inter-cultural and inter-state militarized conflict but are also able to address latent issues that carry the potential for escalation. By transforming such latent conflicts before they escalate, peacebuilders enhance the possibility of building a more sustained democratically-based and peaceful society. In order to celebrate the launch of the International Institute for Community Based Peacebuilding, we welcome you to attend two public events: (1) GRASSROOTS PEACEBUILDING IN ACTION AND DIALOGUE Come share the experiences, theories, and reflections of local and international peacebuilders. Date: June 9, 2005 Time: 7-9:30 pm Location: Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Ave., University of Toronto Pay what you can (suggested donation $5) Musical Performance by NEW CUBAN GENERATION Welcome by Councillor Olivia Chow (Invited) Panelists: Dorothy Christian Video artist, producer, director & writer; Co-founder of Turning Point: Native Peoples and Newcomers On-line. Dorothy is a member of the Spallumcheen Indian Band from the interior of BC. Her production experience includes over 75 mini documentaries for VISION TV, the national multi-faith network, freelance producing for CTV, APTN News & in-studio directing for Creative Native series & the Art Zone series. Since September, 2004 Dorothy has been the Executive Director of the Indigenous Media Arts Group in Vancouver, BC. Amina Sherif Hassan Co-founder and coordinator, Voice of Somali Women for Peace, Reconciliation and Political Rights, Toronto Harry Mika, Ph.D. Professor of Sociology at Central Michigan University (USA), and Senior Research Fellow in the School of Law, Queens University of Belfast. An applied researcher and practitioner, Harry has worked closely with more than seventy-five community-based justice initiatives in the United States and abroad, on program design, implementation and evaluation themes. Since 1997, Harry has been extensively involved with the development of alternatives to paramilitary punishment violence in Loyalist and Republican working class areas of Northern Ireland. Charles Tauber, M.D. Founder and Director, Coalition for Work With Psychotrauma and Peace, Croatia. The CWWPP works with issues of health, particularly mental health, civil society and peacebuilding in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia on a grassroots level. The organization has developed the Strategy of Complex Rehabilitation for the (re-) integration of post-conflict societies. Further, the CWWPP is working as the chief implementer with a number of local organizations in the region on the establishment of the Inter-University Field Institute for Post-Conflict Studies and Peacebuilding in Vukovar, Croatia. www.cwwpp.org. Nomiki Yekani National Youth Programs Coordinator, Umtapo Centre, South Africa. The Umtapo Centre aims to contribute to the empowerment of oppressed people and the expansion of a self-reliant ethos in a country where the greatest majority of its people have suffered serious exploitation and dehumanisation. Umtapo Centre works towards the empowerment of women, the promotion of peace and antiracism, economic justice, adult literacy, and youth leadership. <http://www.umtapo.co.za/> Before working at Umtapo, Nomiki was the Coordinator and a founder member of the Peace Afrika Youth Centre - Qongqotha, a community based multi purpose and youth development centre that provides knowledge, values and skills conducive to the respect of human rights, peace building and development. Anne Goodman (Moderator) Anne teaches in the Adult Education and Counselling Psychology Department of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto (OISE/UT). She is an Associate Director of the Transformative Learning Centre at OISE/UT and Director of its focal area on Peace and Human Rights. (2) WEAVING A WEB OF PEACE IN TORONTO Date: June 12, 2005 Time: 1:30 - 4:30 pm Location: OISE, 252 Bloor St. W. (At St. George), Room 2-211 ** FREE ** In partnership with Peacebuilders International, the Transformative Learning Centre invites you to "Weaving a Web of Peace in Toronto" - a public event for those working to advance peace and healing in Toronto to dialogue and discuss how community peacebuilding can be advanced in the Toronto area. Dialogue circles will be used to create space for people to talk freely across different perspectives and generations. There will be music, food, and tables for groups to display their literature. Bring your own drums! Public welcome by Councillor Joe Mihevc. To let us know you're coming please email Carolyn at peacebuilding@oise.utoronto.ca Our sponsors: The Creative Vocalization Studio Centre for Social Justice Native Canadian Centre New Songs for Peace Ontario Council for International Cooperation Ontario Voice of Women Queen East International Solutions Peacebuilders International Peace Initiatives International-Africa Scarborough South West New Democratic Party Riding Association Somali Canadians Today Tikkun Toronto Turning-Point.ca Voice of Somali Women for Peace, Reconciliation and Political Rights Vukovar Field Institute for Post-Conflict Studies Women's Peace Resource Education Centre For more information, please contact Carolyn Webb [ mailto:peacebuilding@oise.utoronto.ca ]peacebuilding@oise.utoronto.ca More information at: <[ http://tlc.oise.utoronto.ca/peacebuilding.html ]http://tlc.oise.utoronto.ca/peacebuilding.html>