The annual peace education program launched by Living Peace International is underway once more.

«This year we are focussing on the side of the ‘Dice of Peace’ which invites us to “Love Everyone“» explains Carlos Palma, International Coordinator of the “Living Peace International” project. «This is an important point, it activates many values which can build peace within us and around us».

Living Peace International is active in more than 100 countries, involving around 1,000 schools and associations. It collaborates with over 40 different organizations, working together in synergy, linking a wide variety of initiatives and proposals. Today, more than 200,000 children and youth are involved in this growing project for Peace.

«The Living Peace family continues to spread throughout the world:  every year sees an increase in the number of schools, universities, organisations and groups joining the network, and the number of countries where this form of peace education is taught has grown to 162!» continues Carlos. «In the 2019-2020 Guide, we’re offering a range of activities which can be developed in classrooms, group work, and involving the whole school or association, as well as participating in international actions supported by the global Living Peace network».

It’s calculated that last year the various projects reached around 1.5 million children, adolescents and young adults around the world. Carlos reflects, «This year’s new program of “life and activity” for peace aims to be a step ahead in striving to make the world more of a family, getting many others involved in generating and spreading this culture. How? By highlighting more and better exactly what Living Peace is: a project of LIFE.  So we’ll be focussing on the formation of our national coordinators who are emerging in countries and regions where Living Peace members already exist in large numbers. We are planning courses – long and short – in different continents for the formators of our network. With this new program we are also planning to intensify our use of social media, and to make more of an impact on local and international educational networks. We’re also continuing to highlight the importance of documenting well all that we’re doing: through photos, video, articles and the sharing of experiences. Collecting and collating all this precious material is part of creating and spreading the culture of peace».

To download the Living Peace Guide for 2019-2020 (so far only available in Italian) click HERE.

Background

It all began in 2011, when Carlos Palma was teaching in a school in Cairo, Egypt.  He was dismayed to see violence erupting across the country, and asked himself if he could anything to create a culture of peace in these circumstances. He started by proposing that his students start each day by launching a large-sized cube, called “The Dice of Peace”. Then at midday, he invited them all to live a moment of silence and reflection for peace in the world. Very soon, the atmosphere in class began to change, there was more enthusiasm and the relationships among the students improved. The project was extended to involve the whole school. In the years that followed, the Project has spread rapidly from Cairo to form an international network.

The proposal

Living Peace is a universal proposal open to all: children, youth and adults, of different cultures and religions. It is simple and stimulating at the same time, challenging each person above all to make a personal commitment.  We each need to come out of ourselves to be ready to reach the others by  “being peace”. In this way, our hearts can open out onto the whole world. Living Peace unites all its participants – individuals and large groups – in a network of Peace. In this way, it’s possible to discover and participate in the most varied experiences, initiatives and ideas promoted by the large number of organizations working for the culture of peace across our planet. So every local proposal (actions, meetings, exhibitions, forums) can acquire a global resonance and energy.