Inspiring speeches, educational workshops, excellent discussions, beautiful venues, and an Intercultural Evening with amazing improvised performances: the International Peace Conference 2016 had it all! A big thank you to everyone who participated and supported.
For the second consecutive year, the International Peace Conference took place from the 14th -17th of January at the United World College of Maastricht. In the pursuit of peace, IPC aims to explore the barriers and bridges to peace, spark activism and develop a keenness to view peace from a multidimensional perspective. Emerging from last year’s conference, we realised that there was a clear inequality within the structure of international law. For IPC 2016, we set out to spread a global imploration for change – a message that we, as youth, cannot stand for a system that is unequal, unfair and ineffective. Through student led workshops, international level speakers, panel discussions, and interactive sessions, 400 students from around the world explored politics role in hindering as well as achieving peace.
At the core of the conference were the workshops, a diverse collection of youth-led, youth-targeted sessions. The workshops aimed to create dialogue regarding peace and how it can be achieved. IPC 2016 hosted 23 eye-opening workshops with first-hand accounts from students across 104 nations. These workshops were a chance for workshop leaders, often individuals who had lived through the conflict in question, to let their perspectives come through clearly. This meant that participants who had never faced conflict on a personal level could engage and actively participate in dialogue pertaining to urgency for international harmony. The following are excerpts of a few workshops
At the core of the conference were the workshops, a diverse collection of youth-led, youth-targeted sessions. The workshops aimed to create dialogue regarding peace and how it can be achieved. IPC 2016 hosted 23 eye-opening workshops with first-hand accounts from students across 104 nations. These workshops were a chance for workshop leaders, often individuals who had lived through the conflict in question, to let their perspectives come through clearly. This meant that participants who had never faced conflict on a personal level could engage and actively participate in dialogue pertaining to urgency for international harmony. The following are excerpts of a few workshops
The participants engaged in several interactive sessions throughout the conference; discussions with the aim of adding a sense of realism and tenability to the prospect of ‘peace being a reality’. The discussions provided a foundation for youth to build and personally track their progress over the course of the conference. During the closing ceremony, the interactive session ‘Product of the Conference’ allowed the participants to produce a tangible and meaningful conclusion to the conference. During Saturday evening, the participants reconvened in the school’s atrium for an intercultural evening. The cosy atmosphere provided by the informal, candle -lit setting saw students from all around the world read poetry, recount tales and perform musical talents, inspiring a sense of hope and inter cultural understanding.