Every year Peacejam brings together teenagers, students and Nobel Peace Prize winners at the University of Bradford – the only such event in the whole of the UK or Europe!

INSPIRATION – EDUCATION – PRACTICAL ACTION

PeaceJam

• inspires young people to be active citizens and peacemakers
• helps them choose non-violent solutions to their issues and problems
• builds their self-esteem and leadership capacity
• introduces them to global issues
• empowers them to transform themselves, their local communities, and the world
• offers them alternative, positive role-models
• and is a lot of fun!

STOP PRESS PEACEJAM 2009: PUBLIC LECTURE AND YOUTH CONFERENCE

Annual Lecture by Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi from Iran

Friday 6 March, 5pm Norcroft Centre
Live jazz music and refreshments from 4pm
For a free ticket click here http://www.sutickets.com/event/41181
Youth conference 7-8 March 2009, University of Bradford.
We still have some places left for young people aged 13-17.
Contact us for details

 

ABOUT PEACEJAM

PeaceJam was launched in the USA in 1996. Ivan Suvanjieff, an artist and musician, had been talking with some gang members in North Denver, when he discovered that these young men with guns greatly admired Archbishop Desmond Tutu for his non-violent efforts toward social change. He then realized that Nobel Peace Laureates could act as alternative role models for disaffected youngsters. His colleague, Dawn Engle, helped him contact the Dalai Lama, whom she had met during her years of work for the U.S. Congress. His Holiness loved their idea and helped them set up PeaceJam as a vehicle to enable his fellow Laureates to teach young people the art of peace.

PeaceJam is the only foundation in the world to have so many Nobel Peace Laureates working together closely and continuously. They are: the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Dr. Oscar Arias, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Máiread Corrigan Maguire, Betty Williams, José Ramos Horta, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, Aung San Suu Kyi, Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, and Wangari Maathai and the late Sir Joseph Rotblat,

PeaceJam is the only education programme devised by, and involving, leading Nobel Peace Laureates, such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They work personally with young people to pass on their spirit, skills and wisdom, address issues such as violence and racism, and teach problem-solving skills, and conflict resolution.

PeaceJam is a peace education programme for schools and youth groups in the UK. It consists of a year-round, innovative international education programme, whose high points are the two-day Youth Conference each Spring, and a follow-up day called a ‘PeaceJam Slam ’ in the Autumn – run by student volunteers from the University of Bradford.

EVENTS

PeaceJam 2006

The first ever UK PeaceJam conference was held on 25-6 March, 2006 at the University of Bradford. Some 60 teenagers from Bradford, Coventry, London and Pontefract Britain listened to inspiring presentations from Máiread Corrigan Maguire, a Northern Irish peace activist awarded the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize, quizzed her on how she dealt with violence in her own life, and offered their inspirations and ideas on how they too could become peacemakers – at home, at school and in the world. The young people presented their proposals for peace actions in their schools – which ranged from peer mediation, to anti-bullying campaigns, lobbying for fair trade status, and reaching out to foreign students.

What the young people say:

‘Going to PeaceJam totally changed my life. In March I was excluded from school for fighting and was constantly falling out with my friends. A group of three of us were going to attack another girl after school which I now sincerely regret. What I learnt at the conference really helped. I remember what Mairead said—that there is no need for arguing. She changed her life and other peoples’ lives by being peaceful.  Life is too short to waste it fighting. Since then, instead of fighting I stop fights!  I have stayed out of trouble and at home I get rewards for being good in school instead of punishments for being excluded!  I just stopped going around with violent people so much and chose to spend my time with peaceful people. I find this easier because I don’t have to be scared to say the wrong thing. I like myself more now being a peaceful person. Thank you PeaceJam!’

Emma, a 13 year old PeaceJammer

PeaceJam Slam

Six months later we held the one-day PeaceJam Slam on 14 October at the University. At this one-day conference, youth participants reported back on the progress of their projects, problems encountered and plans for the future, and participated in skills-building workshops around conflict resolution and mediation.

What the Young People say:

"We used to go and fight the kids from Beckfoot School after school. But now that I've been to PeaceJam with some of them, well, it seems really silly to do that now.'

Bennett, 17, Nab Wood School, Bingley

 

10th Anniversary PeaceJam in Denver

Some were also able to relate the wonderful experience of attending the 10th Anniversary PeaceJam conference held in September in Denver, Colorado, at the invitation of the PeaceJam Foundation in the USA, which runs the project worldwide. The Denver event brought together 10 Nobel Laureates with 3,000 young people from East Timor, Argentina, Costa Rica, South Africa, Guatemala, Tibet, Burma and the USA. A group of 17 British PeaceJammers, plus adults and Peace Studies staff and students, were able to listen to, debate with, and work alongside, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias, Prime Minister of East Timor José Ramos Horta, Shirin Ebadi, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Jody Williams, Máiread Corrigan Maguire, Betty Williams and Rigoberto Menchu Tum.

The need for PeaceJam was, sadly underscored just 10 days later when a fellow PeaceJammer, teenager Emily Keyes, was shot dead by a gunman who held her classmates hostage at Platte Canyon high school, near Denver. The Bradford PeaceJam Slam was dedicated to Emily whose mother asked PeaceJammers to ‘practice random acts of kindness in Emily’s memory’.

What the young people say:

At the Peace Jam party that night, came our first view of a Nobel Peace prize winner. Between acts, came Archbishop Desmond Tutu, dancing on stage, and shouting that we amazed him and that we were so cool! The crowd was wild with happiness at the sight of this amazing person, with more energy and drive than I have ever seen in a person! I’ll just put it this way, this was the first day of the conference, and we were awake for half the night, talking about how we were feeling, and the events of the day…
Sukhmani Ravat, Allerton High School, Leeds

We listened to the keynote speech by the Dalai Lama (who sounded a lot like Yoda from Star Wars) but he mainly spoke about compassion and respect for other religions. Then we got into out family groups where I met even more awesome people! In my group we went to a café to get some (Fairtrade) coffee. We then had various discussions on what The Dalai Lama had said, what inspires us and the root causes of violence, which we all agreed were ignorance and fear.

-Martha Julings, Allerton Grange School, Leeds

PeaceJam 2007

The second UK PeaceJam Youth Conference was held on 3-4 March, 2007at the University. The Nobel Peace Laureate was the wonderful Jody Williams, the founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and the winner of 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. She was outspoken and inspirational!

What the young people say

"It was a fantastic experience and I would recommend it to anybody who wants to make a difference"

"I learned that you don't have to be a hippy to be peaceful"

"awesome!"

  

PeaceJam Slam 2007

The second Slam was held on 10 November 2007 on the theme of racism, hatred and human solidarity. The event started with a very moving presentation by a family of asylum-seekers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who related how they escaped from the horrors of civil war, and sang and drummed traditional music for us. Participants also took part in a wide range of workshops on violence against women, nuclear weapons, painting peace umbrellas, conflict resolution, dancing with Burmese refugees to the ever popular and ear-splitting samba school!

GETTING INVOLVED

Any student at the University of Bradsford can volunteer to help for Peacejam. Team members will have the opportunity to hear the Nobel Laureate speak and get a range of great experience working with a peace education organisation and developing valuable leadership skills.

There are lots of different ways to get involved leading up to and on the day of the conference, from facilitating discussions with young people, to lending your IT skills, to helping out with catering and event management. Most of all, you'll help to create a strong and welcoming team for the young people coming to the Conference and meet some great people.

We will provide you with training, it looks great on the CV and you can apply to be recognised as a Millennium Volunteer on the basis of the hours put into PeaceJam.

To volunteer as a helper or mentor email PeaceJam_people@bradford.ac.uk

SUPPORTING US

To support our work with regular or one-off gift, just click here

A word of thanks

None of these PeaceJam activities would have possible without the support of a number of individuals and organizations. We would like to thank:

Rotary Clubs in District 1040 and beyond for sponsoring PeaceJammers and providing bursaries to attend the Conference

The Quaker Peace Studies Trust, Radley Trust, Allan and Nesta Ferguson Trust and Scurrah Wainwright Trust for providing funds for development and outreach.

Peace Studies alumni. Keighley Soroptimists and a number of individuals for supporting bursaries and mentor training

UCAN Student volunteering at the University of Bradford for helping with CRB check and volunteer recruitment. http://www.brad.ac.uk/ucan/

The following restaurants and cafes for providing food for free or at a substantial discount: Angelo’s, Mumztaz, Subway, Delicious, Karachi, Frankie and Benny’s Treehouse, Pizza Hut, Bondgate bakery Otley.

Contact Us

Teachers and youth workers contact the PeaceJam UK office in London:
Tony Myers
Email: tonypeacejamuk@hotmail.co.uk
Tel no. 0207 405 6661 or 0121 244 9964 or  07772 018571
Or
Sally Milne
Email: pugwash@mac.com
Tel no: 0207 405 6661

University of Bradford students or staff:
Dr Fiona Macaulay in the Department of Peace Studies
f.macaulay@bradford.ac.uk
Tel 01274 235598