Welcome to the 6th World Peace Award Conference

This year we are again celebrating human fellowship and the search for peace. We invite everyone concerned about peace and human development. Today the world is facing many challenges. Despite our different interests and perspectives, solutions can only come when humans work together. For this, we need to share a common perspective and interests. We believe that central to this is the search for universally shared values. Your participation could contribute to this prospect.

 

We like to invite anyone and everyone regardless of their own political, social or religious views. If you are working in a field as an educator, researcher, human rights activist, religious organisation or an artist concerned about empowering people and wanting to strengthen democracy by countering violence and hatred you are welcome to share your vision and learn from others. This is a great opportunity to network and give hope to people by sharing your experiences and knowledge. 

 

This year’s theme: Peace, Civil Society and the Environment

Peace is something which concerns us all. We would like to emphasize that is more than a political agenda, it’s a human agenda. We believe that peace has to begin to understand each other and willingness to learn from each other.

We would like to touch on three areas regarding the concept of peace and how to understand the UN Declaration of Culture of Peace. Also, we like to talk about the importance and responsibility of civil society to contribute to peace. This includes religion, youth, and social- as well as cultural groups that have an important role in contributing to human and society's development. The environment and climate are of great concern for us and affect us all. To save the planet humanity has also to work together and share the burden in solidarity with each other. But the environment also is something we humans together create within our society. The concept of peace has many features involving all aspects of human lives. 

 

The importance of universally shared values

World Peace concerns all aspects of life. Even though the world is more integrated, there is also growing mistrust and division. Religion which has been the driving force in all civilizations has been increasingly marginalized in the modern world and accused of causing conflicts and wars. With or without religion, however, the conflicts continue. Within the political world, there is more polarization, increasing social confrontation, and growing nationalism.

 

The challenge is how to find a model for peace which transcends all religious, political, social, and national interests. Such a model can be found in the recognition of universally shared values. Through this religious people can engage in a new level of dialogue. Politicians can be guided by a higher level of responsibility. Social activists who seek to empower people, will not only oppose what is wrong but strive for constructive solutions. A healthy society is after all the ability to work together based on mutual trust and care. Indispensable to our national, ethnic, and religious identities we can retain our own unique characteristics and also recognize that we are part of one human family. For such dialogue to be successful we need to recognize the values that we all share. This is the focus of the conference: to explore universally shared values and how they can contribute to a world of peace and provide hope for the future of humankind.