IIPE 2011 TO BE POSTPONED

In consideration of the tsunami recovery efforts and the slow resolution of the Fukushima Daiichi plant disaster, the co-organizers have officially decided to postpone the IIPE to a date in the summer of 2012.  As the safety of IIPE participants is our priority, alternative venues further away from Fukushima are being explored. 

We will send notice to all applicants once a new date and venue have been determined.  If you have already submitted an application you will not need to apply again: you will only need to reconfirm your interest and availability by email once the new dates and venue have been announced.  If you have not yet applied, please send an email to info@i-i-p-e.org to be added to our notification list.

This postponement gives the organizers the opportunity to revise the program to be inclusive of emergent concerns for Japanese peace educators.  New themes and concepts to be explored might include: peace education in emergencies; peace education for healing and trauma recovery; disarmament education in the modern nuclear age; the human and ecological impact of nuclear power.  More information will be posted soon about these new themes. 

International Institute on Peace Education 2011
(new dates and venue to be determined) * Japan

(Heiwa - the Japanese Kanji for Peace)

“Toward Human Security: A Gender Perspective on Alternatives to the War System”

The 2011 International Institute on Peace Education (IIPE) will be hosted at the National Women’s Education Center (NWEC) near Tokyo, Japan, from(dates and venue to be determined).  This year’s Institute is being organized in partnership with the National Peace Academy (home of the IIPE secretariat) and the Global Campaign for Peace Education Japan (GCPEJ) cooperating with a consortium of other national organizations invested in furthering peace education in Japan including the Department of Global Citizenship Studies at Seisen University and the Japanese Society for Developing the Culture of Peace.  The thematic focus of the shared learning of IIPE 2011 is “Toward Human Security: A Gender Perspective on Alternatives to the War System.”

Since 1982, IIPE has brought together educators, professional workers and activists in the field of peace education, gathered from around the world to exchange experiences and learn with and from each other in an intensive short-term learning community that embodies the practices and principles of critical, participatory peace pedagogy.  IIPE 2011 participants, many WHOM will be drawn from Japan and S.E. Asia, will join with representatives from all other world regions in a collaborative learning experience organized to address issues of peace and security from the multiple perspectives of gender as experienced in various world cultures.    This unique learning exchange will weave together experiential and theoretical contributions of participants to illuminate diverse views, explore educational applications, and assess possibilities for practical steps toward a less violent and more just world security system.  The program will comprise thematic and interrelated participant-led presentations, workshops and discussions with some special emphasis on learning from the Japanese experience.  Sub-themes such as human security, the abolition of nuclear weapons, capacity building, youth participation, and Japan-U.S. and Japan-Asia relations and their potential contributions to positive alternatives to the present interstate security system will be incorporated into the learning exchange.

“Toward Human Security: A Gender Perspective on Alternatives to the War System”

Addressing alternatives to the dominant security concepts and policies that perpetuate armed conflict and legitimate war is imperative for peace education in the current highly militarized geo-political context.  Peace and human and ecological well-being -- the very survival of the planet -- are under severe threat from multiple current wars and militarized conflict zones, the arms trade and proliferation of nuclear weapons, and rampant violence committed by state and non-state actors.  By challenging predominant assumptions of mainstream security thinking, IIPE 2011 will open the space to reconsider national, global and human security from a foundation of core principles of peace: principles of human dignity and well-being, human rights and social justice, diversity and inclusion, non-coercive forms of social and political order, ecological responsibility, and democratic participation.  IIPE founder Dr. Betty Reardon points out that a newly evolving security system discourse would necessitate processes that engage human imagination to redress real world problems (Reardon).  Through communities of inquiry, interpretation, and learning, multiple voices will be engaged in conceptualizing, strategizing, advocating and practicing a security system that protects while allowing all peoples to realize the full range of their humanity. 

It is understood that gender is integrally related to militarism and other forms of domination that marginalize women and vulnerable groups and that structural violence is built into societal hierarchies.  However, the gendered mechanisms through which structural oppression operates are often unacknowledged. IIPE 2011 will engage participants in a pedagogy of critical inquiry in order to open dialogue on the widespread and excessive discrimination against women and girls, often inflicted by militarized security that also severely limits the human fulfillment and life chances of men and boys.  Direct violence against women across all world regions and at all levels of society will be confronted through regional and local examples presented by the participants.  An exchange of best practices to challenge gender discrimination and violence in the contexts of Japan, the U.S., internationally, and globally, will be shared. The historical significance of landmark advances to overcome armed violence and gender oppression such as UN Security Council Resolution 1325, Japanese Constitution Article 9, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Rome Statute, and the Beijing Platform for Action will be reviewed. New strategies for challenging gender discrimination and new learning for gender equality will be envisioned within the context of human security and other alternative security paradigms.

Notes and References for Further Study:

Application Information

Click here to apply today using our online application system.

Applicants can also request and submit a hard copy of the application.   Applications must be submitted by April 11, 2011 for full consideration. 

To assure that notices of acceptance are sent to all applicants in a timely fashion we strongly encourage applicants to apply early, preferably by April 1.  Notices of acceptances will be sent in late April. 

Participation Fees

Participation fees are $750.  Participation fees cover all onsite costs including food, housing (double occupancy), local transportation and excursions. Single rooms are available at an additional cost.

We are currently seeking other sources of funding and support that may later reduce the participation fees. Updated fees will be posted on the IIPE website.

Scholarship

The institute operates on a self-sustaining basis in which all participants, including the organizers and presenters pay their own travel and participation fees or find their own funding. The IIPE attempts each year to raise a small scholarship fund.  If you think you will be in need of scholarship please review the scholarship guidelines on the IIPE website and complete the additional scholarship application when applying.  

We also hope you might consider a contribution to the IIPE to fund scholarships. Your generosity will help ensure that those potential participants in greatest need of training and solidarity will be able to attend the institute. Click here to donate.