A South London venue will be the base for a peace festival next week that will join with others all over the world to celebrate 21 September – World Peace Day.
It will be an opportunity for anyone concerned about the many issues threatening world peace to get involved, contribute ideas and fuel the discussion, or simply to listen to others’ ideas.
London-based International Alert, an organisation dedicated to conflict resolution and peacebuilding, will host its annual Talking Peace Festival based in the House of Vans Waterloo station railway arches from 21 to 24 September
Its theme is dialogue in the resolution of conflict and a forum for sharing ideas and cultures.
This year’s festival will feature The Conflict Café –voted Time Out’s Most Inspirational Pop-Up – that will allow visitors to talk over authentic Syrian food and better understand that country’s plight.
Chefs Adbul Akak and Haitham Yassin will mix with guests and share what their food means to them.
A Peace in Progress exhibition – free and open to all ages – features games and case studies that look at how simple things like talking, sharing, and playing can build progress towards peace and resolution.
A panel discussion series, Peace Talks, organised with the International Rescue Committee Europe, will focus on the experience of refugees and solutions to the issues that have driven them from their homes.
Members of International Alert’s pioneering Peacehack project, who use technology to spread messages of peace, will host a day-long “hackathon” with technology enthusiasts to constructs bots to spread the message of peace.
International Alert was founded in London in 1986 and now operates in more than 30 countries. Its motto is: Peace is within our power.
Its mission is simple, but its work is diverse, falling into seven key areas: climate change, community relations, crime, violence and instability, economic development, gender, natural resource management, and state-citizen relations.
