War and armed conflicts pose the biggest threats to peace, security, and sustainable development. But what can ordinary people do when militaries attack? What strategies have proven effective in pursuing peaceful alternatives to war, stopping invasions, dictatorships, and other forms of aggression? How can you contribute to both promoting peace and opposing war in your own context? This interactive and informative webinar will explore these questions and more, highlighting the power and possibilities of unarmed civilian defense (UCD) as a crucial tool for saving humanity and addressing the multiple existential threats our world currently faces.
Who the webinar is for?
This webinar is designed for anyone interested or involved in peace and anti-war efforts – whether through studying, teaching, researching, organizing, communicating, funding, or other related activities. It will particularly appeal to those seeking to broaden their perspectives around what it takes to work towards comprehensive peace and security in the 21st century and how to pursue peaceful alternatives to war, both before and during armed conflict and violence.
Objectives:
To meet the needs of the target audience, this webinar will:
- Provide an overview of unarmed civilian defense. Explain what UCD is, why it matters, and how it has been used around the world.
- Showcase case studies: Illustrate the principles, practices, and methods of UCD through real-world examples from across the globe.
- Offer resources and tools: Equip participants with materials for further exploration of the topic and practical ways to get involved after the webinar.
- Knowledge exchange: Use breakout discussions and Q&A sessions to encourage learning, dialogue, and sharing among participants and experts.
Speakers:
The webinar will feature expert analysis and opinions from leading experts shaping the fields of peacebuilding, nonviolence, and war abolition including:
- David Swanson: Executive Director for World BEYOND War (WBW)
- Mai Shahin: Palestine activist and nonviolent communication expert
- Dr. Yurii Sheliazhenko: Board Member of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement and World BEYOND War
- Zeirra Jin: Anti-war activist and advocate from Sudan.
A bit more about the webinar
Peace is a universal aspiration for everyone, everywhere. While the international community agrees on the goal of sustainable peace, there is less agreement on the best ways to achieve it. Some advocate for “positive peace,” which includes a focus on the presence of human flourishing and addresses structural and cultural violence, while others emphasize “negative peace,” which includes a focus on the absence of direct violence, war, and armed conflict.
Rather than engaging in an either/or debate between positive and negative peace, this webinar emphasizes the need to broaden our thinking and practices of peace work to embrace a both/and approach. This is because all visions of both positive and negative peace need to be rooted in nonviolence, as violence only leads to more violence, and lasting peace can only ever be achieved through peaceful means — not through war and militarism, which perpetuate cycles of violence and undermine global peace efforts. Despite this, the international community continues to rely on war and military interventions as the preferred way to deal with conflicts — a strategy that is failed by design.
While substantial focus is placed on responding to wars through humanitarian aid and other reactive measures, far less attention is given to preventing wars from happening in the first place. Prevention is undeniably better than cure, and this webinar will provide actionable insights and practical strategies for working toward a world beyond war, paving the way for a healthier, more just, and sustainable future.
Organisers:
This webinar is a collaborative effort, initiated by the Rotary Peace Fellowship Alumni Association (European Chapter) and co-designed with several partners, including the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, Combatants for Peace, and World BEYOND War.
