How does the COVID-19 affect minorities around the world? On 27 May Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark, Director of the Åland Islands Peace Institute discussed this topic in the webinar: Minorities, territorial governance and inter-state relations in pandemic times. The other speakers were Francesco Palermo, the Institute for Comparative Federalism, and Sergiu Constantin, the Institute for Minority Rights, both at Eurac Research. You can watch the webinar on YouTube.The webinar is part three in Eurac Research's five legged webinar-series in which the topic is discussed from various perspectives by prominent experts. Read more about the webinar series here.

At the seminar the Director discussed war rhetoric and centralization trends in the ongoing pandemic, which inspired her to write a Op-Ed on the comeback of the state for local newspaper Tidningen Åland. It was published on 29.5 and can be found as manuscript, in Swedish, in pdf here.

Using its consultative status within ECOSOC the Åland Islands Peace Institute has submitted a written statement ahead of the 2020 ECOSOC High Level Segment to take place in July 2020. The statement is calling for differentiated solutions to global problems, since regional differentiations and the use of local knowledge are necessary tools while trying to solve global problems in local contexts. The statement can be downloaded here.

If you want to read a summary of the activities of the Peace Institute last year -  read our Annual Report, which can be found in English here.

Articles about the Kastelholm talks, Seminar on trust in the Åland society, publication and symposium on demilitarisation and much more.

Did you run out of books? Do you want to dive into questions of self-government, minorities, demilitarisation and the Åland Example? The Åland Islands Peace Institute has digital articles, books and reports in Swedish and English that can be downloaded for free.

For example:

At the annual meeting on April 21, 2020, Wille Valve was elected to the board of the Åland Islands Peace Institute.

Valve has previously worked at the Åland Islands Peace Institute with mediation and research issues, but is more commonly known to people in Åland for his political career as a member of the Åland Parliament and Government.

Valve is currently a member of the Åland Parliament and chairperson of the Åland delegation to the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, BSPC. He has previously held ministerial posts in the Åland Government and has been Accredited Assistant with responsibility for Åland issues in the staff of Parliamentarian Carl Haglund at the European Parliament. In 2009, he worked as a Mediation Officer at the Åland Mediation Office and part-time researcher at the Åland Islands Peace Institute.

Wille Valve becomes the ninth board member of the foundation's board of directors, which consists of Roger Nordlund (chair), Katarina Fellman (vice chair) as well as members Nina Fellman, Marcus Koskinen-Hagman, Anders Lidén, Göran Lindholm, Lia Markelin and Hanna Ojanen.

Half of the participants were present in the office, half took part online in the board meeting of the Peace institute on 22 April 2020.

My name is Elvira Jansson, I am 21 years old and I`m currently studying social work at Novia University of Applied Science in Turku. I am now on my fourth semester and my Bachelor of Social Services is due in 2021. This spring I´will do an internship at  the Åland Mediation Office. I enjoy my social work studies, and the education also matches my own interests such as humans, relationships, society and social behaviour.

I am very happy for the opportunity to do an internship at the Åland Mediation Office as I want to learn more about mediation and how it works in practice. I also look forward to learn about various tools and methods that promote conflict resolution, since I am convinced that you will have a great benefit from that kind of knowledge in your work life.

If we do nothing to address climate change, we will in the future live in a state of emergency that is permanent, not temporary like the one we see right now due to the Corona crisis. The crisis provides us with the opportunity to understand the seriousness and adjust for change. This was one of the messages of the 2020 digital Kastelholm talks that had the theme of War, Peace and the Environment. The patron of the talks, President Tarja Halonen, discussed with Margot Wallström, Marja Lehto, Pella Thiel, Mikael Sjövall and Emma Hakala.

It was the sixth time that the Åland Peace Institute organized "Kastelholm's talks on peace". This year, because of the Corona crisis, the talks were held entirely digitally. On the same day, the 30th March which is Åland's demilitarisation day, nearly 300 people watched the talks either as live stream or in retrospect. The live streaming was conducted in co-operation with the Nordic Institute on Åland, Nipå.

The conference, which can be watched here, was held in Swedish. More information in Swedish is available here.

Listen to Marja Lehto speak (in English) on the Protection of the Environment in Armed Conflicts at the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law.

Nyhetsbrev från Ålands fredsinstitut 2/2020

Until further notice and at least until the 14th of April, the Peace Institute's library will be closed and we will only accept visits upon agreement. The Institute will be low in staff since several of us will be working remotely, but we can still be reached by e-mail or phone. Organisation Secretary Mirjam Lukola answers the general phone number +358 (0) 18 15570. Phone numbers and e-mail adresses to individual staff members can be found here.

Take care!