Theme for 2014 – Norden and peace
The first round of talks will be held on 28 March 2014. President Halonen and the panelists – whose names are to be published in due course – will discuss the theme ”Norden and peace.”
– Nordic countries have experiences of conflict resolution and peaceful coexistence that are worth highlighting and worth drawing lessons from. There is a huge international interest in these experiences. Meanwhile, there is evidence to suggest that the Nordic countries are about to depart from the traditional Nordic peace profile. These are the issues we want to discuss in the first Castle talk, says Peace Institute Director Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark, who will be the moderator of the first talks.
Nordic peace forum
The castle of Kastelholm holds only a limited number of seats. The audience will consist of invited guests from the Åland Islands and the Nordic coutries. To ensure that anyone who wants may have the opportunity to discuss the theme of the Nordic countries and peace, an open forum will be arranged directly after the Kastelholm talks, at nearby Smakbyn, to which all interested parties are welcome. At this ”Nordic peace forum” representatives from civil society in all the Nordic countries will express their thoughts on Norden and peace. The speakers come from organizations that participate in a NordPlus -funded project called ”Norden for peace?’. President Halonen will participate also in the forum, to which also the other speakers from the castle talk are invited.
The project ”Norden for peace?”
The project ”Norden for peace?” brings together six organizations in the Nordic countries; the Åland Islands Peace Institute, the Peace Union of Finland, the Norwegian Peace Council, Peace Alliance Denmark, The Norden Association Sweden and the Institute of International Affairs at the University of Iceland. Through internal meetings, open seminars and op-eds the network partners want to create a broad and inclusive discussion on approaches to peace in the Nordic countries separately and within the institutionalised Nordic co-operation.
