Raising Peace
The Raising Peace festival was held from 16th to 26th of September 2021. 30 organisations were involved with 37 events taking place via Zoom over the 11 days. There were a variety of topics related to peace, such as disarmament, environment, women, militarisation, healing the past, youth, international diplomacy, cross-cultural understanding, arts, finding personal and community peace, non-violence, education, First Nations and a special session on Afghanistan. There were 100 different presenters and speakers and over 1000 people participated, mainly from Sydney but we also had people tuning in from Malaysia, Philippines, India, Africa, Europe and other places. All the sessions were recorded and are available on the website: raisingpeace.org.au.
To quote from some of the responses:
Bronwen: This was truly the most magnificent event. I am so impressed with the skills and steadfastness I experienced along the way, to the generosity of so many and the most incredibly informative and interesting outcome.
Tim (UNAA): Your initiation of the idea of such a festival in early 2020 was inspirational, and your perseverance through all the restrictions imposed by COVID 19 to develop such a far-reaching program involving 30 organisation and 37 events has been most worthwhile.
Lynne: Each session I viewed was incredibly well structured, the speakers complimented each other to create synergy and explore deeper processes/meaning. It was great to see involvement of young people too.
Frank: I would also like to thank all those who contributed with so many constructive ideas during the various online sessions. The community building during the festival augurs well for future Raising Peace festivals and related events and activities both online and in person.