Summer Event Series (Starting in 2012)
 
The goal for the Summer event series will be to unify many different events and activities under a large tent that enhances visibility and impact.  Partner organizations with expertise in each area would host events with relative independence to shape them as they see fit. By addressing each sector of society and highlighting its role in creating a culture of peace, the overall series will demonstrate that peace results from the creative collaboration of all sectors.
 
The timing and sponsorship of each event may change significantly but the following events gives a sense for how the whole may look.  Some may be combined into larger conferences with multiple themes on the same weekend.  Even when an event focuses on a particular theme, other groups would be invited to have a tabling presence to maximize collaborative exchanges.  A proposed spring Peace Forum in the previous year will build ideas, alliances, and programs that will be implemented in advance and during the Summer.
 
All events in the Summer will have a set of actionable components threaded together by the overall strategy pre- and post-event.  
 

Potential Summer Events Listing (not yet confirmed):
 
 
  1. Opening Festival – Includes big name music acts, especially from youth culture, and celebrated Peace Laureates such as the Dalai Lama, Betty Williams, and Archbishop Tutu. Location: Golden Gate Park or AT&T Park. Corporate sponsorship, wide media coverage and broadcast distribution. Created potentially in partnership with the City of San Francisco.

  2. Practice of Peace Conference – Early in the summer, we could host a low-cost skills training event that features best practices from peace-building groups around the world, workshops, professional skills and training.

  3. World Peace Forum - A 4-day plus conference at the Moscone Center focusing on the specific aspects at play towards building a culture of peace in the Bay Area and beyond. All of these themes below would have a final focus on action -- taking the ideas presented and encouraging participation in specific community education, action, or awareness projects.

    • Science of Peace – Examining the scientific aspect of peace, convening biologists, psychologists, neurobiologists, sociologists, physicists, etc to harness the best science.
    • Sustainability and Peace – Focuses on the connection between greening our lives and creating a peaceful community.
    • Social Justice and Peace - Addressing how issues of social justice and education connect with peace, showcasing creative solutions.
    • Politics of Peace – Conference that addresses: How can we engage in creating a political culture at all levels that builds peace?
    • Peace and Prosperity – Conference to explore themes such as the economics of peace, creating peaceful workplaces, peace and profitability, the business of peace.

  4. World Peace Forum - A 4-day plus conference at the Moscone Center focusing on the specific aspects at play towards building a culture of peace in the Bay Area and beyond. All of these themes below would have a final focus on action -- taking the ideas presented and encouraging participation in specific community education, action, or awareness projects.

  5. SoP Film Festival – Both film and Internet, featuring films that promote peace in novel and creative ways.

  6. Spirit of Peace Weekend – Work with religious and spiritual organizations to orchestrate personal practices of peace in every tradition, from prayer to yoga to meditation. Different traditions would have different gathering points, from churches to community centers.

  7. Communities of Peace – Local neighborhood peace events – barbeques, potlucks, socials – all of which enhance the local relationships that foster peace. Geographically distributed, no-cost to participate. Sunday morning - Local Peace Walk or Run, with people collecting pledges for charity for miles walked in their neighborhoods.

  8. Community Challenge Day – We have discussed with Challenge Day the potential idea of using this potent format for a large-scale day in which challenge day events happen in many venues, bringing the community closer together.

  9. Peace Man – Work with Burning Man Festival to create a peace theme (or sub-theme camp) and a venue for artistic expression around peace. Alternatively, this could be at Baker Beach, site of the original.

  10. Power to the Peaceful – partner with this annual music festival, perhaps expand to include other musical arts as well. Sponsored by: Power to the Peaceful. Attendance already around 50K. (They have not been approached yet).

  11. Arts for Peace - Ongoing. Scattered throughout the various events and activities, would be artistic installations, street performers, murals, playback theater - all designed towards the goal of peace. One particularly exciting idea is to construct a Peace Monument out of donated guns, using the same raw materials that often contribute to violence to create a monument to peace.

  12. Peace Awards Gala (Sept. 21st, International Day of Peace) – Oakland, CA. A more formal gala event, tailored for broadcast, with celebrity power and strong music acts, like an Oscars for Peace. Potentially cosponsored by Oakland City Gov. and San Francisco government in partnership. Honors peace innovators and peace programs in multiple domains, as well as prizes for things such as Best Peace Hip Hop Song, or Youth Video on Peace. Attendance by luminaries, widely broadcast.
 
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Download our one-page Executive Summary (Printable):
 

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 Download our Executive Overview:
 
SoP Executive Overview
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