"The Power of Community: Participating in Peace"

The Class XXI Rotary Peace Fellows presenting at this seminar are nearing the completion of their Masters in Peace & Conflict degrees at the University of Queensland. Many of the presentations draw not only from their studies, but also from the Applied Fieldwork Experience undertaken over the summer break, which allows our Peace Fellows to extend their professional and practical skills.

In this way, the Peace Fellows' Seminar is a vital component of the Fellows' activities in the Rotary Centre – as it facilitates the building and maintenance of links between the Rotary Centre and Rotarians. The Seminar is a platform for our Fellows to share their experiences with Rotarians first hand, to hear about how their learning has progressed, and the journey they have embarked on both as scholars and practitioners. It is also the University’s way of thanking Rotary for its contributions, support and funding of the program and indeed for its enlightened decision some time ago to work towards world peace, justice and understanding. These values are jointly shared by The University of Queensland, and are reflected in our substantial commitment to the School’s teaching and research program in peace and conflict resolution.

Over the last decade, global peacebuilding has been subject to immense criticism because of its reliance on the international “liberal peacebuilding” agenda. “Liberal peacebuilding” is characterised as a top-down, Western approach that promotes state building. In the face of this criticism, there has been growing emphasis on the “local turn” and embracing local understandings of, and approaches to peace.

Each Peace Fellow has brought their local experience to this fellowship, and together, have established a new, “community for peace” where they recognise and uphold the best of all they have learned and experienced as they think about how to work together to build peace. Class XXI want to share this “community of peace” with you and spend the day reflecting on how all of us can embrace local practices and play a role in building peace in our communities.

Together, at this conference, they seek to explore the following questions with you:
1. What is a community?Who makes up a specific community and why?
2. What is the relationship between power and community?
3. How do we define community in our respective fieldwork experiences?
4. What are the opportunities and limitations of defining a community?
5. What is the bottom-up or community-driven approach to peacebuilding? Are there limita tions in achieving peace by embracing the local turn?
6. What practices of peacebuilding are effective in different communities?
7. How do we participate in creating peace in different communities?

The event will commence at 10:30am (registration from 10:00am) - lunch is complimentary - and concludes at 5:00pm. All guests are invited to stay for drinks & finger food 5:00pm - 6:00pm with cash bar to informally network with the Fellows and guests.