Don't Forget - Activism during Summer

Summer usually is a weird time for me, a mixture of days blending together into a working-swimming-meeting people routine and holidays, mine and other’s, disrupting the routine. The monthly meetings of young people in IFOR Austria do not take place in July and August as summer tends to scatter us all around the globe. It is good that we get the chance to have a break, see new things and clear our heads. But…

Castles aren't just for autocracy: Exploring peace building and human rights at the Peace Castle

The Peace Castle (Friedensburg)

Two weeks ago, participants of all ages gathered at the Peace Castle in Stadtschlaining, Austria for the 30^th International Summer Academy of the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ASPR). The castle, nestled within the idyll and hilly landscape of the Burgenland region, is the site of this annual conference working to promote peace studies. The ASPR is a non-profit organization founded in the 1980s that conducts research, holds classes, and hosts conferences on the topic of peace and conflict resolution.

Minute of Diversity

The idea of the first flashmob in Vanadzor, Armenia, seeming impossible to lots of people days before, came true. Countless questions: can we manage, will the young people of our city gather, what if it rains? Today these questions don’t worry us any more as June 18, 2011, is already past and those questions have got their answers – yes, we can, yes, the youth of our city united around this idea… Besides, I don’t want to forget to say that it didn’t rain…

Peacebuilding Impulses

by Nenet Mukelyan, Peace Dialogue, Armenia

In 1969 Augusto Boal’s indictment of his domestic news media made the Brazilian dramatist, civil activist and writer famous. He created his own theory using the theatre as a platform for civil struggle against the media’s forgery impelling the reader to not believe blindly in everything journalists (who often having their own interests) say. He developed 11 techniques of reading called Newspaper Theatre. These techniques, together with his other theories (particularly, Image Theatre and Forum Theatre), formed the basis of his theatrical form Theatre of the Oppressed which focused on using theatre as the means for knowledge transformation, creating a new, theatrical reality, to help make sense of objective reality.

European Umbrella March 2011

by mirhiban, IFOR Austria

On June 20th, the international day of refugees, all across Europe people stood up to express their solidarity with refugees: The European Umbrella March took place in several European countries including Austria, Belgium, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Turkey and Czech Republic. The umbrella served as a strong symbol for the protection that people who are on the flight from war, from persecution and discrimination, from desperation and hunger need.