Redefining Peace Together

Jill Runkle

Even though we are all committed to creating a more peaceful world, we often struggle to define what peace actually means, and show the  many ways peacebuilding engages communities to take action together.

This summer, our Nobel Laureates and youth invite each of you to share your vision for peace, and join together to reach 100 Million Acts of Peace by International Day of Peace, 2022 (Sept. 21st)!

100 Million is not just a number, we believe it to be a tipping point for change. Let's redefine peace and remind ourselves that we have the power to bring true change - if we do it together!

Check Out the Toolkit to help make things even more simple!!

What is "Peace"?

Peace is a verb - that belief is core to the work of PeaceJam worldwide. Our global community recently finished celebrating 25 years of operations in over 40 countries. That equals twenty-five years of Nobel Peace Laureates, youth, & community organizations working together towards a more peaceful world. 

The connector between all members of this community is the concept of peace.

So what exactly is the Peace in PeaceJam?

After all these years of work alongside our community, we know that there is nothing simple about that answer. One of the biggest misconceptions of all might be that peacebuilding is limited to certain situations or types of people. The Nobel Peace Laureates at the heart of PeaceJam & Billion Acts of Peace themselves do not share one set definition or approach to peace. Together we believe that Peace is ever evolving - and that this generation of peacebuilders is redefining the concept’s significance and relevance to today’s challenges.

The work of peace encompasses thousands of different communities, movements, issue areas, and approaches. Peace takes many forms and peacebuilders are called from all walks of life.

The “What Does  Peace Peace Mean to You”  Campaign encourages our community to reflect on their own knowledge & experiences of peace and challenges them to redefine the meaning of peace in today’s world. Join us as we bring together stories and visions of peace from across the PeaceJam community & beyond, and join in for the fun contests and campaigns along the way! 

Listen to Nobel Laureate Jody Williams define What Peace Means to Her:

Let’s show the world that peacebuilding is for everyone and that the only way to get there is together!

Who can Join:

The What Does Peace Mean to You campaign is open to anyone working to build peace in their communities.

Timeline:

The “What Does Peace Mean to You” Campaign begins on July 21st through August 31st. 

Please submit your videos, artwork, poems, written words and expressions to us by August 31st so they can be included during our International Day of Peace Celebration September 21st, 2022.

How to Join:

Participants should answer the question “What does peace mean to you” and if you have ways you or others you know are putting that definition into action in your community, please share that with us too!  

Submissions can be shared a few ways:

1. Posted on your SM with tags to our SM accounts @peacejamhq @billionacts (IG), @peacejam @1billionactsofpeace (FB), @peacejam (TW) Hashtages: #RedefinePeace #PeaceJam and #BillionActs
2. Added as an Act of Peace or Campaign on Billionacts.org
3. Sent to jill@peacejam.org with the subject line “Redefine Peace”. 

Please include your full name, country, and any connection to PeaceJam or Billion Acts no matter which of these you choose!  We are excited to see how far this can reach!

Short videos: We hope to gather as many short videos as possible. Record a video between 20 seconds to 1 minute featuring your understanding of “peace” and/or how you are working to create peace in your community.

Long videos: Video length between 1 minute to 4 minutes long that focus on answering the prompt(s) in a creative way or highlighting a peace project you are involved in. These can include footage and pictures from the project itself, interviews, etc. If you have another idea, such as an original music video or animated clip, please reach out to jill@peacejam.org. *File types accepted: AVI, MOV, MP4, OGG, and WEBM

Written responses: Written responses from one sentence to a page in length. If you are interested in writing a blog post on the prompt (500-1,500 words), please email jill@peacejam.org. Creative forms such as poems, short essays, narratives, etc. are allowed and encouraged!

Artwork: Original artwork such as drawings, paintings, sculptures, and digital media. Non-digital media can be submitted as photographs or scans of the artwork.

Other notes: Videos and written responses can be submitted in any language. For videos, please provide the transcript with your submission. 

We cannot wait to hear how you Define Peace!!!

Check out our ToolKit you can utilize and share!

-Look out for more updates on Social Media for other ways to engage