In Austria, Canada and Italy it is possible to study «peacekeeping»

Peace Times 12

The Stadtschlaining Castle in Austria, was built for war in the middle ages. Nowadays it is a «peace keeping» centre: housing the ASPR, Austrian Centre for Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution (tel: +43 3355 2498), one of the three schools in the world where one is taught how to take part in humanitarian missions, or how to monitor elections in countries recently come out of armed crisis.

Among others, the peace builders are trained by Dudley Weeks: twice Nobel Peace Prize candidate, he has worked on conflict resolution in Northern Ireland, China and contributed to the transformation process of South Africa by supporting Nelson Mandela’s fight against apartheid. During the course, mediation interventions are simulated, dealing with a dispute over land, tribal rivalry, conflict of interests in a community... «Conflict can also be a moment of mutual growth: it is important that it be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction», assures Weeks. The programme also includes lessons on information management in crisis zones, because «peacekeeping» also means facing the devastating effects resulting from media communication and propaganda: «it is necessary to impeed the building of a diabolic image of the enemy as has happened in Rwanda».

The other peace schools are: L. Pearson International Peace Keeping Centre in Canada (tel: +1 902 6388611); St. Annes School of Higher University Studies in Italy (+39 050 883312).