What Creates Peace?
The tools for prevention exist, but we too rarely use them. Positive Peace can help change the conversation.
The 2017 Positive Peace Conference will bring together leading experts in positive peace: the attitudes, institutions and structures that prevent violence. Practitioners, policymakers, members of the media, corporate leaders, and representatives of fields like atrocity and conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance, will come together to discuss new opportunities and challenges for strengthening positive peace.
Participants will explore Positive Peace through the lenses of research, policy, and practice to explore the peace systems that operate in our communities and countries.
The Time is Now
The number of people impacted by armed conflict is higher now than at any time since World War II. Violence and conflict continue to thwart basic humanitarian goals and prevent progress on challenges from climate change to poverty reduction. In 2016, over 12% of the global economy was absorbed by the consequences of violence. Yet comparatively little is spent on proactive investments to eradicate the underlying conditions that lead to violence or conflict. Despite a rhetorical commitment to prevention, all too often the global policymaking community is focused on the crisis of the day, intervening too late to make any meaningful impact.
The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) has sought to better understand the drivers of peaceful societies through the development of an empirical framework that identifies the optimum environment in which peace can flourish. This is termed Positive Peace. The main contribution has been the development of a framework of inter-related factors, identified by analyzing over 4,700 different indices, datasets and attitudinal surveys. The eight pillars of Positive Peace identified by IEP that are associated with peaceful environments are:
 ·     Well-functioning government
·     Sound business environment
·     Equitable distribution of resources
·     Acceptance of the rights of others
·     Good relations with neighbors
·     Free flow of information
·     High levels of human capital
·     Low levels of corruption
 Positive Peace provides a new way of conceptualizing development by placing the emphasis on what creates a thriving society, reframing our focus towards what works. High levels of Positive Peace are a cross-cutting factor for progress, making it easier for businesses to sell, entrepreneurs and scientists to innovate, individuals to produce, governments to effectively regulate, and citizens to peacefully resolve conflict.
High Positive Peace = Greater Resilience
Countries with higher levels of Positive Peace are less likely to slip into major conflicts, are more likely to experience less violence, and are better equipped to bounce back from internal or external shocks caused by economic conditions, societal disagreements and natural disasters. In fact, 84% of major political shocks and 91% of violent civil resistance campaigns occurred in countries with lower levels of Positive Peace.
What Creates Peace?
The tools for prevention exist, but we too rarely use them. Positive Peace can help change the conversation.
The 2017 Positive Peace Conference will bring together leading experts in positive peace: the attitudes, institutions and structures that prevent violence. Practitioners, policymakers, members of the media, corporate leaders, and representatives of fields like atrocity and conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance, will come together to discuss new opportunities and challenges for strengthening positive peace.
Participants will explore Positive Peace through the lenses of research, policy, and practice to explore the peace systems that operate in our communities and countries.
The Time is Now
The number of people impacted by armed conflict is higher now than at any time since World War II. Violence and conflict continue to thwart basic humanitarian goals and prevent progress on challenges from climate change to poverty reduction. In 2016, over 12% of the global economy was absorbed by the consequences of violence. Yet comparatively little is spent on proactive investments to eradicate the underlying conditions that lead to violence or conflict. Despite a rhetorical commitment to prevention, all too often the global policymaking community is focused on the crisis of the day, intervening too late to make any meaningful impact.
The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) has sought to better understand the drivers of peaceful societies through the development of an empirical framework that identifies the optimum environment in which peace can flourish. This is termed Positive Peace. The main contribution has been the development of a framework of inter-related factors, identified by analyzing over 4,700 different indices, datasets and attitudinal surveys. The eight pillars of Positive Peace identified by IEP that are associated with peaceful environments are:
 ·     Well-functioning government
·     Sound business environment
·     Equitable distribution of resources
·     Acceptance of the rights of others
·     Good relations with neighbors
·     Free flow of information
·     High levels of human capital
·     Low levels of corruption
 Positive Peace provides a new way of conceptualizing development by placing the emphasis on what creates a thriving society, reframing our focus towards what works. High levels of Positive Peace are a cross-cutting factor for progress, making it easier for businesses to sell, entrepreneurs and scientists to innovate, individuals to produce, governments to effectively regulate, and citizens to peacefully resolve conflict.
High Positive Peace = Greater Resilience
Countries with higher levels of Positive Peace are less likely to slip into major conflicts, are more likely to experience less violence, and are better equipped to bounce back from internal or external shocks caused by economic conditions, societal disagreements and natural disasters. In fact, 84% of major political shocks and 91% of violent civil resistance campaigns occurred in countries with lower levels of Positive Peace.
The 2017 Positive Peace Conference will bring together leading positive peace practitioners, policymakers, members of the media, and representatives of other fields, including atrocity and conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance, to explore new opportunities and challenges for strengthening positive peace.
Please see a detailed agenda at the following link:Â https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9jILOdJCItMTTFja1BNVl9SU1EÂ
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All confirmed participants will receive breakfast, lunch, dinner, and coffee breaks. The conference will consist of presentations, panels, and interviews from research, policy, and practice perspectives, including:
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Welcome from Conference Partners
The Stanley Foundation
Stanford Center for Latin American Studies
Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)
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Opening Keynote
Steve Killelea, Founder and Executive Chairman, Institute for Economics & Peace
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Systems Approaches to Peace and Development
Presentation of 2017 Positive Peace Report by David Hammond, Senior Research Fellow, IEP
Moderated by: Pushpa Iyer, Associate Professor and Director of Center for Conflict Studies, Middlebury Institute of International  Studies at Monterey
Research Perspective: Tom Woodhouse, Emeritus Professor, University of Bradford
Practice Perspective:Â Jenny Vaughan, Director, Peace & Conflict, Mercy Corps
Policy Perspective:Â Stanford Peace Innovation Lab
Understanding society as a system, which emphasizes the interrelationships between various factors, helps inform the understanding of peace and development. In this session the latest research on positive peace by the Institute for Economics & Peace will be presented in the context of systems thinking, followed by short presentations from experts in a range of fields on the state of systems research, analysis, and investments.
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Talk: The Implications of Positive Psychology for Mental Health and Positive Leadership            Â
Daniel Brown, Director, The Center for Integrative Psychotherapy;Â Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical SchoolÂ
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Positive Peace Application: Focus on Low Levels of Corruption
Moderated by:Â Alberto Diaz-Cayeros, Director, Stanford Center for Latin American Studies, Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Stuides (FSI) and Associate Professor, Stanford University
Panelists:
Francis Fukuyama, Senior Fellow, FSI and Director, FSI’s Center on Democracy, Development, and The Rule of Law
Mark Schneider, Senior Advisor, Americas Program and Human Rights Initiative, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Ulysses Smith, President & CEO, Telos Governance Advisers LLC
Managing corruption is one of the most important factors for peaceful societies. Levels of corruption have a very close statistical relationship with levels of peacefulness, and high levels of corruption can misdirect resources, compound inequities and undermine trust throughout society. The resulting inequities can lead to civil unrest and in extreme situations can be the catalyst for more serious violence. Low levels of corruption, by contrast, can enhance confidence and trust in institutions. This panel will examine the pillar of Low Levels of Corruption in various country contexts, highlighting key policies and programs intended to reduce corruption.
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Positive Peace Application: Focus on Free Flow of Information
Moderated by:Â Mark Leon Goldberg, Editor, UN Dispatch
Conversation between Anna Therese Day, Independent Reporter and Social Media Researcher and Obi Anyadike, Editor-at-Large, IRIN
One of the eight pillars of positive peace is the Free Flow of Information, defined as free and independent media that disseminates information in a way that leads to better-informed citizens, greater openness and inclusiveness, better decision-making and more rational responses in times of crisis. This framework supports the idea that the media (journalists, media organizations, and other media actors that produce or disseminate information to the public) plays an integral role in building and sustaining societal resilience to violence. Media participation in the conference will ensure that voices representing this pillar, and who shape stories that reflect and interact with all eight pillars, can contribute ideas and learn from the discussion that unfolds. How is information about positive peace and resilience best communicated in a way that is understandable and useful? What are the challenges to delivering and accessing that information? What role does the media play in shaping societal perceptions, attitudes, and responses that can support positive peace?
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Investments in Prevention and Resilience
Moderated by:Â Harold Trinkunas, Deputy Director and Senior Research Scholar, Center for International Security and Cooperation at FSI, Stanford University
Panelists: Andrei Serbin Pont, Research Director, Regional Coordinator of Economic and Social Research (CRIES)
Alberto Diaz Cayeros, Director, Stanford Center for Latin American Studies, Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Stuides (FSI) and Associate Professor, Stanford University
Lothar Rast, Director of Project, GIZ – German Agency for International Cooperation
Madeline Rose, Global Policy Lead, Mercy Corps
Countries with high Positive Peace are more likely to maintain their stability and adapt and recover from both internal and external shocks. Countries with stronger Positive Peace have restorative capacities and as such are more resilient in the face of civil resistance campaigns. Movements tend to be smaller, exist for a shorter period, have more moderate aims, are more likely to achieve their goals and are far less violent. Panelists will examine the relationship between Positive Peace and other frameworks around resilience and sustainable development. How do we understand societal resilience? How do you build support for longer-term prevention investments in a world dominated by crisis response? Are these interventions cost-effective? And how can we communicate this complexity?
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Positive Peace Activity
Activity led by Hector Tello Mabarak, Executive Director, Outward Bound Mexico
Interactive outdoor activity for participants to discuss the links among the pillars of Positive Peace and to map the Positive Peace system.
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Leveraging Networks, Sectors, and Strategies for Collective ImpactÂ
Moderated by: Summer Lewis, Rotary-IEP Partnership Coordinator
Panelists: Steve Brown, Rotary Foundation Trustee 2010-2014, La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club, CA, USA
Bennett Freeman, Chair, Global Witness Advisory Board; Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
Carrie DuLaney, Manager, Investments, Humanity United
Jessica Murrey, Co-Creator of Battle for Humanity, Search for Common Ground
What role do diverse actors, from business to government to civil society, play in building resilience to violence? New initiatives are focused on bringing a Positive Peace approach to local networks, including a strategic partnership to introduce Positive Peace to 1.2 million Rotarians around the world. This panel will bring together representatives from a range of sectors and perspectives to understand the potential collective impact of investing in Positive Peace.
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Reflections on the Day and Close of Conference
Moderated by: Charles "Chic" Dambach, CEO, Operation Respect
Ellen Friedman, Executive Director, Compton Foundation
Steve Killelea, Founder and Executive Chairman, Institute for Economics & Peace
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The following hotels have room blocks reserved for the Conference.Â
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Stanford Guest House | Menlo Park
Tel: 650.926.2800
Code PPC17
https://ussg.webhotel.microsdc.us/Â
Hotel Parmani | Palo Alto
Tel: 650.493.9085
Fax: 650.493.8405
Code ENP
www.hotelparmani.com
Cardinal Hotel | Palo Alto
Tel: 650.323.5101
Creekside Inn | Palo Alto
Tel: 650.493.2411
Code STANLEYOCT2017
What Creates Peace?
The tools for prevention exist, but we too rarely use them. Positive Peace can help change the conversation.
The 2017 Positive Peace Conference will bring together leading experts in positive peace: the attitudes, institutions and structures that prevent violence. Practitioners, policymakers, members of the media, corporate leaders, and representatives of fields like atrocity and conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance, will come together to discuss new opportunities and challenges for strengthening positive peace.
Participants will explore Positive Peace through the lenses of research, policy, and practice to explore the peace systems that operate in our communities and countries.
The Time is Now
The number of people impacted by armed conflict is higher now than at any time since World War II. Violence and conflict continue to thwart basic humanitarian goals and prevent progress on challenges from climate change to poverty reduction. In 2016, over 12% of the global economy was absorbed by the consequences of violence. Yet comparatively little is spent on proactive investments to eradicate the underlying conditions that lead to violence or conflict. Despite a rhetorical commitment to prevention, all too often the global policymaking community is focused on the crisis of the day, intervening too late to make any meaningful impact.
The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) has sought to better understand the drivers of peaceful societies through the development of an empirical framework that identifies the optimum environment in which peace can flourish. This is termed Positive Peace. The main contribution has been the development of a framework of inter-related factors, identified by analyzing over 4,700 different indices, datasets and attitudinal surveys. The eight pillars of Positive Peace identified by IEP that are associated with peaceful environments are:
 ·     Well-functioning government
·     Sound business environment
·     Equitable distribution of resources
·     Acceptance of the rights of others
·     Good relations with neighbors
·     Free flow of information
·     High levels of human capital
·     Low levels of corruption
 Positive Peace provides a new way of conceptualizing development by placing the emphasis on what creates a thriving society, reframing our focus towards what works. High levels of Positive Peace are a cross-cutting factor for progress, making it easier for businesses to sell, entrepreneurs and scientists to innovate, individuals to produce, governments to effectively regulate, and citizens to peacefully resolve conflict.
High Positive Peace = Greater Resilience
Countries with higher levels of Positive Peace are less likely to slip into major conflicts, are more likely to experience less violence, and are better equipped to bounce back from internal or external shocks caused by economic conditions, societal disagreements and natural disasters. In fact, 84% of major political shocks and 91% of violent civil resistance campaigns occurred in countries with lower levels of Positive Peace.
