“The Vision of the Peace Room as a New Place for Problem Solving”
Copyright © 2010 by J.J. Hurtak, Ph.D., Ph.D. and Desiree Hurtak, Ph.D.
An active culture of peace requires the establishment of peace rooms that can be utilized by professionals seeking alternatives to conflict and war. Vast new information sources and databases that can assist in peace management are continually being made available. The peace room would be equipped to access the most up-to-date information for the furthering of peaceful goals and social needs. Some of these goals would include not only the functions for achieving peace, but the environments that can maintain peace. Included would be methods of ‘future science,’ where technologies and advanced sciences could contribute to the creation of societies that are human-orientated rather than object-orientated in their goals and accomplishments.
The building of a Center for Peace, however, as many have agreed, can only begin with a personal realization of the need to work harmoniously with others, whether nations, religions or ethnic groups. We are all the stakeholders and thinkers who must not only express the need for compassion toward others, but maintain a focus on our collectivity as well.
Achieving a positive future begins with an expanded social psychology and the professional responsibility of elevating “inner peace” to the level of human service. Here responsible ‘teamwork’ takes the lead in actions built around a human and technical network of peace room dialogues which become the social “think tank” and “broadcasting centers” for the peaceful resolution of conflict through a sustainable infrastructure.
How do we build a peace room?
Building a ‘peace room’ begins in two ways: first must come the realization of the importance of maintaining inner peace and understanding; and second, actively discovering ways of establishing peace around you. On a practical level, many universities are beginning to establish their own “peace room” concepts, either by creating curriculum or establishing a group-orientated focus for peace.
Equally important is the network that needs to be established, not only locally, but globally, where those interested in maintaining peace find ways to link-up or work in tandem with those sharing similar interests — for example, with other universities. Peace-building is network-building, and those involved in peace-room studies need to begin to build their own networks, from on-line teaching to helping participants tackle problems on all levels of society, from the grass-roots and local governments to global institutions (e.g., United Nations), thus creating a university or peace room ‘without walls’.
An established Center for Peace at a university, institute or think-tank does not require massive funding. However, each Peace Room Center requires both information engineers and social scientists. It should also maintain outreach to those involved in medicine, geology and other fields related to emergency management and diplomacy.
The peace room should seek not only to teach and share techniques for peace, including strategies and the development of diplomatic skills, but also “peace gaming” and the forecasting of tensions. To do this, the most up-to-date global information base is crucial to cover the most vital questions and answers in the world. Therefore, in addition to computer work stations, the peace room needs a series of satellite uplinks and downlinks. The benefits are quick responses to civil, social and geological problems.
For every university team or group of stakeholders involved, a series of tutorials and gaming modular training is necessary for identifying trends, problem solving, and analyzing mega-waves of change in any major subject area. Open discussions on relevant themes, challenging answers, and composing a harmonizing sequence of conclusions based on peaceful resolutions should occur continually.
The crucial question for any peace center is: “How can learning about a culture of peace and establishing positive futures become an enjoyable and memorable experience for both university students and stakeholders?” The answer is simple: let ‘Mother Earth’s phenomena’ of global change and history be the tools for seeing, learning and applying new alternatives. Interacting with hands-on, participatory internet tutorials and teleconferencing can prompt new thinking and bring together professionals in a variety of subject areas. Asking each other questions as to how to establish a peaceful society in their own regions of turmoil, or how regions of peace can be maintained, will initiate a fruitful dialogue leading to mutual understanding. In some cases, economic as well as diplomatic help needs to be internationally addressed, allowing the participants to discover the answers on what to do and what to avoid. Exploring sociological models and observing computer simulations using current and specially designed computer software can stimulate all stakeholders to intellectually become involved. The focus, again and again, should be teamwork, multi-view points and discoveries that revitalize harmony and sustainability.
The Peace Room needs to operate in accordance with the most up-to-date media happenings, and must be on the constant lookout for areas of stress-building: among environmental concerns, those of the economy, as well as social and political tensions. It makes good sense that no one center needs to focus on everything alone; with the proper networking arrangements, each center can focus on what it knows and does best, either in region or subject, and can then receive ongoing feedback from its external network on what it should be on the look-out for. Participants connected with the center and those involved through tele-conferencing also need to share in the discussions so that a feeling of total participation is integral to the center’s operation.
To achieve this, computer work stations from one country need to be linked in the network of engagement with work stations in other countries working on the same or complementary parts of the larger picture, but without duplicating efforts. Data bases of information need to be openly shared. The details of such a network are yet to be specifically worked out, but regardless of the initial “hand-shake” protocols there will be an ongoing growth process as new centers come into the circle.
Lectures and discussions from those who are working in areas of peace should also be an ongoing part of the peace room concept. Each peace room needs to continually grow and develop and attempt various methodologies. With the proper networking functions, a lecture within one peace room center can be shown on huge computer screens in other centers in principal languages, as is the practice at the United Nations.
In addition to working with governments, many new social scientists and thinkers from around the world are working from their positions in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and can be instrumental in helping to find ‘middle ground’ solutions that are not of the left nor of the right, but humanistic. These workers can play a role in local peace room activities by seeking to make the tools of science and technology accessible in the wider arena of tackling local crises as well as global problems that will involve extraordinary events. University faculty and others who want to establish a peace room should contact www.peaceroom.com and its founder Scott Jones and take a virtual walk around a peace room.
Today we are witnessing the rise of powers both within and outside of traditional alliances, with numerous factions seeking to exercise their increasing diplomatic and economic strength in the international arena. Acknowledging that additional events may require monitoring, such as the tracking of new diseases, earthquakes, and solar disruption of communication satellites, will contribute to the formulating of viable charters for the governance of peace within all nations.
If economics permit, Peace Room Centers or structures throughout the world should not only be located in places with access to satellite technology, but also in classrooms as well as working and diplomatic board rooms, linked by changeable walls and electronic cables. These walls may present large screens of data, or a changeable aesthetic environment to support peaceful-thinking, in terms of literal, as well as figurative scenarios.
Of equal importance, a peace room has to provide and sustain a place for contemplation. This can contribute greatly to the humanistic vision that must be held by all participants, maintaining the awareness of how new knowledge can be shared by professionals who are heart-centered and truly seeking conflict resolution. As we are seeing at the beginning of the 21st century, it is not just a public dialog that is to be established, but an inner spiritual dialog that must be shared. We need to think and work ecumenically, or what some futurists call using hemispheric unity, of the left and right hemispheres, with a higher intellectual and spiritual capacity to resonate with all spiritual and religious traditions. A peace room is not just about the computers and networks of machines and satellites, but about the people. It is about media access and success.
How does the Peace Room work?
The Peace Room will attempt to monitor both the local region and the world. Local regions can include teaching cooperation in primary and secondary schools, and helping with ethnic issues within the local community — any and all ways that help to build a peaceful community that works toward non-violence. Ideally, when areas of strife begin to emerge, the network of specialists will need to be able to have links with local governments in an advisory capacity, to try to mitigate problems that are foreseen. Although this is the basic concept behind the peace room process, initially it also exists to train diplomats — government leaders in the ways of negotiating and maintaining peace. It is also important that the media be trained in peace work, working in ways to establish ‘pathways of peace’ and non-violence, which can make the difference between deadly riots and successful diplomacy.
Theoretically, each person has something to contribute and learn from the peace room. On the practical level, several courses or at least lectures in peace learning and peace negotiations should be provided free to each person in the community, centered around the peace room. Ultimately, it is up to each person to take the knowledge gained in his or her respective fields and marry it to the message of peace, so that it can be transmitted and shared as an example of cooperation between different perspectives and disciplines.
It would be the goal of the peace room to help maintain peace through education, to signal when tensions are rising and to help find the correct diplomatic channels or healing processes to reduce the anxiety of a troubled region. Tensions can arise from many corners, including poverty, disease, water shortages, etc. However, since peace can only start from peace within, the peace room is also a place where people recognize the importance of others, and where recognition of the need to live together in harmony on planet earth can be celebrated.
