Report of the UK Forum for non-violence 22nd to 24th July 2005 From the 22nd to 24th July 2005, in a countryside location 1 hour outside of London, a weekend of workshops, presentations and interchanges was held called the UK Forum for non-violence. This weekend of activities was hosted by the Centre of Cultures. Many organisations were contacted in order to hold an event that was diverse and open to wide participation. Members of the Centre of Cultures and the Humanist Movement participated including friends from UK, Spain and Italy, in addition to representatives from; the international Sufi School in London and the Bradford University Peace Studies Department. 2 professional community workers also took part. Others came to the event through an extensive poster and leafleting campaign in London throughout June and July. The location for the weekend was an educational facility more used to dealing with small children sleeping in dormitories and tents but as our aim was to maximise participation this setting allowed us to minimise costs and had facilities that allowed us to organise our own catering.

See some pictures here

We opened the event on Friday with a presentation by Sivia Swinden on the “Genealogy of non-violence” highlighting the major contributors to the field of non-violence from Pharoah Akenhaton through to Silo.

On Saturday we started the day with 4 presentations: 1. The Centre of Cultures, by Jon Swinden, 2. The European Constitution, by Anna Polo, 3. The Non-violence Education programme of UNED, Madrid by Montse Prieto and finally 4. The Psychological Effects of Violence by Dr Felicity de Zulueta. The range of subjects was diverse but complementary and throughout the whole session the level of attention was very high and was followed by an intelligent question and answer session to the 4 presenters.

After lunch 4 practical workshops were held:

1. Conflict Resolution by Veronique Dudouet of the Peace Studies Department, Bradford University and Tony Robinson, London.
2. Introduction to Sufism by Rita Venkatasawmy of the International Sufi School, London
3. Personal work as a tool of social transformation by Valerio Colombo, Milan
4. Introduction to Education for Non-violence, Silvia Swinden, London

After the workshops we had free time and then a barbeque dinner with some singing and music from our Sufi friends and others.

The following morning we started with news that the shooting in London on Friday 22nd by the police was not of a terrorist but instead an innocent Brazilian electrician who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. We were expecting a representative of a Latin American community organisation to join us on Sunday morning but instead she remained in London to deal with the news and give press statements on behalf of that community. We were also invited to write a statement on behalf of the Forum that she would issue on our behalf while giving her statements.

The Sunday morning session started with 5 more workshops:

1. Humanist Co-operatives by Jo Spearman and Katy Forbes, London
2. Aiki-Yoga by Stuart Taylor, London
3. Introduction to Education For non-violence
4. Personal work as a tool of social transformation
5. Introduction to Sufism

During lunch the statement of the Forum on the shooting was drafted with representatives of all the different organisations present.

We finished the forum with a final plenary session including; a synthesis from each of the various workshops that were held; announcements of future activities; closing words from Silvia Swinden; thanks to all those who had assisted by Jon Swinden; thanks to all those who had organised the event by Tony Robinson; an experience of “Rebellion against Violence” by Anna Polo and finally a peace dance organised by Carinne Allinson, the Quaker representative.

Future images

At the end of the forum we were left with the images of:
• Participating in the Education Forum in Madrid, April 2006
• Participating in the European Regional in Lisbon, November 2006
• A future activity of the forum
• Other organisations and individuals will use the list to disseminate information about their own events

For pictures of last year's event click here.