International Conference in Commemoration of the 44th Anniversary of the UN International Day of Peace
The Moment of Chaos, The Quest for Planetary Politics
Peace BAR Festival celebrates humanity’s efforts towards overcoming conflict and confrontations to work towards peace and mutual prosperity. This festival began in 2004 with the groundbreaking ceremony for the UN Peace Park and Global NGO Complex, which was an extension of the 1999 Seoul International Conference of NGOs co-hosted by Kyung Hee University, UN NGO/DPI, and CoNGO.
BAR is an acronym for the 60-year tradition of pursuing a 21st century society that is “spiritually Beautiful, materially Affluent, humanly Rewarding.”
The Peace BAR Festival seeks to create a global community founded on the common values of peace and mutual prosperity by bringing together academia, the UN, NGOs, business partnerships, and the public in various programs such as academic conferences, art and culture festivals, social service projects and youth forums.
In 2009, which marked the University’s 60th anniversary, Kyung Hee celebrated the UN International Day of Peace by holding the Kyung Hee Peace Workshop. This event was organised by the Kyung Hee University Global Academy for Future Civilizations.
The PBF Roundtable was held at the Grand Peace Hall on Friday, September 19th, at 3:00 PM (Seoul time):
The theme is “Breakthrough or Collapse: Planetary Consciousness and the Future Direction of Politics”, featuring six panelists:
Gro Harlem Brundtland, Founding member of The Elders
Paul Shrivastava, Co-President of The Club of Rome
Alistair Ferney, CEO of The Elders
Giorgi Szabo, former Director of the Laszlo Institute
Tomas Sedlacek, Director of the Havel Library
Atsufumi Yokoi, Vice President of Okayama University
They discuss ways to transcend boundaries between individuals, groups, nations, and nations amidst multifaceted crises of civilisational significance, including climate, nuclear weapons, and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, they cultivate a planetary consciousness based on a shared sense of humanity and explore new directions for future politics and civic action. This discussion goes beyond crisis assessment and serves as the first step toward envisioning a new global solidarity based on a sense of infinite connection and shared responsibility for the planetary community. Based on this discussion, Kyung Hee University plans to concretise the direction of its “Open Letter to Future Generations,” scheduled for release by the end of the year, and establish an international network of action.
Learn more about the roundtable
