The Foundation for Peace Sciences
The Foundation for Peace Sciences (Stichting VredesWetenschappen - SVW)
was established in 2004 and is registered under no. 30199249 with the Utrecht
Chamber of Commerce.
This initiative was taken by the Foundation for Peace-Building Chairs and the
Dutch-Flemish branch of Economists for Peace and Security.
The Foundation for Peace-Building Chairs was closely linked to the Foundation
of Peace-Building in Utrecht. The latter was active in the field of peace
education in the Netherlands between 1960 and 1992. The Dutch-Flemish
branch of Economists for Peace and Security was established in 1990, under
the name of Economists for Peace, on the initiative of Nobel Prize Laureate in
economics Professor Jan Tinbergen.
The Foundation for Peace Sciences is a member of the Dutch Platform for a
Culture of Peace and Non-Violence.
Hope and Menace
Poverty, disruption of the environment, the violation of human rights, conflicts and violence reinforce one another in a downward spiral and menace peace. Yet those who look attentively also see positive developments. There is resistance to injustice, there is solidarity and mutual trust. Our task is to identify these positive forces and to mobilize and empower them.
The United Nations must confront all these threats and challenges new and old, "hard" and "soft". - Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, September 23, 2003.
Vision
The Foundation for Peace Sciences is convinced that peace can be attained, provided that people work universally and systematically on the conditions for peace. Better insights into the conditions for peace can contribute to a culture of peace. To be able to reach this goal, communication between scientific institutes and social, political and industrial organisations is of the utmost importance.
Mission
A mission has been adopted on the basis of this vision:
The mission of the Foundation for Peace Sciences is to advance interdisciplinary scientific cooperation - in education and research, specifically at institutes for higher education - aimed at research of the conditions for peace.
Based on this mission, SVW is working to set up a network of extraordinary chairs at scientific institutions. The intention is for each chair to approach the problems of conflict and peace from its own specific perspective.
Extraordinary Chairs
The first chairs were established in 2005; they study peace from an economic and a legal angle. One is the chair of The Economics of Conflict and Peace at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. The ASN Foundation financially supports this chair for five years. ASN Foundation is linked to the Dutch financial institution ASN Bank. The other is the V.J. Koningsberger Chair of Peace Building and the Rule of Law at the University of Utrecht. The V.J. Koningsberger Chair was set up to honour the name of the Professor of Biology who in an address in 1940 vehemently resisted the exclusion of Jewish scientists. The University of Utrecht is the financier of this chair.
The board of SVW has planned to extend the number of extraordinary chairs to other disciplines. The intention is to arrive at a network of such chairs, working together to deepen scientific insight into conditions for peace, thus advancing the translation of such knowledge into policy.
Other Activities
* Organising one or more conferences / symposia on the developments within the peace sciences;
* Regular organisation of public meetings to report on the chairs and related activities;
* Promoting initiatives in this field, for instance by establishing a prize for a thesis or paper;
* Widening the work territory by cooperation with organisations in other countries;
* Maintaining the website www.stichtingvredeswetenschappen.nl;
* SVW Newsletter ? The SVW newsletter (in Dutch) will be sent by mail or e-mail every six months to
Friends of the Foundation and other sponsors to report on the developments within the peace sciences.
Friends of the Foundation / sponsors
The foundation is not subsidised by the state. SVW depends on contributions from individuals, companies, institutes and funds for all its activities and for maintaining its own organisation. If you are interested in the activities of SVW and you would like to contribute financially, please register as a Friend of the Foundation by sending an e-mail to the secretary of the board of SVW: Herman van Bemmel, hj.van.bemmel@kpnplanet.nl.
