Can we draw on the experience of international peace work to tackle the challenges that we face in Switzerland?
Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis once said, “foreign policy is domestic policy.” But does this also apply to peace policy? Probably not yet, but we made a first attempt.
After a year of intensive preparations in August, Forum für Friedenskultur launched the Ilanzer Sommer in the small mountain town of Ilanz in the Grisons. A lively program including cinema, concert, conference, and co-creation was offered around the question: “Who can make what contribution to an active culture of peace in Switzerland?”
The underlying concept was born out of the conviction that it is time to take peace out of the foreign policy and academic nests. We understand peace culture, building on the “Sustaining Peace” definition, as a permanent transversal mission to which every sector, department, and discipline can and should contribute. This is the only way to live up to the self-definition of a “peace nation,” both nationally and internationally.
It is striking that while Switzerland disseminates numerous methods for promoting competencies in the field of mediation, dialogue management, and conflict transformation worldwide, the same methods are practically unknown in Switzerland itself, or at least not institutionalized. Therefore, with the Ilanzer Sommer, Forum für Friendenskultur seeks to examine how international peace work experiences can be used to tackle the challenges faced within Switzerland.
How does strategic conflict analysis help to identify tensions at an early stage? Can dialogue or mediation de-escalate the situation when the divide between two population groups widens, be it regarding Housing for asylum seekers or Covid 19 measures? Could a national dialogue lead to a new social contract? And what role can the media play in promoting a culture of discussion and debate – a concern for many? How can they contribute to a public space in which the conflicting parties can engage in a constructive exchange that promotes democracy? Or is it all much further back in time and requires us to draw upon our transgenerational memory – as we do in other countries – to understand the Switzerland of today?
The Ilanzer Sommer was a first impulse of a process that we would like to continue and deepen in the future. Already this year, various organizations and individuals from the KOFF platform participated and contributed to its versatility and professionalism, which was greatly appreciated by the participants and, not least, positively received by the media.
