The Catalan Forum for Peace was publicly presented on Wednesday 14 February as part of the Second Conference on Peace held at the Parliament of Catalonia. This new forum is a participatory process of reflection and debate that was launched with a double objective: to create a public peace process in Catalonia and to reinforce the agendas and social and political advocacy capabilities of Catalan peace organizations.
The Catalan Forum for Peace is an initiative promoted by the Government of Catalonia, the Catalan Council for the Promotion of Peace, ICIP and the associative network dedicated to the promotion of peace. Thus, it is the result of social and institutional collaboration and will be carried out throughout 2024 and 2025. The Forum will consist of a process of citizen participation based on five debate themes: Culture of Peace; Security and Justice; Armed Conflicts; Global Challenges; and Women, Peace and Security.
The website www.forumcatalapau.cat was launched in conjunction with the public presentation to encourage the participation of citizens, organizations and institutions committed to the values of the culture of peace and social justice.
“For a public peace policy”
The public presentation of the Catalan Forum for Peace took place during the celebration of the Parliament of Catalonia’s Second Conference on Peace, co-organized by the Catalan chamber, ICIP and Lafede.cat. Under the title “For a public peace policy,” the conference brought together representatives of numerous peace organizations and experts in the field of research and work for peace, as well as representatives of the Government and several city councils and institutions.
At the opening of the conference, the vice president of the Catalan Council for the Promotion of Peace and director of ICIP, Kristian Herbolzheimer, called on all Catalan institutions and organizations committed to the values of the culture of peace and social justice to join the Catalan Forum for Peace: “This is the time to start reflecting on how we can contribute to peace in the world from Catalonia. It is time for all the people, groups and institutions that share the values of the culture of peace and share the commitment to a more just and caring world to meet and explain ourselves.”
For her part, the president of Lafede.cat, Arés Perceval, stressed that the Catalan Forum for Peace should enable “the design of a public peace policy endorsed by all parliamentary groups, which is a pending issue.” She added that the process should also “serve to strengthen the movement for peace and nonviolence that we lead from civil society.”
Both the director of ICIP and the president of Lafede.cat expressed their solidarity with the three Catalan activists who are on a hunger strike for Palestine, including Gabriela Serra, president of the Catalan Council for the Promotion of Peace, who was unable to participate in the event.
The conference was inaugurated by the president of the Parliament of Catalonia, Anna Erra, who highlighted the tradition of promoting peace in Catalonia, a “country of peace,” which “has not hesitated to embrace the values of democracy and fundamental freedoms.” In her speech, Erra predicted that the Catalan Forum for Peace will help strengthen the culture of peace, “make us a useful tool for the international community,” and “define some answers based on the country’s collective intelligence.”
The conference included two roundtables: the first one focused on the challenges and opportunities for peace in the context of global threats, and the second one was dedicated to the five debate themes that will guide the Catalan Forum for Peace when the participatory process begins in April. Participants included Carme Colomina, researcher at CIDOB; Luca Gervasoni, director of NOVACT; Maria Josep Parés, consultant; Jesús Vinyes, president of the School Council of Catalonia; Nora Miralles, president of the Delàs Center; Albert Caramés, director of FundiPau; Jordi Armadans, journalist and political scientist; and Blanca Camps, researcher at the Autonomous University of Barcelona..
