Annual Call for Events and Speakers / 4-8 November 2019

About Geneva Peace Week Geneva is a global hub for governance and international cooperation. It hosts 37 international organizations, a thriving community of non-governmental organizations and renowned academic and research institutions. It is also a diplomatic center with near universal representation of states. Together, all these actors work for peace, rights and wellbeing, touching the lives of individuals across the world. Geneva Peace Week offers an opportunity to connect and highlight the work of these actors and to expand the space for building peace and resolving conflict through dialogue and negotiation. Geneva Peace Week emphasizes that each and every person, actor and institution has a role to play in building peace and resolving conflict. It recognizes that peacebuilding occurs in many different contexts and cuts across disciplines and sectors. In this sense, Geneva Peace Week breaks down professional silos in order to enable creative responses to violence, exclusion and insecurity. By synchronizing meetings and events on different topics related to the promotion of peace during one week, Geneva Peace Week maximizes synergies between organizations in Geneva and their international partners, focusing on the cross-cutting nature of peace. Geneva Peace Week 2019 Geneva Peace Week 2019 (GPW19) aims to enhance the experience for event partners and participants based on the findings of a scoping study commissioned by the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform and supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The study’s objectives were to inform the decision making about the development of Geneva Peace Week and to identify practical solutions to advance Geneva Peace Week in the years ahead. The study’s key recommendations were:  More curation: Geneva Peace Week should focus efforts on the design and management of events and an alignment of events to specific objectives.  Fewer events: The number of events should be reduced with an ideal figure of around 40 events (compared with 66 in 2018). Fewer events will require a more rigorous selection process and clearly defined criteria for selection.  Single venue: A single venue for Geneva Peace Week can increase the brand awareness, simplify registration and access procedures and facilitate networking.  Programming: Programmes and initiatives in the broader peacebuilding field should be better connected to Geneva Peace Week. The Geneva Peacebuilding Platform could also develop dedicated programming for Geneva Peace Week.  Position GPW as a collective space to advance peacebuilding: In order to develop a more global perspective on peacebuilding, Geneva Peace Week is an opportunity to better understand peacebuilding traditions and know-how in different regions.  Better networking: To enhance participant experience, GPW should expand networking opportunities both through networking events or the development of a dedicated GPW networking or conference management app. These recommendations will serve to guide the evolution of GPW in the coming years. What’s new in 2019? GPW19 will implement several new features with the aim of enhancing participant and organizer experience. The innovations include the following: 1. Broader spectrum of how organizers can participate in GPW19: To reduce the number of panel events and to enhance the diversity of events, GPW19 offers two tracks to organizers:  Event track: As in previous years, organizers can propose events, but there will be a stronger emphasis on the quality criteria mentioned below and streamlining into substantive clusters.  Speaker track: New in 2019 is the possibility for organizations to suggest and sponsor a speaker within a specific thematic cluster. 2. Curation around three thematic clusters + an open programme: Rather than one single theme, GPW19 will focus event and speaker submissions in three thematic clusters in addition to an open programme for events outside the three clusters. These include:  Global perspectives on peacebuilding: Much theory and practice of peacebuilding is rooted in the intellectual traditions and historical experiences of Euro-Atlantic societies. This cluster invites events on approaches to preventing and resolving violent conflict and building peace that are rooted in diverse traditions and know-how across the world.  Building peace in Europe: This cluster examines the peacebuilding frontiers in Europe. It invites events on the peacebuilding implications of ongoing and escalating political and social conflicts on the European continent. Events should focus on how peacebuilding knowledge and practice could address and mitigate the rising tension and polarization in Europe.  Multilateralism in transition: The state-centric system is experiencing change towards more interaction with other sectors. Trends suggest a greater focus on transnational connections and more interactive modes of working. This cluster invites events on the peacebuilding implications of UN reforms and on the growth of city and corporate diplomacy around peace and conflict issues, chronic urban violence and exclusion, or conflict dynamics in cyber space.  Open programme: Event submissions that do not fall within the three focus clusters may be part of an open programme. 3. High-Level segments: GPW19 encourages applicants to propose events involving Heads of State, Ministers, CEOs, Mayors, or speakers in other sectors at a comparable level. 4. Venues: GPW19 will include curated programme segments in the Maison de la Paix from 5 to 7 November. In general, event organizers are invited to make their own arrangements for venues once the event date and time has been confirmed by GPW19.