What is the PEACE Centre Network?
PEACE is an anagram that represents:
Preservation Education of Arts Culture Environment
In summary, the PEACE model is a community centred framework that provides a hub in infrastructure, learning and technology support into community. The emphasis is to serve disadvantaged populations and support existing NGO, charity and legitimate cause related endeavours.
Each centre forms a Chakra point or meridian of energy as part of a sustainable knowledge community that exists in physical and concurrently as a virtual entity. The centres feature cultural exchange, transpersonal and values awareness learning that is tailored to the needs of the area it resides. It is perceived that all centres will provide the following:
- Heritage preservation and learning regarding the Indigenous culture and other values traditions specific to the region.
- Education, workshop and learning programmes of sustainability.
- Accessibility and knowledge information regarding alternate plant medicines and health care that can be procured locally by the poor
- Environmental education for global footprint sustainability - i.e. pollution control through right practices - air, water, land, waste etc.
- Nutrition education for optimum family health
- Clinic or hospital access for alternate and allopathic treatment
- Community watch programmes for social advocacy - i.e. creating awareness about the plight of others subjected to behaviours that might currently be perceived acceptable. This may include mental health programmes, children needs and behaviours, women and mens' care
- Values awareness in alignment with international systemic society and social cultural communities. Understanding others
- Individual rights and social justice
- Transpersonal and resilience recovery and robustness programmes
- Technology and development
- Organic and alternate regenerative farming techniques
- Animal rights and awareness
- Disaster recovery and survival - what to do in the event of...
- Building sustainable business models and incubator. Natural spa, plant and organic commodities. Design and artisan trades.
- LIfestyles and personal wellbeing, stress management - such as yoga, qi gong, tai chi, reiki and bodywork
- Creative therapies - music, vibrational healing, dance and free interactive balance
- International perspectives. learning and workshops in all of these areas and others from practitioners, facilitators and knowledge experts who visit and exchange cultural specific traditions and expertise with other communities.
- Functions, promotions and programmes that contribute to global knowledge repository of sustainable blue print culture.
The activities of the centre are perceived to extend into grass roots - the villages and communities of the regions where situated. In turn international visitors to the centre shall be able to participate in locally oriented programmes for the benefit of their own learning and awareness.
Locations
Cultural exchange learning and transformation centres with associated networks to be located in strategic positions internationally. This may be where a community or group is considered ‘disadvantaged’ (e.g., third world or first world indigenous societies, disabilities sector) through their living circumstances.
The heritage PEACE model is also ideally located where “advantaged” communities can assist with transformation and environmental conditions that will further the aims of the program.
The centres, programs or both are intended to support education, development and transformation requirements that currently predominate outside traditional academic learning models, or facilitating, bridgin and integrating academic learning. A requirement has also been identified where there may be difficulty or special need by the group, organisation or business culture to have tailored, change immersion specific to cultural adaptive needs.
The need for adaptive transformation coaching and instruction programs has arisen with the gradual decline or delineation from existing cultural and religious guide ropes and boundaries in society – i.e. ‘culture values’.
If existing societal infrastructure and network links are available, these should also be utilised as appropriate, making use of valuable skills and community amenities already in place where possible. Where this happens, the transformation programs and the focus of implementing the PEACE model itself is to provide the cohesive force necessary to bring about the successful outcomes and integration into community. The program outputs vary according to the location and primary function of the Institute and community it serves. For example, a community surviving relocation and war crimes will have different requirements and needs to an established heritage Indigenous culture that seeks to bring in preservation and self identity into the framework. Urban community models may include work-life balance and workforce skills transition.
This proposed culture centred matrix may provide vital additional infrastructure and means of supporting artisan, craft and niche boutique production where existing governance, function and marketing support mechanisms have been proven to be lacking.
This issue has been raised by leaders of Small Business and Arts Cooperatives as a critical risk to community based survival. The recent generation trends toward high density public planning and consequently the intensity commerce models imposed by commercial and retail chain monopolies have caused the decline of opportunity for arts and unique product business. The resulting situation is that a whole component of the community eco system supported through small to medium enterprises is in danger of collapsing. In cities this extends to domestic households, property and general services that make up a local “village” infrastructure. This situation is exacerbated in country communities and extends to rural industries that are seeking local trade, cottage and niche retail markets for produce and for tourism. In third world, this extends to fair trade.
The PEACE Programme when applied in first world domain will seek to exemplify all artisan cottage industry and where appropriate rural boutique production as a “fair trade” initiative that compliments the indigenous and multi culture components of this model. This aspect of the model is considered to be paramount to providing whole of life production cycle “outputs” as a result of undertaking arts and unique craft based learning as part of some incubator innovation programs.
Transformation and incubator programs are designed to aid employment transition for long term unemployed. The intended instruction empowers value based skills that are intrinsically recognised by current employers and consumers. These will be required to ensure that full business or commercial value transfer of any learning includes the understanding of profitability commerce.
Other programs may result in formal academic “scholarships” and will also require a level of competency output that realises the capacity for formal academic instruction. For this reason the work-life balance “PEACE” learning models will engender holistic integration into current societal networks and infrastructure even in first world milieu.
It is proposed that every PEACE Institute and network infrastructure will have its own format – relative to location, culture and the specific needs and competencies of the community or group function.
