About

Join World BEYOND War this July 8-10 for #NoWar2022: Resistance & Regeneration, a virtual global conference.

Get tickets!
View the schedule.

Hosted virtually through the Zoom Events platform, #NoWar2022 will facilitate international solidarity by bringing together speakers and attendees from around the world. As we resist the institution of war worldwide, from crippling sanctions and military occupations to the network of military bases that encircle the globe, how can we simultaneously “regenerate,” building the alternative world that we want to see based on nonviolence and a culture of peace?

#NoWar2022 will highlight unique stories of change-making, both big and small, around the world, that challenge the structural causes of war & militarism while, at the same time, concretely creating an alternative system based on a just and sustainable peace.

#NoWar2022 will illustrate inspirational examples of social change activism that, as described by political theorist Adrian Kreutz, “bring about this other world by means of planting the seeds of the society of the future in the soil of today’s. … [S]ocial structures enacted in the here-and-now, in the small confines of our organisations, institutions and rituals mirror the wider social structures we can expect to see in the post-revolutionary future.”

#NoWar2022 participants will leave both inspired by what is possible and equipped with the tools to reimagine a just and peaceful future in their own communities and worldwide.

Sister Actions in Montenegro:


#NoWar2022 is being organized in partnership with the Save Sinjajevina campaign in Montenegro, which aims to block a NATO military training ground & preserve the Balkans’ biggest mountain grassland. Save Sinjajevina representatives will Zoom in to the virtual conference and there will be opportunities to support the in-person actions happening in Montenegro during the week of the conference.

#NoWar2022 Schedule

#NoWar2022: Resistance & Regeneration paints a picture of what the alternative to war and violence can look like. The “AGSS” — the alternative global security system — is World BEYOND War’s blueprint for how to get there, based on 3 strategies of demilitarizing security, managing conflict nonviolently, and creating a culture of peace. These 3 strategies are woven throughout the conference panels, workshops, and discussion sessions. Additionally, icons on the schedule below indicate specific sub-themes, or “tracks,” throughout the event.

  • Economics & Just Transition:💲
  • Environment: 🌳
  • Media & Communications: 📣
  • Refugees: 🎒

(All times are in Eastern Daylight Time – GMT-04:00) 

Friday, July 8, 2022

Explore the platform before the online conference starts and get familiar with the different features. Meet other conference participants using the networking feature, plus browse the expo booths for our sponsoring organizations.

A modern folk troubadour, Samara Jade is dedicated to the art of listening deeply and crafting soul-centered songs, inspired greatly by the wild wisdom of nature and the landscape of the human psyche. Her songs, sometimes whimsical and sometimes dark and deep but always truthful and harmonically rich, ride the crest of the unknown and are medicine for personal and collective transformation. Samara’s intricate guitar playing and emotive vocals draw upon influences as diverse as folk, jazz, blues, Celtic and Appalachian styles, woven into a cohesive tapestry that is a sound distinctly her own that has been described as “Cosmic-soul-folk” or “philosopholk.”

Featuring opening remarks by Rachel Small & Greta Zarro of World BEYOND War & Pablo Domínguez, Petar Glomazić, and Milan Sekulović of the Save Sinjajevina campaign.

WBW Board Member Yurii Sheliazhenko, based in Ukraine, will provide an update on the current crisis in Ukraine, situating the conference within the larger geopolitical context and highlighting the importance of anti-war activism at this time.

Additionally, WBW chapter coordinators around the world will provide brief reports about their work, including Barry Sweeney (WBW Ireland), Lucas Sichardt (WBW Wanfried), Darienne Hetherman and Bob McKechnie (WBW California), Liz Remmerswaal (WBW New Zealand), Cymry Gomery (WBW Montréal), Guy Feugap (WBW Cameroon), and Juan Pablo Lazo (WBW Bioregión Aconcagua).

Meet other conference participants using the networking feature, plus browse the expo booths for our sponsoring organizations.

Details coming soon.

Meet other conference participants using the networking feature, plus browse the expo booths for our sponsoring organizations.

These discussion sessions offer a glimpse into what’s possible by exploring different alternative models and what’s needed for the just transition to a green & peaceful future. These sessions will be an opportunity to both learn from the facilitators as well as to workshop ideas and brainstorm with other attendees.

  • “Armed to Farm”: Sustainable Agriculture Training for Military Veterans 🌳
  • Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) with John Reuwer and Charles Johnson.
    This session will explore Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP), a nonviolent safety model emergent in recent decades. Communities worldwide suffering from violence in spite of the alleged protection of armed police and military forces are seeking alternatives. Many envision UCP replacing armed protection altogether – but how exactly does it work? What are its strengths and limitations? We will discuss methods used in South Sudan, the U.S., and beyond to explore this grassroots, weaponless safety model.
  • The Transition Movement with Jul Bystrova 📣
    In this session, we will focus on what it really means to live in a world beyond war on a very practical and local level. We will be sharing ways we can unplug from the extractive economy, while emphasizing the vital importance of learning how to work together, resolving and transforming conflict with each other and doing our own personal work necessary to step out of the conflict mindset. After all, it is the human tendency towards conflict that compounds into war. Can we find ways to live and work together in new systems based on peace? There are many trying to do this and lean into this great transition.
  • Public Banking💲
  • Solidarity Cities 🎒

More details coming soon.

Meet other conference participants using the networking feature, plus browse the expo booths for our sponsoring organizations.

Saturday, July 9, 2022

Meet other conference participants using the networking feature, plus browse the expo booths for our sponsoring organizations.

In working towards the abolition of the institution of war, this panel will highlight that demilitarization alone is not enough; we need a just transition to a peace economy that works for all. Especially throughout the past 2.5 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been ever more apparent that there is an urgent need for a reorientation of government spending towards vital human needs. We’ll talk about the practicality of economic conversion by sharing real-world successful examples and models for the future. Featuring Miriam Pemberton of the Peace Economy Transitions Project and other panelists TBA.

More details coming soon.

  • Workshop: How to Block a Military Training Ground & Preserve the Balkans’ Biggest Mountain Grassland: An Update from the Save Sinjajevina Campaign, led by Milan Sekulović. 🌳
  • Workshop: How to Demilitarize & “Peacify” Education with Phill Gittins of World BEYOND War and Carmen Wilson of Demilitarise Education.
  • Training: Nonviolent Communication Skills 📣

Meet other conference participants using the networking feature, plus browse the expo booths for our sponsoring organizations.

This panel will both concretely explore how to divest public and private dollars from extractive industries like weapons and fossil fuels, and at the same time, how to rebuild the just world we want through doable reinvestment strategies that prioritize community needs. Featuring Shea Leibow of CODEPINK, Nadira Foster of Divest Ed, and Britt Runeckles of Towards a People’s Endowment. Moderator: Greta Zarro.

Meet other conference participants using the networking feature, plus browse the expo booths for our sponsoring organizations.

Sunday, July 10, 2022

Meet other conference participants using the networking feature, plus browse the expo booths for our sponsoring organizations.

Featuring Rosemary Morrow and other speakers TBA.

Meet other conference participants using the networking feature, plus browse the expo booths for our sponsoring organizations.

  • Workshop: How to Shut Down & Transform a Military Base Site with Thea Valentina Gardellin. 💲
  • Workshop: Demilitarizing the Police & Alternative Policing Models with David Swanson and other speakers TBA.
  • Workshop: How to Challenge Mainstream Media Bias & Promote Peace Journalism with Jeff Cohen of FAIR.org, Steven Youngblood of the Center for Global Peace Journalism, and Dru Oja Jay of The Breach. 📣
    Modeling the conference theme of “resistance and regeneration,” this workshop will begin with a media literacy primer, vis-à-vis FAIR.org’s techniques to expose and critique mainstream media bias. Then we will lay out a framework for the alternative — principles of counternarrative storytelling from a peace journalism perspective. We will conclude with a discussion of practical applications of these principles, such as through independent media outlets like The Breach, whose mission is focused on “journalism for transformation.”

Featuring WBW Board President Kathy Kelly & Pablo Domínguez, Petar Glomazić, and Milan Sekulović of the Save Sinjajevina campaign. The conference will conclude with a collective virtual action in support of Save Sinjajevina.

Meet other conference participants using the networking feature, plus browse the expo booths for our sponsoring organizations.

Sponsors & Endorsers

Thank you to the support of our sponsors & endorsers who help make this event possible!

Sponsors

Individuals & organizations can sponsor here.

Platinum Sponsors:
Gold Sponsors:
Silver Sponsors:

Endorsers

Organizations can endorse here.