Events

Peace and Future Generations Solidarity Walk
8am - 10:30am, Nairobi
Starting point: Rubis Petrol Station, 200 meters from UN Entrance
Register

Basel Forum on Peace, Climate Protection and the UN Summit of the Future: The roles of cities and youth.

Thursday May 30, 2024, Basel, Switzerland. 10:30-16:15
Register

A regional consultation co-hosted by Basel Peace Office and the Basel Stadt Kanton President’s Office.

Morning session: Youth engagement and civil society proposals for the Summit of the Future
K-Haus, Kasernenstrasse 8, 4058 Basel

Afternoon session 2:  Cities, legislators & youth. An intergenerational dialogue on the Summit of the Future
Basel Town Hall (Rathaus des Kantons Basel-Stadt)

 

 

Friday January 26, 2024. 10:00-12:00  CET
Wohnzimmer, 2nd floor K-Haus, Kasernenstrasse 8, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
A hybrid side event of the Basel Peace Forum 2024

Friday January 26 at 4pm - 5:30pm Central Europe Time / 10am-11:30am Eastern Time
Online - Registration required.

3 prizes of €5000 each. The 9 finalists will present their projects. The audience then votes to determine the winners.

 

Applying human rights law to address existential threats to humanity
In-person event. Thursday July 6. 15:00-16:00
Sidley Austin Law Firm, Rue du Pré-de-la-Bichette 1 Geneva 1202

Registration

 

Nuclear Stories Pre-Premier
Zurich and online
Wednesday April 26, 2023
7pm - 8:30pm Central Europe Time.
Click here to register. No cost to join.
The event is held in conjunction with International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day

Human Rights and the Doomsday Clock
Using international human rights law to address existential threats
posed by nuclear weapons and climate change.

A side event to the UN Human Rights Council 42nd Universal Periodic Review

Wednesday January 25. 1:15 – 2:45pm
Sidley Austin Law Firm, Geneva.

Registration required: RSVP to alyn@pnnd.org or Ph/SMS to +41 788 912 156

 

January 20. 11am – 12:30pm
A side event of the Basel Peace Forum 2023

Online by zoom and in-person at K-Haus, Basel, Switzerland

Registration required.

 

Saturday January 21
4:30pm-6pm Central Europe Time / 10:30am-12noon Eastern Time USA
Online. Click here to register.
3 prizes of €5000 each. The 9 finalists will present their projects. The audience then votes to determine the winners.

Youth initiatives for a sustainable future

Join the 2022 PACEY Award Winners and Youth Fusion, winners of the Gorbachev/Schultz Legacy Youth Award
K-Haus, Kasernenstrasse 8, 4058 Basel
6pm-8pm. Tuesday November 8.
Followed by an apero

[Simultaneous interpretation in English and German]

Register at https://forms.gle/1sH37wqpQbN4vZBb9

 

Using international human rights law to address existential threats.
A side event to the UN Human Rights Council 50th Regular Session.

Friday July 1. 13:15 - 14:45. (In-person event)

Montreux Room, Varembé Conference Center (CCV). 9-11 Rue de Varembé, Geneva

Register for the event

 

The 3rd in a series of webinars on the youth-led campaign to take the issue of climate change to the International Court of Justice (World Court).

Friday March 4, 2022

Session 1: Timed for Asia/Pacific. 8am - 9:30am Central Europe Time. Event in English. Click here to register.

Session 2: Timed for the Americas/Europe/Africa/Middle East. Simulataneous translation in English/French/Spanish. Click here to register.

Friday Jan 21, 2022. 8:30am – 10am CET

Description: Peace, nuclear Abolition and Climate Engage Youth (PACEY) Award event

Two prizes of €5000 Euro each will be awarded to exemplary youth projects or initiatives to advance peace, climate protection and/or disarmament, especially nuclear disarmament.

Registration

Thursday Jan 20, 2022 8:00 pm – 9:30pm CET

Description: From youth vision and enthusiasm to policy change. An intergenerational forum between policymakers (legislators) and youth activists on the Climate / Nuclear Disarmament nexus. The event is held in conjunction with the Basel Peace Forum 2022.

Registration

A public in-person event featuring the two winning projects of the 2021 Basel PACEY (Youth) Awards.

Wednesday November 24, 18:30 – 20:00
Basel University ‘Old’ Campus
Rheinsprung 9, 4051 Basel

Register

Methods and examples of nonviolent actions to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. An online event to commemorate the International Day of Nonviolence and the 152nd anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi.

Saturday October 2. 10am-12 noon Eastern Time USA / 4-6pm Central Europe Time / 7:30-9:30pm Delhi.

Simultaneous translation in English/French

Register for the event at https://bit.ly/nonviolence21century

Toward an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legal responsibility to ensure a stable climate for future generations

Webinar 2: What question to ask the Court? What sources of law to use?

Tuesday August 24, 2021
8am-10am Pacific Time USA / 11am-1pm Eastern Time USA / 4pm-6pm London / 5pm-7pm Central Europe

Simultaneous translation English/French. Click here to register.

An Inter-generational Forum followed by the PACEY Plus Youth Award

January 19, 2021. 15:00 – 19:15 Central Europe Time

A forum of youth, experts and policy makers discussing actions and effective policies for peace, disarmament, the climate and public health especially in times of pandemic. The event will be held in three sessions of 1¼  hours each with a short break between each session. 

Click here to register.

Session 1: Timed for Asia and the Pacific.
Thursday December 10. 8am Central Europe Time (10 am Moscow, 1pm Dhaka, 4pm Tokyo/Seoul, 7pm Suva)
Program and other information will be posted on the Session 1 event facebook page. Click here to register.

Session 2: Timed for the Americas, Europe and Africa.
Friday December 11. 11:30 Eastern time USA/Canada. (5:30pm CET)
Program and other information will be posted on the Session 2 event facebook page. Click here to register.

Webinar: Monday November 2, 2020
10am – 11:30am Eastern Time USA. 4pm-5:30pm Central Europe Time
Click here to register. Click here for the event flyer.

TheoSounds Concert to commemorate the International Day for Peace.
Sunday September 20 in Theodorskirche (Theodorskirchpl. 5, 4058 Basel) at 16:00

The concert is Schubert Notturno Op. 148 and Beethoven Piano Trio Op. 1 No. 1.

Performed by the PlayforRights Chamber Trio: Fraynni Rui (violin), Joonas Pitkänen (Violoncello) and Aleck Carratta (piano).
Free entry. We invite you to attend.

September 21- October 2, 2020.

A series of UN and UN-related events and actions running from Sep 21 (International Day for Peace) until October 2 (International Day for Nonviolence)

International webinar. Thursday  July 30, 2020.
9:00 am
- 10:30 am EDT  (15:00-16:30 CET)

Part of the Abolition 2000 webinar series on issues and actions for nuclear abolition
Click here to register. Click here for the event flyer.

Dates:
Thursday, May 14, 2020. Time: 11am EDT, 5pm CET
Tuesday May 19, 2020. Time: 9am CET

Contact: Youth actions webinar

 

International webinar, Tuesday April  21, 2020. Held in conjunction with Earth Day 2020 and the Global Days of Action on Military Spending.

The webinar will address: Cutting nuclear weapons budgets. Ending investments in nuclear weapons & fossil fuels. Reallocating these to public health, climate protection and sustainable development.

January 9, 2020. 1pm – 5:30pm. Basel, Switzerland.

A roundtable meeting of parliamentarians & city leaders with youth campaigners from the European climate, peace and nuclear disarmament movements.

Organised in conjunction with the Basel Peace Forum 2020: Cities in Time of Conflict & Peace, January 9-10, 2020.

Conference languages: English and German. Click here for the conference flyer.

Contact: info@baselpeaceoffice.org

Divestment and other actions by cities, universities and parliaments to reverse the nuclear arms race and protect the climate

Basel, Switzerland. April 12-13, 2019

A European and trans-Atlantic conference organised by Basel Peace Office.
Co-sponsored by IPPNW Switzerland and the Basel-Stadt Kanton, in cooperation with Mayors for Peace (Europe) and Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament.

Political and financial policies to protect future generations from climate change and nuclear weapons.

Monday January 14, 2019. 6pm-7:45pm
Hörsaal (Room) 215, Seminar fur Soziologie,
Basel University, Petersgraben 27, Basel, Switzerland

Click here for the program (pdf).
Contact info@baselpeaceoffice.org

 Thursday December 7.
Basel University, Hörsaal 001
18:00 - 20:00

Premier screening of the award-winning movie 'Where the Wind Blew' about the impact of nuclear tests in Nevada and Kazakhstan. Screenign is followed by discussion with representatives of Kazakhstan.

Basel University, September 14 - September 17

An international conference on the human impact of nuclear weapons and power, legal cases on behalf of victims, and protection of future generations.

Monday Jan 16. 16:30-18:30. Sydney Room, Floor 2, Messe Center, Messeplatz 21, Basel.

Europe could be caught in nuclear cross-fire between Russia and the United States. Join us for a discussion with Swiss and international speakers on new threats from nuclear weapons and what can be done about it.

Kazakh Room (Cinema XIV), Palais des Nations, Geneva.
September 27, 2016. 15:00 - 17:00.

Special event featuring
* Ela Gandhi (grand-daughter of Mahatma Gandhi and Co-President of Religions for Peace);
* Chain Reaction 2016 video, a series of nuclear disarmament actions and events around the world;

* Presentation of the Astana Vision declaration to the United Nations.

Please register at info@unfoldzero.org by September 22

Issues and proposals for taking forward nuclear disarmament
Framwork Forum roundtable for invited governments
April 18, 2016
Hosted by the Permanent Mission of Canada to the UN, Geneva
Co-sponsored by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

From the NPT to the UN General Assembly: Filling the legal gap to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons

Geneva, 1 September 2015, 13:15-18:00

Restaurant Layalina 121 rue de Lausanne, and Auditorium Jacques Freymond, rue de Lausanne 132       

Sponsored by Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, Middle Powers Initiative, Basel Peace Office and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Geneva
Supported by the Right Livelihood Award Foundation and World Future Council

Screenings in various locations in Switzerland during the week September 21-26

Directed by Peter Anthony
Featuring: Stanislav Petrov, Kevin Costner, Sergey Shnrynov, Matt Damon, Natalia Vdovina & Robert de Niro

On the night of September 26, 1983, Stanislav Petrov disobeyed military protocol and probably prevented a nuclear holocaust. He says that he is not a hero. 'I was just in the right place at the right time.' You decide!

 

Wave goodbye to nukes! 24 hours of actions in capitals and other cities around the world April 26-27, 2015

Framework Forum roundtable
Monday September 8, 2014, 13:00 – 18:00
Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights
Auditoire Jaques Freymond, rue de Lausanne 132 , Geneva

By invitation only
Contact info@baselpeaceoffice.org

Kazakh Room (Cinema Room XIV),
Palais des Nations, United Nations, Geneva
September 25, 16:00 - 17:30
followed by refreshments

Organised by UNFOLD ZERO and the Basel Peace Office
Hosted by the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs

A UN pass is required to attend. Contact info@unfoldzero.org

18 August to 15 October 2014
Oberer Rheinweg, Basel, Between Mittlere Brücke (Middle Bridge) and Wettstein Bridge

Late October until early December 2014
Theatrestrasse, Basel. From Elizabethenkirche to Barfusserplatz

www.makingpeace.org

Sunday August 17, 6pm – 9pm
Im Fluss stage on the Rhine
Oberer Rheinweg, Basel

Free

PLAYforRIGHTS presents a Youth Music Performance to commemorate World Humanitarian Day

A range of live music featuring ERROR 404 brass band ensemble from Musik Akademie Basel

July 4 - 5
Basel, Switzerland

Hosted by Guy Morin, President of the Basel-Stadt Canton
Organised by the Basel Peace Office

Mayors, parliamentarians and civil society!
Join us in Basel to share initiatives, network with others and advance the cooperative security framework for peace, prosperity and nuclear disarmament.

Chernobyl exhibition and the Rhine
Kleinbasel, Basel
Sunday April 13, afternoon

With Basel Peace Office and Environmental Award laureates participating in the 3rd International Convention of Environmental Laureates.

13:00: Photo exhibition of Chernobyl nuclear disaster
by Alexander Hofmann
Basel Art Center, Riehentorstrasse 33, Basel
Discounted group rate 15 CHF (normal entry is 22 CHF)

13:50 Lunch
Merian Spitz Cafe, Rheingasse 2

15:30. Rhine Promenade, water-powered ferry, Munster

RSVP to alyn@pnnd.org or +41 788 912 156

International Day of Sport for Peace and Development
Sunday April 6, 2014

Carton Blanc photo event and short peace run/cycle in Basel
Followed by an informal talk on peace and sport – peace bike rides

3pm: Run/cycle along the Rhine from Oberer Rheinweg (under Wettstein Bridge) to the Three Countries Corner
4pm: Carton Blanc photo event at Three Countries Corner, Dreiländereck
5pm: Light meal and talk at Restaurant Schiff

Contact info@baselpeaceoffice.org

Act now to encourage your country to engage in the OEWG. Organize a public event with motive of “opening the door to a nuclear weapons free world”!

Tuesday 21 May, 2013
13:15 – 14:45
Room XI, Building A, UN Geneva

Side-event of Open Ended Working
Group on Nuclear Disarmament

Launch of the 2nd edition of the Nuclear Abolition Forum
Tuesday, 9 April 2013
12:30 – 14:00
Geneva Centre for Security Policy
WMO/OMM Building Avenue de la Paix 7bis, Geneva

Featuring:
Ambassador Urs Schmid (Switzerland)
Ambassador Nobuyasu Abe (Japan)
Jean-Marie Collin (PNND, France)
Marc Finaud (Program Adviser, GCSP)
Alyn Ware (Founder, Nuclear Abolition Forum, New Zealand)
Teresa Bergman (Researcher, Basel Peace Office)

6pm, Friday May 24
University of Basel, Lecture Hall 001
Petersgraben, Basel

Featuring:
Wilson Kipketer, runner. Current world record holder for the 800 and 1000 meters (indoors).
Spokesperson for L’organisation pour la Paix par le Sport (Peace and Sport)
Paol Hansen, Special Adviser UN Office on Sport for Development and Peace
Carola Szemerey, Youth Future Project
Henk Van Nieuwenhove, Flanders Peace Field project  (the 1914 Soccer Truce)

 

Nuclear bombs, cooperative games and the prisoners’ dilemma

Cover photo: Center for Political Beauty, Performance artists from Germany, presenters at the ISWI conference.

‘The fact that we have not destroyed the world yet with nuclear weapons is indeed a miracle of good luck that cannot last forever’, announced policy expert Alyn Ware from Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace and the Basel Peace Office, the opening keynote speaker for the International Students Week in Ilmenau on May 30. 'If we don't abolish nuclear weapons, they will likely abolish us.'

‘On at least 20 times we have nearly had a nuclear war by accident, miscalculation or conflict escalation,’ he said, before showing 5 minutes of ‘The Man who Saved the World,’ the award-winning film about one of those times.

Over 300 university students from 70 countries were gathered at the Technical University of Ilmenau for 10 days to explore key issues facing humanity, and the responsibility of youth to act effectively to address these issues.


ISWI students practicising cooperation and trust-building, something vital for nuclear abolition

The first issue on the agenda – nuclear disarmament – was by no means the easiest to deal with. The horrific human and health consequences of the testing, production and use of nuclear weapons, which Mr Ware outlined in his presentation, were well recognized by the students, as was the exorbitant nuclear weapons budget (over $100 billion annually) that is sorely needed for other social and economic needs.

On the other hand, the fact that nuclear weapons have not been used in wartime since 1945 breeds complacency about the risks of such use. More significantly, some students suggested that nuclear deterrence can prevent war and protect countries against aggression. Indeed some students from Libya and Ukraine questioned whether it was wise for their countries to have given up their nuclear weapons program (Libya) or the nuclear weapons on their territory (Ukraine) – as, subsequent to doing so, they have both experienced military invasion.


Mr Ware, Ms Velikanova and Ms Swani presenting to the ISWI conference

Mr Ware offered a range of alternatives to nuclear deterrence for dealing with nuclear-related conflicts and for preventing aggression or the threat of aggression. These included diplomacy (as is now working in the case of Iran’s nuclear program), the use of international treaty regimes (the Chemical Weapons Convention regime was used to get rid of Syria’s chemical weapons) and the use of the International Court of Justice, Good Offices of the United Nations Secretary-General and UN Security Council. Mr Ware gave examples of success for all of these approaches and outlined UNFOLD ZERO, a platform which highlights the possibilities for cooperative security and the elimination of nuclear weapons through a range of United Nations mechanisms, forums and initiatives.

However, there still remained amongst some students, a lack of confidence that these mechanisms and approaches could get the world out of the nuclear prisoner’s dilemma in which we are now. The prisoner’s dilemma is a situation where two separate parties have a choice to cooperate or compete. There are three possible outcomes – win/win, win/lose and lose/lose. The dilemma is that only if both cooperate is there win/win. If one chooses to compete and the other to cooperate, the one choosing to compete wins while the one choosing to cooperate loses. The temptation for both is therefore to compete, so that they don’t get ‘beaten’ by the other side, but in making this choice they both lose…


The nuclear prisoners' dilemma

The prisoner's dilemma, applied to nuclear weapons, explains why States will mutually pursue nuclear weapons - a lose/lose outcome- despite the risks and opportunity costs, unless there is an effective third party to facilitate and enforce nuclear disarmament - a win/win outcome. The UNFOLD ZERO platform suggests that the United Nations could play this role.

Basel Peace Office, followed up the opening presentation with a series of workshops, co-facilitated by the Youth Future Project, on alternative security, nuclear disarmament and cooperation. In one of these workshops students were put into a prisoners’ dilemma situation and challenged to break through the barriers to achieving win/win (cooperative) security. In other workshops, students were challenged to build trust and cooperation through a variety of games including with a 1.8 metre diameter Earth ball (see Sports Peace Games for descriptions of these and other games).


Earthball games at the ISWI conference

But back to some other highlights of the opening 2-hour presentation on May 30:

Ms. Rimma Velikanova, a young intern at the Basel Peace Office, reported on the successful Global Wave 2015 Campaign that she organized. The action involved creative ‘waves goodbye to nuclear weapons’ just prior to the 2015 NPT Review Conference, 4-week long United Nations conference on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. Over the course of 24 hours, a wave of over 100 creative nuclear abolition actions swept around the world.

There were ‘waves goodbye to nuclear weapons’ at schools & universities, homes & workplaces, city halls & parliaments, places of worship & interfaith gatherings, peace monuments & museums, at music festivals & sports events, nuclear weapons deployment sites & production facilities, at conferences and special anniversary events. See Global Wave 2015 video of people around the world waving goodbye to nuclear weapons.

Then, as the foreign ministers and other representatives of the governments spoke at the UN, many of them giving excuses for holding onto nuclear weapons, Global Wave 2015 tweeted videos and photos of Global Wave actions in their countries.


Rimma launching the Global Wave at the Peace and Planet rally in New York

Ms. Simrat Swani, another student interning at the Basel Peace Office, spoke about Global Zero, a non-partisan group of high-level former officials supported by a network of university chapters. Global Zero’s vision is for a nuclear free world by 2030. The emphasis was laid on student-led campaigns such as ‘Tour the Bomb’ and ‘Valentines Day: Break Up With Nukes’ organized as a part of Global Zero India.

The presentation was facilitated by two videos. Zero nukes by 2030 narrated by Michael Douglas and Global Zero video: The World must stand together with President Obama and Hollywood stars calling for nuclear abolition.

Many of the students attending the presentation and workshops expressed interest in joining global youth actions on nuclear abolition including those planned for the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on September 26.

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