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The 7th ASEAN event series "Bridges - Dialogues Towards a Culture of Peace" to take place in the Lao PDR, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand from November 2018 to March 2019 follows the successful "Bridges" series which have been held in Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia since 2003. The ASEAN "Bridges" programs have been initiated and facilitated by the Vienna-based International Peace Foundation under the joint patronage of 20 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. They stand in the tradition of the Peace Summits which have been held in Europe since 1993.
Not taking sides but creating an independent platform for dialogue and humanitarian support the Peace Summits in Europe have gathered personages from international politics, economy, science, culture, religion and the media as well as youth and a wide range of participants to jointly develop concrete action plans and recommendations for governments, the European Commission and the United Nations on issues such as education, unemployment, intercultural dialogue, information society and globalization and to contribute to public debate on various areas of conflict in European societies.
Nobel Laureates including Dr. Oscar Arias, Prof. Leon Cooper, Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, The XIV. Dalai Lama, Dr. Henry Kissinger, Frederik Willem De Klerk, Prof. Joseph Murray, Prof. John Nash, Prof. John Charles Polanyi, Wole Soyinka, Betty Williams and Jody Williams have been among the participants of the Peace Summits which have been widely supported by 200 partners and sponsors including the European Commission, the Austrian Government and National Bank, the Municipal Authorities of Vienna, the Federation of Austrian Industries, various radio and television stations as well as companies such as Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, BMG, Bang & Olufsen, Hugo Boss, BMW, Coca Cola, Finnair, Shell, Swiss Airlines and Xerox
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Artists and celebrities including Woody Allen, the Beastie Boys, Franz Beckenbauer, Christo & Jeanne-Claude, Phil Collins, Sarah Ferguson, Milos Forman, Peter Gabriel, Sir Elton John, Sophia Loren, Vanessa-Mae, Sir Paul McCartney, Jessye Norman, Pink Floyd, Roman Polanski, Robert Rauschenberg, Queen and Tom Waits have joined in to support the International Peace Foundation's humanitarian efforts including reconstruction and reconciliation programs between conflicting Serbian, Montenegrin and Albanian groups after the war in Kosovo, the construction of schools in the rural parts of Thailand and of hospitals for people with AIDS in the slums of Bangkok as well as providing education for street children and relief for the victims of the Andaman Tsunami tragedy.
As an independent contribution to "The Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence" initiated and promoted by the United Nations' General Assembly in the year 2000 Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia were chosen as the first ASEAN host countries for "Bridges - Dialogues Towards a Culture of Peace". In Thailand former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun has become the chief mentor and Thai Honorary Chairman of "Bridges" together with former Prime Minister and Supreme Commander Privy Councilor General Surayud Chulanont who serves as Thai Chairman of "Bridges". In the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia respectively, the posts of "Bridges" Honorary Chairmen are held by Washington SyCip, Founding Chairman of the SGV Group and of the Asian Institute of Management, HRH Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, the Sultan of Perak, HM Preah Bat Samdech Peah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia, HE Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister of Vietnam, the Honorable S R Nathan, Sixth President of the Republic of Singapore, and HE Dr. Muhammad Jusuf Kalla, Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, and the posts of "Bridges" Chairmen are held by Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Chairman and CEO of Ayala Corporation, Tun Musa Hitam, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and Chairman of Sime Darby Berhad, HE Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia, and HE Heng Swee Keat, Minister for Education of the Republic of Singapore. Many other leaders and decision makers in all parts of society in Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore and have joined to support the "Bridges" programs aimed at
- facilitating and strengthening dialogue and communication of ASEAN people and organizations with people and organizations in other parts of the world, especially supporting the education systems of ASEAN countries including ministries, universities and schools with an ongoing communication and a sustainable cooperation with Nobel Laureates for Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Economics, Literature and Peace
- achieving a better cooperation for the promotion of peace, freedom and security
- ddeveloping ethical action plans and multidisciplinary programs for creative conflict prevention, mediation and resolution from a politically and religiously independent point of view
- raising funds and donating all proceeds of the events to local peace, education and development programs of already existing organizations and institutions (all keynote speakers and artists have waived their request for an honorarium and fee for the benefit of the events; working with volunteers who served in an honorary capacity further secured proceeds)
Through lectures, workshops, seminars and artistic events, which have been in general open and free of charge for the public, the "Bridges" series have been established as an international, intercultural and interdisciplinary platform for creative cultures of learning and continued education for all people. The program has combined
- theory and experience through a dialogue between science, politics and the economy
- intellect and emotion, thinking, feeling and intuition through a dialogue between science and the arts
- knowledge and wisdom through a dialogue between science and spirituality
- inner and outer results through a dialogue between education and the media to help raise the awareness of a wider public for building a culture of peace
Since 2003 the success of the "Bridges" programs in Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia has been made possible through the participation of 48 Nobel Laureates as well as 21 other keynote speakers and artists including Vladimir, Dimitri and Vovka Ashkenazy, President Jose Manuel Barroso, Dr. Hans Blix, Jackie Chan, Prof. Ngo Bao Chau, Gareth Evans, Prof. Marcia Haydee and Ismael Ivo, the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., HSH Prince Alfred of Liechtenstein, Vanessa-Mae, DJ Marusha, Jessye Norman, President Prof. Romano Prodi, the late Dame Anita Roddick, Dr. Karan Singh, Oliver Stone, Jakob von Uexkuell and Dr. James D. Wolfensohn.
In Thailand Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra and Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn graced the events which in total reached an ASEAN wide audience of 200,000 participants including different target groups thanks to a variety of 162 local and international partner institutions ranging from major universities and ministries to the Royal Thai Army, NGOs, businesses, media, the diplomatic corps and UNESCO, which hosted the "Bridges" events in cooperation with the International Peace Foundation. Audiences graciously granted by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, His Majesty The Yang di-Pertuan Agong and King of Malaysia and HM Preah Bat Samdech Peah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia, meetings with the Prime Ministers of Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam, the President of the Philippines and various ministers complemented the events which gained a huge media attention.
Nobel Laureates who have visited the ASEAN region for their first time now return on a regular basis to cooperate with ministries, universities and schools, and students from the ASEAN region get invited by Nobel Laureates to work in their labs abroad. This is how "Bridges" has helped to continuously enhance the education system in ASEAN which, in the long-term, provides the basis for peace.
As peace cannot be achieved instantly, but is a process which needs time, "Bridges" has not been organized as a single conference, but as an ongoing series of events in which Nobel Laureates, world-known artists and international decision makers have built strong bridges with leaders in all parts of society and with the general public. To help build further bridges for the promotion of a culture of peace among a diversified ASEAN region the non-political and non-religious International Peace Foundation has been invited to facilitate more platforms for dialogue through another series of events with Nobel Laureates from all fields starting in the Lao PDR, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand in November 2018.
The topics of the ongoing events deal with the overall theme of "building a culture of peace and development in a globalized world" and with a wide range of issues in the fields of politics, economy, science, culture and the media. They especially highlight the challenges of both globalization and regionalism and its impact on development and international cooperation.
The aim of "Bridges" is to facilitate and strengthen dialogue and communication between societies in Southeast Asia with their multiple cultures and faiths as well as with peoples in other parts of the world to promote understanding and trust. The events aim at building bridges through Nobel Laureates with local universities and other institutions in Southeast Asia to establish long-term relationships which result in common research programs and other forms of collaboration. By enhancing science, technology and education as a basis for peace and development the events may lead to a better cooperation for the advancement of peace, freedom and security in the region with the active involvement of the young generation, ASEAN's key to the future.
I do hope that you will join us in the upcoming "Bridges" events by sharing your own ideas and visions for a more peaceful tomorrow so that we may listen to and learn from each other and discover that there is not only one way to achieve peace, but that there are many ways and certainly ways we have never thought of to go. Only if many ways cross and people walking these ways meet, can international understanding be achieved and problems commonly solved.
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