A Proposal to Establish the World Peace Institute
Submitted by:
Children of the Earth
Nina Meyerhof, Ed.D.
President and Founder
July 2007
21st Century technology shows us that genetically we, humanity, are 99.9% the same, and so how do we use this remaining .01% to make the difference we need in the world
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
I. Introduction to the COE World Peace Institute
II. Start-Up Programs
• Youth Ethical Living Leadership Programs
• Educators and Youth for Social Change Program
• Gathering of Global Leadership.
.
III. Timelines for Activities
IV. Staff and Facilities
V. Budget
Appendices
* Appendix 1: History of Children of the Earth
* Appendix 2: CV, Nina L. Meyerhof, Ed.D.
Contact:
Dr. Nina Meyerhof
Children of the Earth
26 Baycrest Drive
South Burlington, Vermont 05403
802-862-1936
Coevt@aol.com
http//:www.children-of-the-earth.org
©2007 Nina Lynn Meyerhof
Executive Summary
Children of the Earth is a not-for-profit, 501 © (3) [United States legal non-profit designation], officially recognized United Nations NGO organization, dedicated to the building of a better future for all generations. To this end, COE offers Youth leadership programs globally, educational workshops, conferences, as well as presentations at national and international forum. COE promotes building networks and coalitions of groups with common purposes to further the concept of creating greater global cooperation, multicultural understanding, spiritual values and ethical living. COE’s goal is for Youth to hear the call, one by one, and individually become socially responsible and active peace builders.
The 21st century holds the greatest possibilities for an integrated peaceful and prosperous global community. Connected by telecommunications and a growing spirituality, humankind has a chance to actualize an evolutionary state of being. At the same time, the future has never before been more challenged by worldwide terrorism, poverty, rapid climate change, inadequate education and health care and geopolitical unrest. The kind of world that the next generation will experience will depend upon the collective vision and intention of world leaders. As long as the global culture is grounded in fear, greed and scarcity, we will continue to use our human and financial resources for war and destruction. As we shift towards love, compassion and education, we will deploy resources for the common good, lifting up all people to a life of hope and security.
Today, science and spirituality are coming to the same conclusion that all people are intrinsically similar; the human genome project has proven that we are genetically 99.9 % alike with only 1 tenth of one percent that makes us different. Until we realize that I am you and you are me, only then will right action and thought be supported by the universal laws of nature. Until we can concentrate on what makes us the same instead of what makes us different, only then can we deal with the challenges ahead. It is imperative that we spend our time and resources on young people, supporting leadership and educational experiences that promote respectful communities, common ethics, sustainable practices, peace, and economic opportunities.
Children of the Earth is an organization whose purpose is to create a network of young leaders committed to the promotion of peace and opportunity. Under the visionary leadership of Dr. Nina Meyerhof, COE has been bringing youth together for over 25 years, providing community and networking opportunities to young leaders who are committed to positive global change. By developing a culture of co-operation, collaboration, mediation, relationship-building and understanding of our common humanity, these young people go back to their local communities and influence others through sharing their vision of how we can be together.
For the purposes of this proposal, WPI defines Youth as young people from ages fifteen – thirty (15-30)
Children of the Earth intends to establish the World Peace Institute. The mission of the COE World Peace Institute is to support Humanity in creating a future that embodies the universal values of peace, tolerance, dignity, freedom, equality, and solidarity for all life. The WPI will offer structured learning opportunities to young people that inspire, motivate and unite them to translate these universal values into global action and culturally appropriate projects in their own communities.
In support of this mission, the WPI will establish and house eight programs:
- Ethical Living Leadership Program
- Educators and Youth for Social Change
- Global Leadership Gathering
- Virtual Telecommunications Center,
- Publishing Spiritual Peacemaker Guidebooks
- Internship Programs
- The World Spirit Youth Council Program
- Local Initiatives, Data and Research Center
Ethical Living Leadership Program: The purpose of the Ethical Living Leadership Program is to provide an intensive leadership training experience for young people to further their commitment to a better and more just world. They will focus on the universals of life such as common ethics, sustainable practices and multi-cultural and religious appreciation. Upon completion, program participants will take with them seeds of projects to further world unity.
Educators and Youth for Social Change: The Educator and Youth for Social Change Program will provide a one-week leadership intensive for educators who are paired with young people to establish a shared learning-living inter-generational experience designed to focus on spiritual and scientific understanding of our world.
Global Leadership Gathering: The Global Leadership Gathering will invite visionaries who represent organizations and networks to design collective actions in support of each other and future generations.
The Virtual Telecommunication Center: The Virtual Telecommunications Center will support the World Peace Institute utilizing the most modern technologies to enable global conversations and activities.
Publishing Spiritual Peacemaker Guidebooks: Spiritual Peacemaker Guidebooks will develop a set of training manuals to be used for youth training in other locations around the world
Internships: Internship placements will offer course credit for work performed within the offices and programs of the COE World Peace Institute and other related areas.
The World Spirit Youth Council: The WSYC provides Youth with an organizing form for linking the Youth spiritual movement. WSYC will be housed as a project within the COE World Peace Institute.
Local Initiatives Data and Resource Center: The purpose of the Institute is to compile data, keep records, generate reports, and assist the establishment of local chapters of Children of the Earth world-wide.
The intention of the COE World Peace Institute is to reach as many young people as possible through direct program contact and through programs that Institute participants -- young people and adults alike -- will support in their home communities. Participation in COE World Peace Institute programs are not an end in itself. It is a means to achieve continual outreach to other Youth and to provide them with opportunities to practice leadership. For example, in the First Year of the Institute, fifty youth will participate in the Ethical Leadership Program. In Year Two of the Institute, the number of Youth will increase to two hundred. In Year Three, the number will increase to four hundred.
I. Introduction
Children of the Earth is dedicated to creating opportunities for Youth that enable them to become informed and active world citizens. Inspired young people of our world need to find a place wherein they are able to fully realize and express their visions of a future based on spiritual principles for conscious collaboration. Youth who are informed, skilled, practical decision-makers will then become the effective leaders of tomorrow.
The establishment of the COE World Peace Institute offers young people and educators the opportunity to build alternatives to fragmented learning through partnerships on all levels. Partnerships between adults, teachers and Youth are themselves indicators of a new understanding for how to survive as we recognize the inter-relationships among generations.
COE World Peace Institute seeks to facilitate a leadership process that will result in a viable, self-sustaining Institute. The Institute will embody the vision, talents, and goals of a humane global movement. Promoting new leadership is at the heart of building a peaceful and equitable culture for the 21st century.
Viable means operating responsive programs as those listed above, and others as the need for them arises. Self-sustaining means the Institute’s financing is stable and revenues are based on a broad range of support including foundation and corporate funding, individual and in-kind donations and tuitions.
II. Programs
The COE World Peace Institute will initially fulfill its mission through eight inter-related programs. They are briefly described here in order to demonstrate the eventual scope of the proposed Institute and the inter-relationships among its parts. We understand the scope of the proposed Institute is ambitious and will require coordinated work on many levels in order to come to fruition. However, much work has already been done in the last twenty-five years to prepare the way for the establishment and implementation of an Institute with global outreach. The programs can manifest quickly with appropriate support, building a strong foundation for the WPI on which long-term organizational stability can be grounded.
COE World Peace Institute seeks support and funding for all the programs listed above. The following focuses on three start-up programs.
- start-up of the Ethical Living Leadership Program
- start-up of the Educators and Youth for Social Change.
- the Gathering of Global Leaders
A. Youth Ethical Leadership Program
Leadership Skills:
Young people will be offered opportunities and skill-building techniques in oration, lobbying, press conferencing, development of projects, self-esteem development, community building, conflict resolution, personal empowerment processes, and the evolution of ethics for acceptance of cultural diversity and global harmony. These activities underlie the design of the three-week program.
Telecommunication Skills:
In order to continue to develop leadership skills beyond the Institute, participants will learn to gather and share information through various telecommunication technologies.
Financial Skills:
In recognition of the relevance of finance within the world community, the program will examine the structure of economies and socially responsible use of money. Individual financial responsibility and self-sustainability will be a focus.
Ethics:
An examination of moral development and ethics will help young people to make their own clear decisions pertaining to all social and political issues.
Service:
A focus on service to self, community and universal values underlies all our Institute learning experiences. Each participant will initiate or continue a project that embodies the values of new leadership in his or her home community.
B. Educators and Youth for Social Change
Educators and Youth for Social Change. The Educators and Youth for Social Change Program will provide a one-week leadership intensive for educators who are paired with young people to establish a shared learning-living inter-generational experience designed to focus on spiritual and scientific understanding of our world.
C. Gathering of Global Leaders
There are legions of adults who have worked for many years on similar concepts or aspects planned for the World Peace Institute. It is essential for them to gather together and collectively plan the Programs. The WPI is an all-inclusive organization. It invites all groups committed to creating a better, more equitable, just world to participate, thereby expanding the voices and actions of Youth.
WPI will initiate the process of convening international representatives of interested spiritual elders, Youth development organizations and interested individuals in order to establish the Charter of the COE World Peace Institute and the infrastructure of subcommittees that will further its work.
Thirty to fifty people representing a broad range of international Youth and global organizations will convene for three days. During these three days, representatives of these organizations and other interested people, now called members of the COE World Peace Institute, will work in small and large group formats to outline the Charter of the Institute and to describe it in as much detail as three days of work permits. In small and large groups, members will also establish the structure of subcommittees through which important work will be accomplished. This is planned for the First Year of WPI operation.
