About Us

Mission

The International Forum for Peace, Security & Prosperity (IFPSP), a federally registered “Not for Profit” corporation in Canada, was founded in 2019 with the mission to learn from our past, to educate and inform future generations of the history of peace in the world, and to bring a heightened level of reasoning to the discussion of what achieves, in this digital age, lasting peace, security and prosperity. 

The IFPSP supports and promotes positive peace, the UNs Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 13, 14, 15 relating to climate change and 16 relating to institutions of justice and the Eight Pillar of Positive Peace developed by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP).

Only through a diligent defence of the eight pillars of positive peace, can societal prosperity be achievable and sustainable. By exploring core values of individual liberty, democracy, rule of law, and universal human rights through the leans of the eight pillars of Positive Peace, organizers wish is to inspire the next generation of young leaders with a renewed understanding of the importance of the institutions that stand in their defence. 

The IFPSP and its forum, conferences and other educational activities aims to: 

  • reacquaint our youth with the global price of peace around the world in terms of humanitarian consequences and its effect on climate change, migration and human rights.
  • explore what is needed to ensure youth have access to those conditions that allow them to have hope about their future such as freedom from violence of any form, access to education and economic opportunities, health care and social protection and safe and affordable civic spaces (on and off-line) and a meaningful voice in their communities and at all levels of government;
  • provide youth with an understanding of the lessons learned from the armed conflict and peacebuilding done in the past as well as what peacebuilding is happening in the world today.

Why Is the Forum Needed

The globalization and intertwining of our economies, mass migration, war, and poverty, rising nationalism, instant revisionism, and radicalism, coupled with gale-force winds of a global pandemic and proliferating social information platforms (many with little or no regulated standards), combine to create an international complexity and interconnectedness never seen. In this context democracies are in decline.

Opinions and perceptions in this complex environment are often formed by sound bites, rather than through reasoned, evidence-based human analysis. Youth – the instant communications technology native generation – are particularly susceptible to “fast food” type of information or promotion and exposure to “misinformation”.

The effects of mass migration, resulting from conflicts and unfavorable situations, strain existing systems to respond adequately and with compassion. The response to critical humanitarian needs and economic necessity has fueled the growth of immigration in liberal western democracies for years, now.

Engaging Children, Youth And Next Generation Leaders

The IFPSP curriculum for students in Grades 4–6 introduces the concept of Positive Peace and the values that support prosperous societies, including inclusiveness, tolerance, fairness, integrity, and forgiveness. Middle school students explore the UN Sustainable Development Goals and their connection to Positive Peace, while senior students examine the Institute for Economics and Peace’s Eight Pillars of Positive Peace, along with tools for critical thinking, conflict resolution, and informational resilience.

The annual hybrid Forum brings together high school and university students, military officer cadets, academics, policymakers, public safety professionals, and community leaders to examine the conditions that sustain peaceful, secure, and prosperous societies. Discussions address challenges such as social inequities, youth and women’s marginalization, political disengagement, and climate change.

Through an international essay and video contest for Grades 10–12, students engage directly in peacebuilding and collaborate with peers worldwide, including military college cadets, to better understand the role and limitations of the profession of arms in supporting democracy and peace. Since 2021, the contest has reached over 11,000 Canadian high schools and several EU member states through partnerships with organizations including the European Union Military Secondary Schools Forum, the Global Peace Institute, and the Institute for Economics and Peace.

The Forum Structure

Hosted annually on a virtual platform, the IFPSP is accessible to students, colleges, and citizens online from around the world. On April 7th and 8th of 2022, over 2,500 participants joined the hybrid forum. The IFPSP welcomed 75 high schools from 36 countries, and 23 Military Colleges 19 of whom attended the Forum in-person in Agira, Sicily.

In 2023, the Forum will be hosted in Piazza Armerina, Sicily on online. A full day curriculum is offered to students of universities and military colleges on March 26th. Two half-day events are offered in a hybrid format on March 27th and 28th from 9:00 AM EST to 12:30 PM EST to accommodate international time zones.

The hybrid events will feature four interactive panels with simultaneous three-way interpretations in English, French, and Italian. The first three panels cover lessons from history in the first panel, current peace building initiatives and future opportunities and challenges for peace. Each panel offers 75 minutes of knowledge exchange and audience participation. Each of the three panels was comprised of a moderator, a professor or subject matter expert, and one or more students from a university of military college. A fourth panel featuring the student finalists of the essay and video contest from around the world is undertaken in 60 minutes to accommodate class schedules.

Participants attending in person are invited to participate in an initial day of conferences and are offered the opportunity to undertake a field activity comprising of a walk on the Walk for Remembrance & Peace. This walk includes a battlefield tour, a briefing on civilian rebuilding activities following the War in 1943 and a visit to a Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery. 

PRE-FORUM EVENTS AND TEACHER RESOURCES

Organizers of the IFPSP offer a series of lesson plans that prepare students to explore the contest topics and offer the options of in-person or online class facilitation. These resources are tailored to the United Nations International Day of Peace held on September 21st and integrate the topics proposed for the March Forum.

Who Supports The IFPSP

The International Forum for Peace, Security & Prosperity is proud to include as partners:

  • Institute for Economics and Peace
  • Global Peace Institute
  • The Office for Pubblica Istruzione in Sicily
  • Conference of Defence Associations Institute (Canada)
  • L’institut militaire de Québec
  • The IFPSP is proud to include the military colleges of the Canadian Defence Academy and the Italian Army General Staff and their military academies,

    Organizers are based in Montreal, Canada, and Sicily, Italy.

Our Youth Need To See Our Militaries At The Table

Our youth know that we have a military and need to understand their limited role in the making and sustaining peace.

In Canada, three hundred and fifty-seven thousand citizens deploy every day to secure our society in here Canada and in UN and NATO sanctioned missions around the world. These citizens, as in the case of police and our armed forces are know as the Profession of Arms. The Profession of Arms in Canada is composed of citizens dedicated to the defence of their communities and of Canada and its interests, as directed by the Government of Canada.

All civilians have a responsibility for the maintenance of the positive peace in which we live. There is a price to creating and sustaining a peaceful, secure, and prosperous society. Peace is not accidental; justice is not automatically assured, and security is no guarantee of justice. To the extent that our youth are more knowledgeable about the imperatives of positive peace, they may be inspired to engage more directly in the promotion and sustainment of the ideals and institutions that support it.