Aware of it or not; like it or not; want it or not; we are all Peace and Violence Leaders, and Peace and Violence Educators.  Which and how effective is shown by our actions.  Our personal goal is continuous improvement.

In addition to our personal development, we have a community development goal:

• To significantly reduce the incidents of violence in our community, and
• To significantly increase the peace and well being at home, in our community and beyond.

 We believe in the critical importance of creating a safe space or spaces in our communities to learn and talk about peace.  Here is how you can consider proceeding:

1. Familiarize yourself with our web site at http://www.peacecafe.ca
2. Specifically review http://www.peacecafe.ca/protocols and make a commitment to adhere to the Manifesto 2000 for the right to use the trademark Peace Café term
3. Do an environmental scan:
   - Identify community issues
   - Inventory proponents (organizations and individuals) of peace, in all its various forms
   - Analyze your community strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT Analysis) related to peace and violence
   - Talk to people about this (i.e. an informal survey)
4. Develop a preliminary vision for your Community Centre (eg. to be generalists; specialize in some particular area of interest; set goals; suggest offerings; rough budget; etc.)
5. Join our Global Peace Café Yahoo Group.  A Yahoo Group has been created to use as our communication tool at http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/peacecafe.  Anyone is invited to join if they wish to participate.  Members can send emails to the whole group of using   peacecafe@yahoogroups.com .  This will provide a relatively new roster of people who have been working on Peace Cafés/Community Centres available for consulation.
6. Join our Canadian Peace Education Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CPIdiscussion, consisting of over 200 peace educators.  This will provide a roster of peace educators available for consultation.  
7. Set up your own Community Centre/Peace Café Yahoo Group (our “office without walls”) for communication, information dissemination, networking, dialogue.  You can start a new Group from http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/peacecafe/.
8. Extend an initial invitation to those interested in an Information Session and discussion.
9. Extend an invitation to join the local Steering Committee to best potential candidates.
10. Hold a Strategic Planning Workshop:
    - Refine Vision and goals
    - Develop Operating Plan (modus operandi)
    - Draft timelines, budget
    - Assign responsibilities
    - Initiate fundraising
    - Develop financial reporting
    - Develop “Focus Reporting”
11. Hold a Technical Workshop on “Macropeace: The Big Peace Picture” (we can help)
12. Develop a local web site for your “virtual community centre”, to start documenting your information.  You are welcome to use a part of our web site at www.peacecafe.ca/”yourcommunity”
13. Gather existing books, videos and information resources in your community
14. See our recommended library for peace cafés at http://www.peace.ca/peacecafeinventory.htm and start gathering more
15. Start holding Peace Café evenings/gatherings in existing locales.  You can use suggestions from http://www.conversationcafe.net for example.
16. Find permanent space (renting or donated would be more affordable, at least initially)
17. Start offering speakers and workshops.  Suggested subjects:
    - Things readily available in the community
    - Things readily available in the region
    - Social intelligence and relationship building (ref. http://www.peace.ca/socialintelligence.htm )
    - Improving communications (ref. http://www.peace.ca/difficultconversations.pdf , http://www.peace.ca/crucialconversations.pdf , http://www.peace.ca/crucial_confrontations.htm )
    - Conflict transformation
    - Emotional intelligence (ref. http://www.danielgoleman.info/blog )
    - Spiritual intelligence
    - Family relationship building
    - Organizational relationship building and servant leadership (eg. for work, schools, etc.)
    - Open Space Conferencing on community issues and relationship building (ref. http://www.peace.ca/openspace.htm)
    - Training for trainers/transition teams
18. Outreach/extension (newspapers, radio, TV, visits to schools and others, etc.
     

Resource people:

Bob Stewart, Director of Canadian Centres for Teaching Peace, stewartr at peace.ca (403) 461-2469

Rob Porter, Director of Hamilton Centre for Teaching Peace/Peace Café (905) 523-0111 or email  info at peacecafe.ca.