The International University of Peoples’ Institutions for Peace (IUPIP) was established in 1993 in Rovereto, Italy, by the Fondazione Opera Campana dei Caduti (Peace Bell Foundation).

It provides a place for reflection, dialogue, exchange of experiences and training on human rights and the rights of peoples, co-operation for sustainable development, peace education, conflict transformation, people’s diplomacy and non-violence. The world of social movements and civil society organisations operating for human promotion and peace is the immediate target of this initiative.

The initiative is supported by the Trentino Forum for Peace, the City of Rovereto, the University of Trento and the Autonomous Province of Trento, which contributes financially in conformity with its bylaw n. 11 of June 10th 1991, for the promotion and propagation of the culture of peace.

The primary goals of IUPIP are:

• to promote a global culture of peace in the spirit of UNESCO;

• to contribute to the development of a world order based on the implementation of fundamental human rights;

• to spread the idea of non-violence;

• to train and to enhance the abilities and skills for people’s diplomacy and the peaceful conduct of conflicts.

The city of Rovereto hosts, on Miravalle Hill, the big Bell of Peace, Maria Dolens, conceived by Don Rossaro and made from the bronze obtained by fusing cannons used by all the armies which fought in the First World War. The Fondazione Opera Campana dei Caduti was founded in 1968 with the decree of January 18th from the President of the Republic, Giuseppe Saragat. The current regent of the foundation is Mr. Alberto Robol. The main objective of the Foundation is to promote peace, non-violence and human rights. In 1993 it took the initiative to create the IUPIP project. Other projects in which the Foundation is involved include the Observatory on the Balkans, collaboration with ISODARCO (an international school on disarmament) and, in collaboration with the schools, the annual national children’s meeting.

Since 1993 IUPIP has organized a three-week international course in English on the issues of peace building, conflict transformation, non-violence and related topics. The course takes place in a trans-national context of positive interaction between faculty and participants and of intensive exchange of experiences among people from different cultures, societies and social backgrounds. This atmosphere strongly encourages bridges of human solidarity to be built across the most embittered political divides between countries, groups, or ethnic identities.

Over the years more than 300 people from about 100 countries have participated in the course. Several knowledgeable experts and activists drawn from many countries all over the world have lectured and facilitated; amongst them Philip Alston (New York University, New York, USA), Elise Boulding (Dartmouth College, Hanover, USA), Alejandro Bendaña, (Centro de Estudios Internacionales, Managua, Nicaragua), Michel Chossudovsky (University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada), Richard Falk (Princeton University, Princeton, USA), Johan Galtung (Transcend: Peace and Development Network, Versonnex, France), Susan George (Observatoire sur la Mondialisation, Paris, France), Jørgen Johansen (Centre for Peace Studies, University of Tromsø, Norway), Georges Kutukdjian (U.N.E.S.C.O., Paris, France), Laurence McKeown (Coiste na n-Iarchimì, Belfast, North of Ireland), David Morrison (University of Leeds, Leeds, UK), Jan Øberg (Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, Lund, Sweden), Pat Patfoort (Fireflower Centre for Non-violent Conflict Management, Belgium), Francois Rigaux (Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain, Belgium), Chaiwat Satha-Anand (Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand), Simona Sharoni, (Evergreen State College, Olympia, USA), Shastri Ramachandaran (”The Times of India”, New Delhi, India) and Annuradha Vittachi (One World International Foundation, London, UK).

Amongst the issues highlighted over the years are: the wars in former Yugoslavia; the social conflicts in Brazil; the role of women’s movements in the quest for peace; the role of media as an obstacle to and a resource for the peaceful settlement of conflict; the human, economic and legal aspects of migration; globalisation, structural violence and alternative approaches to economics; social and economic rights issues; the social and moral reconstruction of post-war societies and reconciliation; the globalisation of violence and the identification of non-violent alternatives.

In May 2004 IUPIP organised, for the first time in its history, a two-week international course in Spanish on Peace, Conflict and Non-violence in the Context of Globalisation. This course is mainly designed for Latin-American activists involved in social movements and civil society organisations operating in Latin-America.

Over the years IUPIP has further developed other activities, amongst them a biennial course on human rights and conflict transformation for Israeli and Palestinian peace- and human rights activists (begun in 1998), an annual course for Italian civil service trainers for conscientious objectors (begun in 1994), and various courses on conflict transformation, intercultural education, global economy, and co-operation for development, for local teachers, labour union groups and grassroots activists (started in January 1997).

IUPIP publishes in collaboration with the Edizioni Gruppo Abele Editing House, Turin, the Alternatives series, a series of small books (so far only in Italian), containing material and research prepared for and by IUPIP on the themes of peace, human rights, non-violence and conflict transformation. Amongst the authors are Philip Alston, Alejandro Bendaña, Elise Bouldinbg, Michele Chossudovsky, Richard Falk, Chaiwat Satha-Anand and Charles Villa-Vicencio.

IUPIP also publishes the IUPIP Newsletter, a bulletin of information and discussion which is addressed primarily to the IUPIP alumni.

There is a gradually expanding library in the areas of peace, non-violence, human rights, people’s diplomacy, feminist movements, refugees, people’s media, globalisation, alternative approaches to economics, and peace research. These books are available at the Rovereto Municipal Library.