Carter School partners with Rotary to scale up peacebuilding

Colleen Rich — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 17:19:07 +0000

Carter School partners with Rotary to scale up peacebuilding Colleen Rich Tue, 03/05/2024 - 12:19

The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School at ��AV, the top-ranked national public institution for peace and conflict resolution, has partnered with Rotary International, one of the largest global membership service organizations, to provide education and develop modalities to assist Rotary clubs in promoting local, regional, and global peace.

Dean Alpaslan Özerdem with Gordon McInally, president of Rotary International. Photo provided

For nearly a year, Carter School faculty have met with Rotary to identify areas in which their missions overlap and where each organization may benefit from the expertise of the other.

Through this partnership, the Carter School and Rotary will incubate new peacebuilding ideas and accelerate existing ideas to make them more effective. The Carter School will also assist in developing replicable modalities of peacebuilding—peacebuilding action “templates” that can be duplicated and applied to address the needs of different conflicts.

Rotary connects 1.4 million people of action from more than 46,000 Rotary clubs in almost every country in the world. Their service improves lives both locally and internationally.

“This critical partnership will open many opportunities for both organizations as they can build on each other’s strengths and expertise in peacebuilding,” said Alpaslan Özerdem, dean of the Carter School. “We have taken our time in forming this partnership as we wanted to ensure that it is a bottom-up process and incorporated a vast body of viewpoints in shaping how it would be transformational with its impact on peace. We are ready to scale up our efforts to build more peaceful societies worldwide. Knowing that we will take this transformational journey with an organization like Rotary fills me with confidence, excitement, and hope.”

Photo provided

Additionally, the Carter School will tap into its Better Evidence Project (BEP) expertise, which hosts an online depository of peacebuilding research and applied successes. Under this partnership, Rotary’s peacebuilding efforts will be integrated into the BEP database, making their organization’s work accessible to other peacebuilders. Plans include an online forum, tying Rotary into a global community of researchers and practitioners where peacebuilders can strategize and discuss their work.

Taking advantage of its expert faculty, the Carter School will provide educational strategies to equip Rotary members and their leaders to be more effective peacebuilding practitioners. In addition to seminars, the Carter School will host several “Peace Salons,” intimate gatherings to raise awareness and build networks with Rotary members in peacebuilding practice. In Fall 2024, Rotary and the Carter School will host the first Peacebuilding Praxis Conference, illustrating the nexus of theory and practice.

“Creating peaceful, welcoming, and inclusive societies is at the heart of what Rotary is about,” said Rotary International President Gordon McInally. “We’ve made peacebuilding the cornerstone of our global mission with everything we do, from fighting disease to supporting education, building toward the optimal conditions for more peaceful and resilient societies. But we can’t do this alone. Through our partnership with the Carter School, we will help empower, educate, and increase the capacity of our members and participants to become even more effective catalysts for peace.”

Charles Davidson, a Carter School professor specializing in local peacebuilding and partnerships between international and local constituents, will facilitate connections between Rotary members and faculty with expertise in a geo region or peacebuilding specialty. “With the global reach of Rotary and the world-renown expertise of the Carter School, I believe this collaboration will innovate peacebuilding efforts at both the local and global levels with specific but far-reaching impact and education,” Davidson said.

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Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

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Celebrating the legacy and impact of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter

Colleen Rich — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 12:23:25 +0000

Celebrating the legacy and impact of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Colleen Rich Thu, 10/26/2023 - 08:23

Carter School Professor Marc Gopin (far right) led a discussion with religious leaders Rabbi Gerald Serotta, Katherine Marshall, Reverend Rodney S. Sadler, and Reverend Julie Pennington-Russell on the topic of humanitarian service and religion at the Carter Legacy Symposium. Photo by Max Taylor Photography

The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution hosted a two-day symposium, “A Celebration of Legacy and Impact: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Peacemakers and Leaders for Change,” at Mason Square in Arlington on Oct. 16-17. The symposium commemorated the Carters’ contributions to making the world more peaceful.

“Peace is the greatest good, requiring courage, resilience, and an undying belief in humanity's ability to rise above its differences,” Carter School dean Alpaslan Özerdem said in his conference opening remarks. “President and Mrs. Carter urge us to ‘think for peace,’ ‘act for peace,’ and ‘be peace.’”

Attendees participated in and heard thought-provoking presentations on Jimmy Carter’s political career and the Carters’ humanitarian work. Speakers included Ajay Vinzé, dean of the School of Business; Mark J. Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government; Melissa J. Perry, dean of the College of Public Health; former governor Terry McAuliffe; Barbara Smith, VP of peace programs at the Carter Center; Daniel Kurtzer, former ambassador to Egypt and Israel; Donald S. Beyer, Jr., U.S. Representative for Virginia’s 8th District; Gerald E. Connolly, U.S. Representative for Virginia’s 11th District; Timothy Kaine, U.S. Senator from Virginia; Meghan Stewart, Deputy U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen and Team Lead of the U.S. State Department’s Negotiations Support Unit; and several religious and nonprofit leaders from the Washington, D.C., region.

Highlights included:

A behind-the-scenes photo presentation of the Camp David Peace Accords by Bill Fitz-Patrick, former White House photographer;
A discussion of the history of global and mental health and the impact of the Carters’ work in addressing, de-stigmatizing, and making treatment available for mental health;
A panel of local religious leaders—including Reverend Julie Pennington-Russell, senior pastor at the First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C., where Jimmy Carter worshipped and taught Sunday School during his presidency—speaking on the topic of humanitarian service and religion; and
A discussion of the events and politics that impacted Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaigns and the parallels to today.

Read Dean Özerdem’s opening remarks