Developing a Path for Young Canadians to become Peace Professionals
Developing a Path for Young Canadians to become Peace Professionals
A One Day CPSC Workshop (Being Planned for Early 2011)
On a daily basis, young people ask how they can become involved in making our world (our neighbourhoods, communities, Canada and abroad) a safer one. Their desire for a career in this cause is great; and the need is great. Unfortunately, there is no clear path for youth to pursue such a goal. This is because to date, in Canada, there has been little broad collective thought given to developing such a path. Civilian Peace Service Canada (CPSC) is hosting an important one day workshop to address this important gap.
This workshop will bring together youth, non-governmental, political, business, labour, and academic leaders to consider, consolidate and begin to develop a national strategy to build a path for young Canadians aspiring to work in conflict resolution, community development, and peace building both at home and abroad.
The goal is to lay the groundwork for a proposal for a Civilian Youth Peace Service (CYPS) program. This program would train youth in the competencies of non-violent conflict management and provide career development opportunities for employment as agents in advancing community development, peace and civil security. Much as we now have a path for Canadian youth to work as armed forces cadets, so we seek to provide a path for Canadian youth to work in a Civilian Youth Peace Service.
The workshop day would be divided to focus on 3 areas:
- What is being done now, and by whom, in the area of youth engagement in conflict resolution, community development and peace building?
- What options are available to building a clear path for young Canadians to become "peace professionals"?
- Next steps forward in building a national path for youth interested in becoming "peace professionals".
Youth is defined as those between 15 to 30 years of age.
Note: Stay Tuned - Additional details will be forthcoming over the coming weeks and months as plans are fleshed out. If you would like to be part of the planning of this initiative, please contact Richard Moore at rmoore@mdrassociates.ca.