Touching base in a shifting world
Last Tuesday, June 15, marked the launch of the peace&justice café, the new networking event series for cross-sectoral connection and collaboration for a more peaceful and just world – and what a success it was.
Calling upon peacebuilders, justice innovators, researchers, humanitarians, impact entrepreneurs, policy makers, and other changemakers from The Hague and beyond, the event was joined by a diverse range of individuals cutting across a plethora of sectors, all beaming with eager enthusiasm to share, learn, connect, and network.
The afternoon kicked off with a fast-paced micro networking session, marking the first of many interlinked opportunities for the online audience to engage with each other, the community hosts and Hague-based female leaders, and to be ready to join a new platform of peers working in the fields of justice and peace. The succeeding community insights breakout sessions, wonderfully hosted by Humanity Hub community members, served as a welcomed interactive warm-up and provided space for the audience to dive deeper into unique and undeniably varied perspectives and experiences within the peace&justice ecosystem.
In line with the theme – touching base in a shifting world – and moved by its significance, Payal Arora spoke on key themes she frequently came across during the pandemic, exploring what it means to be ‘truly local’ and the tensions between the global and the local, fictional narratives created from asking the wrong questions, why we need to sideline like-mindedness, on productivity-shaming and false assumptions.
The following dialogue between three extraordinary Hague-based female leaders, Janne Nijman, Monika Sie Dhian Ho and Michelle Olmstead, provided space to present and exchange insights on the opportunities and challenges for connection and community. Picking up on some of the themes and key insights shared by Payal, the dialogue revealed valuable and inspiring points ranging from how institutions can play a role bridging the gap between daily experiences of Hague citizens and policies, citizen dialogues and human connection, AI and international law, disruptive innovations and digital transformations, to fearlessness and moving forward.
We want to thank everybody who contributed to the successful launch and are truly excited for the second edition of the peace&justice café on October 26! More networking, more insightful conversations, more active engagement and more co-creation. Save the date and stay tuned for more at this link.