You can gain more Peace Power by practicing peace skills in a training or workshop. Peace power develops when working towards peace, practicing nonviolence.
To do so, we need to increase the awareness of alternatives to violence and learn nonviolent conflict resolution and nonviolent ways that can create social change. Only through peaceful means will we reach peaceful outcomes. This requires changing our way of thinking and acting and building the collective power, peace power, that we need to succeed.
I, Nina Koevoets, offer workshops and trainings to help build people’s Peace Power and move towards a nonviolent peaceful world. Several trainings were implemented with the support of a Dutch NGO, “Foundation for Active Nonviolence“, that has been active since 1966 and the European “Erasmus+” fund for youth education. (See the menu for past and future training courses.) Or if you want a quick overview of the Dutch NGO download the PDF.
Since 2015 I received funding from the Erasmus+ program for several trainings for youth workers across Europe. You can find out more on this website, or download the one page training description for youth workers.
For a more general overview, please download the flyer of Peace Power to read about the mission, vision and programs.
If you want to know more about nonviolence and my work and you can read Dutch, you can have a look at this interview with me.
Training
In eight to ten days, people get an intense introduction that gives a great start to become a Peace Builder. The ‘power’ of these trainings is that they both explore violence (the problems) and nonviolence (creative solutions). Generally each training has three elements: 1. Increasing awareness of conflict and violence, 2. practicing conflict navigation and 3. developing future plans and networking for a peaceful world.
Have a look under “Erasmus+ trainings” in the menu for more information on the previous training courses that have been held since 2015. To look at what participants from 2020 said, scroll further down.
Workshops
I offer single workshops, lasting at least 3 hours. In these workshops I tap from the longer training program. They can be customized to the needs of the group. For example, one group may want to focus on Conflict Resolution Strategies, while another group may want to start a campaign. For example, at the Global Eco-village Conference in July 2017 (photo) I focused on community-building, while also introducing a few “classic” tools like the Two Hands of Nonviolence. For NGOs working with refugees, I focus on dealing with conflict and stress. Download the one page description of Peace Power workshops.
Webinars
Check-out several webinar series that I did, such as those with Rivera Sun, an author and activist from the USA (2017), or a mini-series of four (2018), or one for the Rise Ubuntu Network (2020). Currently (April 2020) you can sign-up for an online course as well.
Study Guide
After more than 2 years of work, the Study Guide “Engaging Nonviolence: Activating Nonviolent Change in Our Lives and Our World”, by Pace e Bene Press was published in October 2019! It has three parts: 1. Exploring Nonviolent Power, 2. Nonviolence in Practice, 3. Planning and Strategy. Read more on the designated page.
How is peace possible? And how could it be achieved?
Of course one can write a whole book about this complex question. But what is not so complex is that enormous amounts of money are invested in war, while less than 1% of military spending is invested in peacebuilding (according to the Economic Forum). Moreover, when we think of peace we think of “ease and calm”, while it will need our active involvement to build peace. Skills to build a peaceful world can be gained through training and practice, so that’s why Peace Power focuses on that.
If you participate in a training you’ll learn that Peace Power can be applied on a personal, social and cultural level. You’ll get some tools to develop “peace of mind”, peaceful relations and build a culture of peace. You’ll also become more aware of the normalisation of violence: how it’s presented as ‘necessary’ and that it’s so embedded in our every-day-lives that everyone experiences different forms of violence (from physical violence, to violence inside social structures and violence in our culture -habits, stories, norms and values.) And a new world will open for you, one where you can join people that are working on increasing their emotional awareness and empathy, striving for more equity and engaging in solidarity. 
A “culture of peace” is another useful and important concept , with 8 core topics, as you can see in the image on the left. In our view, the underpinning of a peaceful culture is the recognition of inter-being on this Earth: when humans see that all is connected, they will start to relate to each other in compassionate ways, both in their daily lives, as societies and as one planet.
Please download the flyer of Peace Power to read about the mission, vision and programs.
Hopefully you’re inspired to start to believe that peace is possible. That’s the first step!
Please consider contributing to my work, by following the link or use the QR code or Paypal button.
Have a look what participants learned in trainings in 2020.
On the International day for Peace, 21st of September, 2018, I received a prize at a Peace Symposium Invest in Peace: Young and Disarming (“Investeer in Vrede: jong en ontwapenend”). It was organized by a coalition* of Dutch peace organizations called “Peace missions without weapons” that is lobbying for civilian missions, instead of military ones.
