Address

Wielandgasse 7 Graz Austria

City

Graz

Mission and Objectives

The Graz Bureau for Peace and Development, also known as the “Graz Peace Centre”, is a communally sponsored service for the promotion of peace-oriented thinking. It is a one-of-a-kind undertaking in German speaking countries, probably in all of Europe as well. The city municipality, backed by all of its political parties, has committed itself to continual and systematic engagement in the areas of peace, development, tolerance, reconciliation and human right protection. In doing so, Graz has made education and project work in these areas a matter of its own political and municipal concern. Since 1988 the city of Graz has supported the Peace Centre through financial means and personnel. At the same time, however, the centre is given complete freedom in terms of its programming, organisation and administration. Areas of Work: 1. Educational and informational work: Based on current issues or general topics such as identity, violent group dynamics, violence and media etc., the centre’s systematic educational and information work is especially geared towards educator training programs, universities as well as work in classrooms. 2. Networking: The Peace Centre is also a “switchboard” of sorts for the activities of the many organisations working in the area of peace and development policy. Through representation in the centre’s advisory board, over 40 such organisations are using our network for the coordination and improved efficiency of their work. 3. Active Programmes for communal peace: The Peace Centre has carried out several projects on various peace issues (peace talks on the Balkans, interreligious dialogues, non-alignment policy, anti-racism …), but has concentrated on concrete communal peace work in the last years.