Eighty-five people from 17 countries spent a week in Kiev, Ukraine, with the aim of looking at the contribution IofC can make to the continent of Europe.
In the decade after World War II, IofC (then MRA) hosted dozens of large meetings which brought together people from across Europe, including some who were the architects of a new Europe. But such meetings with a European focus have been rare since. In October, reflecting the new expanded Europe, 85 people from 17 countries spent a week in Kiev, Ukraine, with the aim of looking at the contribution IofC can make to the continent. It was hosted by young activists from Central Europe, part of IofC’s Foundations for Freedom programme which has engaged graduates across the former ‘Eastern Bloc’ for the last 13 years.
The conference was given the name Saeima (a Latvian word for a community gathering). The idea had started in the summer of 2004, when two young women met on the terrace of the Initiatives of Change conference centre in Caux, Switzerland: Maria Wolf from Germany and Laurence Le Moing from France. Wolf, a professional translator and interpreter, has since 1988 organized the hundreds of interpreters who have offered their services during the summer conferences in Caux. Le Moing has worked since 2002 with Initiatives of Change in France, with responsibility for a peace education programme there. There were preparation meetings in London, Paris, Kiev and Hannover. During the meeting in Paris, Kostyantyn Ploskyy, the founder and director of the Centre for Political Education in Kiev, offered to host the Saeima.
Presentations from each country gave a picture of the enormous diversity of the work of IofC in Europe. In some western European countries it is long established and has a solid legal and social base. In other countries, particularly in eastern Europe, there are new young teams which do not yet have an official organisational structure. There was a refreshing spirit of honesty and openness to look at the past. The meetings developed plans to improve the cooperation between national teams, and time was also spent in exploring the ideas and message of Initiatives of Change and how to interpret and express them for this time. This is ‘the start of a new cooperation in Europe’, said one participant. The Foundations for Freedom programme, which in recent years has created strong teams in eastern European countries who are determined to make a difference in their societies, made a major contribution. The Saeima was also reinforced by nine young people who have in the past year worked with Action for Life, a leadership training programme of IofC in Asia. Gaps were bridged between East and West, between old and young.
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