TRANSCEND International

About us

Our Mission Statement

TRANSCEND has as its mission: To bring about a more peaceful world by using action, education/training, dissemination and research to transform conflicts nonviolently, with empathy and creativity, for acceptable and sustainable outcomes.

• By peace we mean the capacity to transform conflicts with empathy, without violence, and creatively - a never-ending process;
• By transforming conflicts we mean enabling the parties to go ahead in a self-reliant, acceptable and sustainable manner;
• By without violence we mean that this process should avoid any cultural violence that justifies direct or structural violence;
• By with empathy we mean the ability also to understand the conflict the way the parties understand the conflict themselves;
• By creatively we mean channelling conflict energy toward new realities, accommodating the parties and meeting basic human needs.

THEORY

• Violence: Insulting basic needs by actor intent or structure operating
• Basic Human Needs: Survival-Wellness-Freedom-Options-Identity-Meaning
• Peace:
  • Negative: No violent relations
  • Positive: Equity-Empathy relations
• Development: Reducing inequality – Lifting the bottom up
• Environment: Increasing diversity – Increasing symbiosis

PRACTICE

• Peace: Solving underlying conflicts – Conciling underlying traumas
• Development: Building cooperatives – Guaranteed Basic Income
• Environment: Less depletion-pollution – More diversity-symbiosis

This Theory/Practice presupposes insight in Deep Culture  Deep Structure  Deep Nature

TRANSCEND INTERNATIONAL was founded August 1993 by Johan Galtung and Fumiko Nishimura as a conflict mediation organization. Dietrich Fischer, the former director of TRANSCEND University Press, joined soon after and in June 1995 Dietrich Fischer and Johan Galtung invited 11 others. By now TRANSCEND has more than 400 scholars-practitioners from more than 60 countries as members.

For more details, please read "A brief history of TRANSCEND" by Dietrich Fischer.

TRANSCEND International is a timely experiment in promoting peace by peaceful means throughout the world. Traditionally, institutes have been centered around a building where the people who work together meet on a regular basis. Since many people who share common interests in helping transform conflicts nonviolently and creatively are geographically scattered and cannot usually be physically together, our solution was to create an electronic network of members, which, in addition, to diminishing our carbon-footprints and contribute to attenuate the global warming crisis has allowed TRANSCEND INTERNATIONAL to connect autonomous individuals and academic and research centers from all over the world with a focus on peace by peaceful means, development by developmental means and environment by eco-consistent means.

More concretely, TRANSCEND practices mediation and peace-building around the world, with Manuals, a Code of Conduct, and Perspectives with diagnosis, prognosis and therapy for conflicts (see: 50 Years-100 Peace & Conflict Perspectives, TRANSCEND University Press, 2008).

Our mission-statement defines four pillars on which our ongoing work builds in order to bring about a more peaceful world. These are 1:action, 2:education/training, 3:dissemination and 4:research.

• TRANSCEND Peace University-TPU (www.transcend.org/tpu), for government and non-government practitioners and students at any level, with 12-week bi-semester on-line courses, and intensive TPU on-site training programs in several locations around the world (see announcements at the TPU website);

• TRANSCEND University Press-TUP (www.transcend.org/tup), which publishes high quality books and textbooks about peace by peaceful means, development by developmental means, and environment by environmental means;

• TRANSCEND Research Institute-TRI (www.transcend.org/tri), which publishes research papers and booklets for free downloading;

• TRANSCEND Peace Service-TPS, which offers mediation, conciliation and peace-building services by TRANSCEND members, and is open to anybody around the world with conflict and peace concerns and experiences; and

• TRANSCEND Media Service-TMS (www.transcend.org/tms), a Peace Journalism resource for journalists/media, professionals, students and the Internet public at large.

It is on this basis, that our members strive to handle conflicts with constructive empathy, concrete non-violent means and creativity for mutually beneficial outcomes. [see our code of conduct for more details] Notwithstanding the fact that for each of these four pillars, TRANSCEND has a designated body, the cornerstone of our daily work is the incessant interaction between these bodies.

A GENERAL PHILOSOPHY UNDERLIES OUR 13 PROGRAMS:

1. Peaceful Conflict Transformation
2. Peace-Building
3. Nonviolence
4. Reconciliation
5. Peace Education
6. Peace Journalism
7. Peace Business
8. Peace Systems
9. Peace and Gender
10. Peace and the Arts
11. Peaceful Foreign Policies
12. Peace Departments/Ministries
13. UN People's Assembly

Board of TRANSCEND International – Executive Committee (alphabetical order all):

Inner Circle:

Antonio C. S. Rosa, Editor TRANSCEND Media Service
Erika Degortes, Manager TRANSCEND Peace University (and for Southern Europe)
Johan Galtung, Manager TRANSCEND University Press, Rector TRANSCEND Peace University
Malvin Gattinger, Manager TRANSCEND digital, Webmaster
Naakow Grant-Hayford, Manager G-I Galtung Institut system (in German)

Outer Circle:

Fernando Montiel T. for Judicial Mediation (and for Latin America)
Kyoko Okumoto for Reconciliation (and for East Asia)
Marilyn Langlois and Diane Perlman, for Mediation (and for North America, West and East)
SP Udayakumar for Nonviolent Action (and for South Asia)
Synove Faldalen for Sabona (and for Northern Europe)

Arab World:
Abbas Aroua – Mediation Human Rights Peace Studies

Argentina:
Sara Horowitz – University Mediation Courses

Bulgaria:
Stephan E. Nikolov – Eastern Europe in Transition

Cambodia:
Emma Leslie – Timor-Leste, Myanmar, Sri Lanka

Cameroon:
Célestin Tagou, Protestant University of Central Africa – Translations of Galtung & SABONA to French. Johan member, scientific committee PUCA doctorate school

New Zealand:
Joanna Santa-Barbara – Sustainable Settlements

PR of China:
Jason G. Tower – World & Regional Harmony Transition

DRC-Democratic Republic of Congo:
Rais Neza Boneza – Peace by African’s Peaceful Means + PEP 2: People Empowerment Process/Peace Empowerment Process (leadership initiatives)

El Salvador:
Adrian Bergmann – Chair, MA program in Violence Prevention and Peace Culture Universidad Don Bosco. Cátedra de Cultura de Paz, Instituto Centroamericano para la Paz

Georgia:
Irakli Kakabadze – Caucasus Equity Autonomy

Germany:
Joachim Engel – Intercultures

Ghana:
Naakow Grant-Hayford – Permaculture Africa

India:
S. P. Udayakumar – End to nuclear power/energy/weapons

Italy:
Erika Degortes – Peace & Politics Workshops

Japan:
Kyoko Okumoto – Reconciliation NE Asia
Olivier Urbain – Arts, particularly music

R of Korea:
Jae-Bong Lee – Korean Unification, University Courses

Mexico:
Fernando Montiel T – Judicial mediation, TPU Spanish, Latin America

Nepal:
Bishnu Pathak – Nepal process, Federalism

Norway:
Synöve Faldalen – SABONA=TRANSCEND in Daily Life
Hardanger Academy Peace Dev Env Jondal

Philippines:
Cesar H. Villanueva – Class & Nation Conflict ASEAN

Russia-CIS:
Olga Vorkunova – CIS particularly Caucasus General Theory

United States:
Diane Perlman – East Coast
Marilyn Langlois – West Coast, Haiti

TRANSCEND Media Service

We invite you to subscribe:

TRANSCEND Media Service - TMS is an online editorial updated weekly. It fulfills the three functions of Action, Education/Training, Dissemination and is a medium for our members to practice peace journalism and deliver solution oriented news and analyses in written or video format. TMS is both a service to other media and a medium in its own right. You are most welcome to use all the material presented - no copyright, no fees - but attribution would be appreciated. Watch Prof. Galtung explain TMS.

For weekly updates and analysis on international news including Prof. Galtung's weekly editorial please click the link below:

TRANSCEND Peace University

Apply and enroll here:

The TRANSCEND Online Peace University or TPU offers two 12-week on-line courses every year. These courses are addressed to anyone interested in peace and development, whether beginner or seasoned practitioner, including NGO members, diplomats, politicians, government officials, international civil servants, students, teachers, journalists, social workers, entrepreneurs, lawyers, officers, psychologists, artists.

Yes: Our courses are adequate for students with varying degrees of experience. Get in touch with tpu-admin@transcend.org for specific considerations pertaining to your profile. In order to find out more details about application formalities, about the online course in general or the different subjects and paradigmes that make up the course, please click on the link below:

TRANSCEND University Press

Peruse and order our Books here:

TRANSCEND University Press or TUP publishes high quality books and textbooks about peace by peaceful means, development by developmental means, and environment by environmental means. The first set of books are the 15 books written by Prof. Galtung partly in co-authorship with reputed academics such as: Prof. Paul D. Scott from the University of Sydney, Prof. Graeme McQueen from the Mc Master University of Ontario and Prof. Fred Dubee from the Beijing Genomics Institute. All these books systematically outline the scope and investigate the depth of peace studies through the trademark transdisciplinary epistemological approach that TRANSCEND University Press advocates.

The books available can all be ordered directly from our current list of publications, please click on the link below:

TRANSCEND Research Institute

The TRANSCEND Research Institute or TRI pursues four objectives and delivers four services:

Objectives

1. To produce and disseminate high quality solution-oriented reseach on peace, development and environment.
2. To generate, document and disseminate new knowledge, theory and insights relevant to peace, development and environmental work.
3. To link theory, action and reflection to contribute  to the further development of the field.
4. To promote peace research among practitioners, and provide grounding in the theoretical, conceptual and empirical foundations of research methods.

Services:

1. Do Thesis/dissertation supervision.
2. Undertake research projects for NGOs, INGOs, civil society organizations, public sector, religious organizations.
3. Store and share refreed papers/essays collected under individual researchers, topics etc.
4. Facilitate key search.

Contact tri@transcend.org with concrete inquiries or visit:

First things first: It is important to note, that one becomes an official member of TRANSCEND International only by invitation through the board of convenors. This being said, there are many ways of joining TRANSCEND International's efforts.

Now: Why Join our efforts?

Because you know that peace is not everything, but everything around us amounts to naught without it. So what is peace?

Because you share with us the need to know in intimate and systematic detail which are the means available to our species to improve our societies and living conditions in such a way that they allow for more equitable and mutually beneficial interaction in the domestic as well as in the international arena. But how?
Because you have an inkling or have done your homework and already know for a fact, that the current dominant cultural, political, military, economic and academic paradigmes are ecologically inconsistent, highly inadequate for nonviolent conflict resolution and interculturally incompetent due — among other things — to inbuilt singularisms. So what can "I" do about it?

Because you have the energy and the desire to use your brain to serve the dissemination of structure literacy, conflict literacy and nonviolent conflict resolution.

Contribute to TRANSCEND International

Dear Supporter-Subscriber-Reader-Viewer-Student-Analyst-Friend, thank you for supporting our efforts with previous donations. We remain most grateful for all the donations that have come our way with no strings attached. Please rest assured, that we are committed to employing your donations in the most conscientious way we can. Again: Thank you.

TRANSCEND International was founded in 1993 and has launched a peace service with mediation-conciliation and resolution services in more than 100 conflicts up to this day; has developped a research institute, an online university, a university-press in two, soon four languages; as well as a weekly media service. All of this was achieved without any outside funding, earning our way through workshops and publications.

Especially because outside funding from State or Capital may come with strings attached to often intransparent vested interests, we highly value donations from likeminded international citizens. Allow us to appeal to your trust as we continue to put all contribution to good use for our wide range of activities that can be summed up as: solutions-oriented peace-work.

If you would like to support us with a donation, there are two ways:

• Donate to TRANSCEND Media Service. See transcend.org/tms/donate for more information.

• Donate to the Galtung-Institut. See galtung-institut.de/donate for more information.

Beyond monetary donations, we welcome many forms of contribution to our work.

In particular you may wish to:

• Spread the word about this website and TRANSCEND International's work.
• Write a solution-oriented article and submit it to TRANSCEND Media Service.
• Support us by buying a book from TRANSCEND University Press.
• Apply for an Internship: peaceservice@transcend.org
• Invite us for workshops at your job, university or school to teach Solution Oriented Conflict Analysis.

Yours sincerely,
TRANSCEND International

TRANSCEND Peace Channel

The TRANSCEND Peace Channel or TPC, is a recent dimension of TRANSCEND International's effort towards serving the public at large with analytical views informed by peace-, conflict- and structure-literacy. Currently planned are regular comments by our regional experts on World issues, the situation Afghanistan-Iraq-East Asia; Southeast Asia; Latin America; the Arab World, as well as Africa. This is an important step towards strengthening the dissemination of solution-oriented journalism.

Contact tpc@transcend.org to share a story idea or submit specific topics you want our experts to elaborate on.

Support Peace Literacy

Support our work concretely, creatively and constructively: Join the Transcend Peace Service

Join the Transcend Peace Service and support our work. You can contribute intellectually, financially, symbolically, journalistically, artistically, collectively, or individually. which ever way you choose: We encourage you to do it systematically and passionately. Either by writing constructive solution oriented articles and proposing them to our media service TMS, by acquiring our books and learning to think about what peace is and disseminating your insights, or by taking TPU-courses on our digital campus. We offer various avenues to learn more about peace. Prof. Galtung is unequivocally recognized as the principal mind that fostered the creation of the academic discipline of Peace Studies in 1957.

Join our educational effort

By enrolling in our online university you can learn from the best in the field about the foundations, conditions, mechanisms and potentials of concrete, creative, and constructive conflict transformation and positive peace. Join one or several of our various courses we offer through our online university and become more knowledgable about the structural and cultural underpinnings of our current international system and how these underpinnings influence our business choices, our understanding of economics, of legitimate violence and warfare, of democratic principles, of journalism, tourism or terrorism for that matter.

Join our dissemination effort

You are invited to join our efforts towards creating a world more knowledgeable about solution oriented conflict analysis and conflict transformation.

TRANSCEND Peace Service

TPS offers discrete assistance to anybody in the world with latent or acute conflict concerns and peace needs. We assist in generating mutually beneficial solutions for every conflict we get to work on. TPS offers free of charge service in conflict resolution. For concrete questions, please contact us with an email elaborating your concerns. We will serve you as best we can.

Contact TPS:tps@transcend.org

Beyond that, TRANSCEND Peace Service (TPS) invokes all members and visitors to share their constructive, creative and concrete experiences in peace-building, mediation and conciliation at their convenience.

Contact Us

TRANSCEND International
info@transcend.org

Antonio Carlos da Silva Rosa, M.A.
antonio@transcend.org
Assistant to Prof. Johan Galtung
Editor, TRANSCEND Media Service www.transcend.org/tms
Porto/Portugal: +351 226 001 219 (office), +351 914 945 965 (mobile)

TRANSCEND University Press
transcend.org/tup
Shipping and Customer Care
Linda-Marie Lorenz
lorenz@transcend.org
Grenzach-Whylen/Germany: Tel +49 762 491 291 37

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Current Programmes

POSITIVE PEACE.
Increasing fulfillment through cooperation, harmony and fusion, peace building, development, structural peace, cultural peace and spirituality.
Key contact: Johan Galtung galtung@transcend.org

SABONA (Zulu for "I see You")
is TRANSCEND in daily life--schools, couples and family, at work--to help people understand what happens in conflicts, how conflicts can be solved and better relations be built. From experimental schools in Norway the program is now expanding.
Key contact: Synove Faldalen synove.faldalen@lyse.net

GENERALS FOR PEACE.
During the Cold War Generals and Admirals for Peace voiced military arguments against the type of warfare contemplated. The same is needed today.
Key contact: Emma Leslie emma@online.com.kh

CONFLICT SENSITIVE DEVELOPMENT.
Based on deep knowledge of Sri Lanka, the Institute for Integrative Conflict Transformation and Peace-building (IICP) in Vienna was asked to design a conflict sensitive development program--beyond reconstruction--in one Sinhalese, one Tamil and one Muslim village, as well as a joint peace resource center, after the 2004 tsunami.
Key contact: Gudrun Kramer kramer@iicp.at

THE ARAB WORLD.
22 countries and more than 300 million, with numerous key conflicts within and without call for the use of

• Action: conflict transformation for Iraq, Somalia, and others
• Research: a Conflict Atlas for the Arab world, human rights
• Dissemination: peace journalism, also translated into Arabic
• Education: TRANSCEND Peace University, courses in Arabic

Key contact: Abbas Aroua abbas@aroua.com

MIDDLE EAST.
The Israeli/Palestinian conflict has so far defied interventions. TRANSFORM (The Interdisciplinary Centre for Conflict Analysis, Political Development and World Society Research) is currently building a network of Facilitators for Peace in the Middle East and is developing a methodology for Social Transformation in Conflict. It is also disseminating TRANSCEND's approach of pursuing peace by peaceful means.
Key contacts: Ahmed Badawi and Ofer Zalzberg info@transform-centre.org

AFRICA.
More than 50 countries and 500 nations call for creative use of peace resources in deep cultures and structures, giving nations prominence in federations and opening up in communities, with focus on the baraza and other peace resources.
Key contact: Rais Boneza rais.boneza@gmail.com

(NORTH-)EAST ASIA.
The problem facing a (North-)East Asian region with China and Taiwan, the two Koreas and Japan--cooperating with Russia Far East--is Japan, often referred to as the US 51st state. On the other hand, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization includes Central and South Asia. Creative reconciliation and new approaches are needed.
Key contact: Kyoko Okumoto okumoto@wilmina.ac.jp

THE INVISIBLE CONTINENT.
The state system and inter-governmental organizations, playing their often lethal games, are highly visible; less so the millions of human generally living peaceful lives, facing deep conflicts, performing miracles of conflict transformation and peace building. Stories pass from generation to generation and groups to groups through griots, to be made more visible.
Key contacts: Naakow Grant-Hayford and Karoline Weber peaceservice@transcend.org

FROM STATE FOREIGN POLICIES TO GLOBAL DOMESTIC POLITICS. The state system is yielding to regionalization and globalization. State foreign policies can no longer be based on (dominant) nation interests only but have to be aligned with regional and nature-human-global interests. The program calls for joint efforts in many states, like Ministries for Peace, solutions for inter-regional conflicts, and global visions for Weltinnenpolitik.
Key contacts: Johan Galtung galtung@transcend.org and George Kent kent@hawaii.edu

TRANSCEND Art and Peace Network

We believe that the creative spirit within all human beings can transcend the forces of contradiction and conflict and that people can achieve peaceful conflict transformation and peacebuilding at the personal, local, and global levels. Music and the arts can play a major role in inspiring people towards the enhancement of more peace and justice in our societies.

The goal of this website is to encourage virtual and actual collaboration between people of all cultures, civilizations and backgrounds, concerning research into the power of the arts for peacebuilding.

Members

More information about individual TRANSCEND members is not public at this moment.

Still, we provide this chart which shows where our members are from: