#Temple80 – A month celebrating Wales’ Peacemakers and movements

Through November 2018, the Welsh Centre for International Affairs organised an ambitious programme of events to mark the 80th Anniversary of the opening of Wales’ Temple of Peace on Nov 23rd 1938, as well as #WW100 – the centenary of the Armistice of 11th Nov 1918, and beginning of the post-WW1 “Peace Process” that shaped global relations over the century since.

WCIA delivered over 43 events with a wide range of partners, each exploring an area of Wales’ ‘Peace Heritage’, and the work of Temple organisations past, present and future – as well as showcasing through the Wales for Peace Exhibition the work of volunteers and communities who have contributed to the Wales for Peace programme between 2014-18. This blog aims to draw together links and resources from all these activities, as they become available.

Voices of 1938 – Clippings Projection 

Voices of Temple80 – Film

Temple80 November Programme of Events (scroll down for recordings / outputs)

View full programme of events – English; Welsh; Eventbrite

View Temple80 Exhibition Guide – English; Welsh

Listen to ‘Assemble’, composed for Temple80 / WW100 by Iffy Iwobi and Jon Berry

Temple80 Anniversary Evening

Centrepiece of Temple80 was the Gala evening on 23rd November, attended by about 230 people and including:

– Self-Guided Tours of the Temple of Peace, and Temple80 / Wales for Peace exhibition.

– ‘A New Mecca’ Performance in partnership with Dr. Emma West, Uni of Birmingham and British Academy; Being Human Festival; Gentle Radical Arts Collective; and 50 volunteers and participants from diverse community groups. View ‘A New Mecca for today’ Being Human Festival blog by Dr Emma West.

– Communal Rededication of the Hall of Nations (back to its original 1938 title, as discovered from the archives)

– Food, Drink and Fireworks

– Launch of ‘Voices of Temple80’ Documentary Film by Tracy Pallant / Amy Peckham / Valley & Vale Community Arts

– WCIA VIPs Reception and alumni reunion, with Cutting of a ‘Rainbow Cake’

Peace Garden 30th Anniversary

On Saturday 24th, this was followed by a #PeaceGarden30 Rededication and Family Fun Day, in which WCIA brought together UNA Exchange international volunteers and alumni and Garden of Peace Founder Robert Davies, with children from Roath Park Primary School

Together they unveiled 2 new colourful mosaics (created by international volunteers) on a new archway entrance in the Peace Garden; buried a Time Capsule in the Garden, to be opened in 50 years time; and unveiled a plaque on one of WCIA’s meeting rooms in honour of Robert Davies, and all international youth volunteers inspired by him from 1973 to today.

#Temple80 ‘Wales for Peace’ Exhibition

The Exhibition accompanying Temple80 sought to draw together the story of the Temple, with Wales’ peace heritage of the last 100 years – including hidden histories gathered by community groups and volunteers 2014-18 – along with responses from young people, schools and artists.

View Temple80 Exhibition Guide – English; Welsh

Artists in Residence showcased a range of responses for visitors to delve deeper into the Temple’s stories:

•    Jon Berry, Temple80 Artist in Residence composed a series of musical installations responding to the Temple spaces & heritage; and also collaborated with musician Iffy Iwobi to produce and perform ‘Assemble’, a 8 minute musical tribute for the BME Remembrance Service.
•    Ness Owen, collection of 5 poems responding  to heritage materials in exhibition;
•    Will Salter, ‘Guiding Hand’ alternative tour of the Temple encouraging deeper spatial appreciation;
•    Hazel Elstone, crafted multicoloured wreath of red, white, black and purple Remembrance poppies
•    Lee Karen Stow, with her ‘Women War & Peace’ photography display;
•    Tracy Pallant & Amy Peckham, with their community films including Temple80 Rap by BME artist Jon Chase.

Recordings / Outputs from Temple80 Events

Event	Photo(s)	Video(s)	Audio(s)
Exhibition – throughout November	Flickr Album; Building the Exhibition	Self-Guided Tour with Craig Owen
Exhibition Launch and ‘Temple of Memories’ Round Table	Flickr Album	FACEBOOK LIVE BROADCAST – ‘Temple of Memories’
BAME Remembrance Service, 2nd Nov	Flickr Album		ASSEMBLE – by Iffy Iwobi & Jon Berry
International Development, 5th Nov
Schools Conference, 6TH Nov	Flickr Album
War, Peace & the Environment, 6th Nov	Article
Temple Tours		Exhibition Walkthrough
Turning the Pages – every day through Nov	Soldiers Stories	FACEBOOK LIVE BROADCAST – Turning of the Pages	Thoughts from the Crypt
Story of the Book of Remembrance, 9th Nov	Flickr Album	FACEBOOK LIVE BROADCAST – Story of the Book 1 and 2	Story of the Book of Remembrance
Armistice Day Services, 11th Nov	Flickr Album
Campaigning for Change, 13th Nov		FACEBOOK LIVE BROADCAST – CAMPAIGNING FOR CHANGE	Campaigning for Change
Refugees & Sanctuary, 16th Nov		FACEBOOK LIVE BROADCAST – REFUGEES & SANCTUARY
Peace Education, 20th Nov		FACEBOOK LIVE BROADCAST – PEACE EDUCATION
Legacy of WW100, 21st Nov	Flickr Album		Legacy of WW100 Audio
Women War & Peace, 22nd Nov		FACEBOOK LIVE – LEE STOW WOMEN WAR & PEACE FACEBOOK LIVE – WELSH WOMEN & PEACE FACEBOOK LIVE – 1980S ANTI NUCLEAR CAMPAIGNERS	Women War & Peace x 6
Peace Garden Rededication & Family Fun Day, 24th Nov	Flickr Album	Peace Garden Rededication + Robert Davies

Media Coverage

A New Mecca for Today? Being Human Festival Blog by Dr. Emma West, British Academy

‘We Will Remember Them’ – BBC Documentary by Huw Edwards (Temple of Peace features in about 5 minutes of content, with Dr Emma West and Dr Alison Fell)

How Wales’ most Tragic Mother spread Peace and Hope – Western Mail / Wales Online

Cardiff’s Temple of Peace opens its doors to celebrate 80th birthday – University of Birmingham article

War Mothers as Peace Builders – University of Birmingham

Remembrance Weekend at Temple of Peace – The Cardiffian

Temple of Peace turns 80 – The Cardiffian

Social Media Archives

Twitter Feed & Media: https://twitter.com/walesforpeace?lang=en

Youtube Videos Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0G2l7QV_yPDU4RHB8hEEPg?view_as=subscriber

Soundcloud Event Recordings: https://soundcloud.com/walesforpeace

Flickr Photo Albums: https://www.flickr.com/photos/129767871@N03/albums

People’s Collection Wales archive collections: https://www.peoplescollection.wales/user/8498/author/8498/content_type/collection/sort/date

Facebook Community Page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/walesforpeace/posts

 

 

Welsh Youth Parliament

By: Niamh Mannion

Young people are often framed as disengaged from the political landscape. Today’s youth are painted as disillusioned from the political debates that will shape their future. However, 2018 looks set to challenge this stereotype with the founding of the Welsh Youth Parliament.

From 1999 to the present day

In 1999, following the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales, dedicated youth engagement services were founded. Since the millennium, youth engagement services have worked with thousands of Welsh children and young people. Youth services engaged young people in a range of topics. These ranged from political debates de-mystifying the inner workings of The Welsh Assembly.

In 2014, the National Assembly for Wales signed a youth engagement charter. The charter ensures that the voices of young people in Wales are listened to and positive change is made to causes they care about. Since the charter was signed, there were increased calls to found a Welsh Youth Parliament. In fact, Wales was the only European Nation without a youth parliament.

In October 2016 Assembly Members agreed to a Welsh Youth Parliament. 5000 young people in Wales were consulted concerning the future aim, membership and overall direction of the parliament.

What happens next?

2018 marks the start of The Welsh Youth Parliament. It’s a super exciting time to be a young person in Wales!

60 young people (aged 11-18) from all over Wales will be elected to sit in the youth parliament. Members of The Welsh Youth Parliament will identify, debate and bring awareness to issues that impact young people. And you could be one of them! You can apply to stand for the Welsh Youth Parliament from the 3^rd September 2018 until the 30^th September 2018. Find information on how to stand in youth parliament here: https://www.youthparliament.wales/stand/

You can also make your voice heard by voting! If your aged 11 to 18 and live or are educated in Wales, you can vote to elect members of your youth parliament. Voter registration is open from 28^th May 2018 until 16^th November 2018.  Find more information on registering to vote here: https://www.mi-nomination.com/wypregister/form/landingpageenglish

Elections for the Welsh Youth Parliament will be held from the 5^th November 2018 until the 25^th November 2018. The exciting election results will be announced at some point over December 2018!

Empowering Young People

The founding of The Welsh Youth Parliament is a fantastic moment for young people in Wales. Not only will Welsh Youth Parliament empower the voices of young people, it will empower democracy as a whole in Wales.

Welsh Youth Parliament will ensure that the voices of young people from around Wales and from a multitude of backgrounds will be heard. This new chapter also gives Wales an incredible opportunity to listen to the young people of today, who will shape the future of Wales.

The new youth parliament will be symbolic of improving the lives of young people, in turn improving their collective futures and Wales as a whole. Here at WCIA we applaud all future participants of The Welsh Youth Parliament and the positive change it will bring to the lives of young people in Wales.

Environmental concerns at the 2018 World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting

By Ana Alexandrescu 

There is no secret to anyone that the environment is increasingly gaining centre stage in the world’s security issues. As the Global Risk Report shows, four of the top five risks with the biggest impact in the near future are environmental issues. This sounds alarming but not hard to believe given the events we witnessed over the course of last year or the predictions that environmental agencies make for the future.

The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting took place last month in Davos and environmental concerns were not absent. The agenda spanned from the protection of elephants and clean energy transition to the reinventing of waste as a resource and geospatial technology’s impact on our planet. Here are some of the most important things to be taken away from the event:

The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Global Risks Report, enforcing the idea that climate change is the biggest threat to civilization and calling to action; the feeling that previous leaders have failed and that the next three years are a time for decision makers to redeem themselves were a young climate campaigner’s message; French president Emmanuel Macron declared that coal-fired power stations in France will be shut down in the next few years and climate change will be one of his pillars for economic reform. Other participants from different groups announced the actions they would take to combat climate change, including insurance companies divesting from coal projects.

On a similar but more local note with regard to divesting, if you live in Cardiff or the surrounding area you might be aware there is a campaign aimed at making Cardiff University divest from fossil fuel companies as currently some of its endowment fund is invested in these. Many students and student led societies have been vocal in supporting this campaign and last March saw the University’s final decision on the matter. It is hoped to see a shift towards renewable energy sources and an accelerated fight against climate change and environmental degradation.

Going back to Davos and environmental friendly memorable moments, the American delegation argued that Donald Trump is an “only man in this parade” against action on climate change and that 40% of the US economy, represented by 15 member states of the US Climate Alliance, continues to be committed to the Paris agreement. Regarding the oceans, The Friends of Ocean Action partnership was launched, a global action reuniting experts and leaders working towards the protection of oceans in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goal 14 on oceans.

Overall, there is a universal feeling that we are at a critical point in addressing and solving environmental challenges and time is quite pressing. This year more than ever sees hope lying with the leaders and their decisions and further steps.