Mission
A credible Project already implemented and on action
The creation of a European Network of Places of Peace is an old idea of LACE(League of Friends of the Castle of Évora Monte) and it started to be built since December 2007 with the accomplishment of the 1st. Conference on Peace held in the Torre do Paço(Tower) in Évora Monte`s Castle on the 22nd of that month and it was attended, among others, by Professor Diogo Freitas do Amaral and by a delegation of the Association of Friends of the Castle of Hubertusburg, in Saxony (Germany), where the peace treaty that ended with the "War of the Seven Years" between Prussia and Austria was signed on the 15th February 1763.
From this conference on, there were given the following steps:
• Starting and implementing contacts with other sites and other European cities with similar characteristics to those of Évora Monte (Convention signed on the 26th May 1834) and Hubertusburg.
• LACE’s proposal to the Municipality of Estremoz for submission of an application to the program INTERREG IV-C in order to obtain the material conditions for the development and growth of the proposed network, whose proposal was adopted immediately.
• Presentation on the 15th January 2008,of an application to the program INTERREG IV-C (1st Phase), called "Places of Peace" and that was due to the short time for its formalization, which included only 3 partners from 3 Countries: Portugal (partner-leader), Germany and Greece.
• Keeping on with contacts to obtain support and membership to the Network. At this stage there were made contacts with 14 more sites or locations of Peace or related with it: Limerick (Ireland), Uusikaupunk i(Finland),Rastatt (Germany), Bremen (Germany), Wageningen (The Netherlands), Gdansk (Poland), Polzen (Poland), Sofia (Bulgaria), Aubagne (France), Campoformido (Italy), Zadar (Croatia), Tartu (Estonia), Copenhagen (Denmark), Sistova (Bulgaria) and Stralsund (Germany). In these new contacts the German partners of Hubertusburg have already taken place.
• In August 2008 the President of the Board of LACE meets in Uusikaupunki (Finland) with the President of the Association "Uusikaupunki - City of Peace" (in Uusikaupunki was signed on 30 August 1721 the treaty that ended the Great War of North between Sweden and Russia).
• In the same month there was also a meeting with Mr. Daniel Fontaine, President of the Commune of Aubagne (France) who is both President of the French Association of Communes, Departments and Regions for Peace and it was concluded that the objectives of the two organizations will allow a fruitful and profitable future.
• On the 19th and 20th September 2008, a delegation formed by the Deputy Mayor of Estremoz and the President of LACE attended the 2nd. Conference for Peace, held in the German city of Wermsdorf, at the invitation of the German partners of Hubertusburg. This Conference was integrated into the planned activities of the European Network of Places of Peace project.
• In November 2008, due to the non-approval of the application in the 1st Phase of the INTERREG IV-C,the decision was to submit a new application to the 2nd Phase of the program, scheduled for January 2009, and invitations were sent to all sites and organizations that have already been contacted before.
• On the 30th January 2009 we applied to the 2nd Phase of the INTERREG IV-C, with 7 partners:
- The Municipality of Estremoz (Portugal) – (leader-partner)
- The Commission for Coordination and Development of the Alentejo`s Region (Portugal)
- Ayuntamiento de Badajoz (Spain)
- Association of Friends of the Castle of Hubertusburg (Germany)
- 127 Ivan Denkoglu School of Sofia (Bulgaria)
- Georama NGO, Patras (Greece)
- International Tourism Research Center for Peace in Leeuwarden(Netherlands)
• Several other local organizations either showed an interest in participating and could not do it for financial reasons, logistics or inopportunity,or they expressed support to the Project and their interest in being members or collaborating with the European Network of Places of Peace , as there were the cases of Limerick, Uusikaupunki, Bremen, Wageningen, Zadar and Copenhagen.
• In early March 2009, the Municipality of Estremoz in partnership with the LACE, decided to hold the 1st International Meeting of the European Network of Places of Peace on the 22nd and 23rd May in Évora Monte simultaneously with the Commemoration of the 175 Years of the Signature of the Convention of Évora Monte.
Invitations were sent to 19 sites and many other organizations in Europe.
• This 1st International Meeting was attended by all partners of the Application to the 2nd Phase, except by the Bulgarian partners due to the coincidence with the celebration of the National Day of Bulgaria. There was also present a non-partner: the National Committee for Celebrations of German Capitulation of Wageningen (Netherlands) where annually on the 4th and 5th May more than 100,000 people gather together to celebrate Peace.
• The meeting, which had a great coverage by the media including national means of communication as the RTP (Public TV channel), adopted the Declaration of Évora Monte establishing the European Network of Places of Peace.
The document defined the general principles and structure of the network and chosed the Network Installation Committee consisting of the representatives of every organization that were present and later on it will also include a representative that will join this committee - the Bulgarian partner.
• The Installation Committee is now, all partners together, developing the main tasks for the implementation of the Network (registration of the brand and of the logo, website, internal communication, contact with potential members, Secretariat, etc.). And receive proposals for the location of the next 3 meetings already scheduled for September / October 2009, April / May 2010 and on the 19th to 21st September 2010, which will be held in Wermsdorf (Germany).
For the other two dates there are already 3 suggestions: Netherlands (Leeuwarden or Wageningen), Bulgaria (Sofia) and Croatia (Zadar), made in the last two days after the meeting, and by organizations that could not even attended this meeting.
• Several organizations and individuals that could not be present sent greetings and statements of support for the Network, as there were the cases of the city of Poznan (Poland), the Museum of History of the City of Gdansk (Poland), the city of Zadar (Croatia) , the Minister of Agriculture of the Government of Saxony, Mr. Frank Kupfer and Professor Diogo Freitas do Amaral.
• The delegations present in Évora Monte participated in the Commemoration of the 175 Years of the Concession of Évora Monte Signature with the presence of Minister of Culture of Portugal, José Pinto Ribeiro and he publicly expressed his support to the establishment and development of the European Network of Places of Peace.
Évora Monte, the 8th June 2009
DECLARATION OF ÉVORA MONTE
The creation of a European Network of Places of Peace is an old idea of LACE(League of Friends of the Castle of Évora Monte) and it started to be built since December 2007 with the accomplishment of the 1st. Conference on Peace held in the Torre do Paço(Tower) in Évora Monte`s Castle on the 22nd of that month and it was attended, among others, by Professor Diogo Freitas do Amaral and by a delegation of the Association of Friends of the Castle of Hubertusburg, in Saxony (Germany), where the peace treaty that ended with the "War of the Seven Years" between Prussia and Austria was signed on the 15th February 1763.
From this conference on, there were given the following steps:
• Starting and implementing contacts with other sites and other European cities with similar characteristics to those of Évora Monte (Convention signed on the 26th May 1834) and Hubertusburg.
• LACE’s proposal to the Municipality of Estremoz for submission of an application to the program INTERREG IV-C in order to obtain the material conditions for the development and growth of the proposed network, whose proposal was adopted immediately.
• Presentation on the 15th January 2008,of an application to the program INTERREG IV-C (1st Phase), called "Places of Peace" and that was due to the short time for its formalization, which included only 3 partners from 3 Countries: Portugal (partner-leader), Germany and Greece.
• Keeping on with contacts to obtain support and membership to the Network. At this stage there were made contacts with 14 more sites or locations of Peace or related with it: Limerick (Ireland), Uusikaupunk i(Finland),Rastatt (Germany), Bremen (Germany), Wageningen (The Netherlands), Gdansk (Poland), Polzen (Poland), Sofia (Bulgaria), Aubagne (France), Campoformido (Italy), Zadar (Croatia), Tartu (Estonia), Copenhagen (Denmark), Sistova (Bulgaria) and Stralsund (Germany). In these new contacts the German partners of Hubertusburg have already taken place.
• In August 2008 the President of the Board of LACE meets in Uusikaupunki (Finland) with the President of the Association "Uusikaupunki - City of Peace" (in Uusikaupunki was signed on 30 August 1721 the treaty that ended the Great War of North between Sweden and Russia).
• In the same month there was also a meeting with Mr. Daniel Fontaine, President of the Commune of Aubagne (France) who is both President of the French Association of Communes, Departments and Regions for Peace and it was concluded that the objectives of the two organizations will allow a fruitful and profitable future.
• On the 19th and 20th September 2008, a delegation formed by the Deputy Mayor of Estremoz and the President of LACE attended the 2nd. Conference for Peace, held in the German city of Wermsdorf, at the invitation of the German partners of Hubertusburg. This Conference was integrated into the planned activities of the European Network of Places of Peace project.
• In November 2008, due to the non-approval of the application in the 1st Phase of the INTERREG IV-C,the decision was to submit a new application to the 2nd Phase of the program, scheduled for January 2009, and invitations were sent to all sites and organizations that have already been contacted before.
• On the 30th January 2009 we applied to the 2nd Phase of the INTERREG IV-C, with 7 partners:
- The Municipality of Estremoz (Portugal) – (leader-partner)
- The Commission for Coordination and Development of the Alentejo`s Region (Portugal)
- Ayuntamiento de Badajoz (Spain)
- Association of Friends of the Castle of Hubertusburg (Germany)
- 127 Ivan Denkoglu School of Sofia (Bulgaria)
- Georama NGO, Patras (Greece)
- International Tourism Research Center for Peace in Leeuwarden(Netherlands)
• Several other local organizations either showed an interest in participating and could not do it for financial reasons, logistics or inopportunity,or they expressed support to the Project and their interest in being members or collaborating with the European Network of Places of Peace , as there were the cases of Limerick, Uusikaupunki, Bremen, Wageningen, Zadar and Copenhagen.
• In early March 2009, the Municipality of Estremoz in partnership with the LACE, decided to hold the 1st International Meeting of the European Network of Places of Peace on the 22nd and 23rd May in Évora Monte simultaneously with the Commemoration of the 175 Years of the Signature of the Convention of Évora Monte.
Invitations were sent to 19 sites and many other organizations in Europe.
• This 1st International Meeting was attended by all partners of the Application to the 2nd Phase, except by the Bulgarian partners due to the coincidence with the celebration of the National Day of Bulgaria. There was also present a non-partner: the National Committee for Celebrations of German Capitulation of Wageningen (Netherlands) where annually on the 4th and 5th May more than 100,000 people gather together to celebrate Peace.
• The meeting, which had a great coverage by the media including national means of communication as the RTP (Public TV channel), adopted the Declaration of Évora Monte establishing the European Network of Places of Peace.
The document defined the general principles and structure of the network and chosed the Network Installation Committee consisting of the representatives of every organization that were present and later on it will also include a representative that will join this committee - the Bulgarian partner.
• The Installation Committee is now, all partners together, developing the main tasks for the implementation of the Network (registration of the brand and of the logo, website, internal communication, contact with potential members, Secretariat, etc.). And receive proposals for the location of the next 3 meetings already scheduled for September / October 2009, April / May 2010 and on the 19th to 21st September 2010, which will be held in Wermsdorf (Germany).
For the other two dates there are already 3 suggestions: Netherlands (Leeuwarden or Wageningen), Bulgaria (Sofia) and Croatia (Zadar), made in the last two days after the meeting, and by organizations that could not even attended this meeting.
• Several organizations and individuals that could not be present sent greetings and statements of support for the Network, as there were the cases of the city of Poznan (Poland), the Museum of History of the City of Gdansk (Poland), the city of Zadar (Croatia) , the Minister of Agriculture of the Government of Saxony, Mr. Frank Kupfer and Professor Diogo Freitas do Amaral.
• The delegations present in Évora Monte participated in the Commemoration of the 175 Years of the Concession of Évora Monte Signature with the presence of Minister of Culture of Portugal, José Pinto Ribeiro and he publicly expressed his support to the establishment and development of the European Network of Places of Peace.
Évora Monte, the 8th June 2009
DECLARATION OF ÉVORA MONTE
• Today, peace is an object of desire responsible for mobilizing many sectors of the world’s population, as actions and initiatives multiply in order to uphold it, whether headed by world organizations, as the UN, or performed by the civil society, throughout countless non-governmental organizations scattered across the World.
• Europe, in particular, as been a witness of several sanguinary conflicts amongst its people, some of which are still very vivid in the collective memory, and for that reason, Europe undertakes an especially important role in developing Peace keeping policies and a Culture for Peace in the World.
• The activity of non-governmental organizations and of the administration’s body of European places - where peace treaties have been signed, and where important and festive events are organized to celebrate such historical dates, in order to upkeep the collective memory – is seen as quite relevant in maintaining Peace and promoting a Culture for Peace.
• On the other hand, there is an activity deficit from governmental organizations regarding this subject, since the latter are usually more prone to celebrate wars and battles rather than celebrating dates and places that reveal Peace.
• In a time where Europe is acquiring a more active and decisive role in solving world conflicts, it is becoming rather important to unite efforts that are being made by institutional and non-governmental organizations related to Peace. This is seen as a way of exercising a positive influence on national governments and European bodies to undertake policies for Peace in Europe and in the World.
• Based on the aforementioned assumptions, the institutional and non-governmental organizations present in Évora Monte, on May 22, 2009, have decided on and undertake the following responsibilities:
- to create a Network – named European Network of Places of Peace – that assemble European cities and locations, were relevant Peace Treaties have been signed, and European organizations that have the maintenance of Peace as their top priority. With this in mind, they decided to form a Provisional Establishing Committee, whose main tasks are the public communication of this Declaration’s principles, contacting and recruiting new Network members and developing actions so that in a near future it can be established as a European independent organization.
- to promote the European Network of Places of Peace’s diffusion by the National and Regional Governments of each European country, non-governmental independent European organization and by the European population in general. A logo will begin to be used in the exchange of institutional correspondence and in other documents, in a clear reference to the condition of members of the Network.
- to promote the exchange of experiences amongst every Network member and places represented by them, as well as the mutual knowledge between their populations and countries, as a privileged way of assuring a peaceful and harmonious environment amongst all European peoples.
- to promote data exchange amongst all members of the Network, of all initiatives and events in the name of Peace performed by each of its members, as well as to promote the participation of other Network members’ delegations in such initiatives and events.
- to promote actions that aim towards the development of policies regarding a Culture for Peace throughout combined actions close to National and Regional Governments of each country and near EU’s bodies, namely the European Commission and European Parliament.
- to promote Cultural Tourism for Peace, developing actions, initiatives and incentives that aim to place Places of Peace on every Region and European Countries’ Tourist Map and Programs.
- to exult each country’s national and regional governmental authorities, so that they promote a proper celebration of dates signalling the signing of important national and European Peace Treaties. This is regarded as an efficient mean of keeping the collective memory fresh, of revealing its principles and consequences near younger crowds and of contributing to a supported development of populations living in such places, throughout a positive discrimination.
• The institutional and non-governmental organizations that will be attending in Évora Monte (Portugal) on May 22, 2009, undertake the responsibility of conferring the greatest possible visibility to the actual Declaration and to the attached document regarding "General Principles and Body of European Network of Places of Peace”, namely close to Governments, Press and populations in each country and Europe.
Évora Monte, May 22, 2009
Latest news
"PLACES OF PEACE" registered in E.U.
The Evoramonte Castle Friendship Association received a few days ago the Certificate of Registration of the mark "Places of Peace" issued by the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) which is valid until the year 2019 in all 27 countries of European Union.
Read more