About |
The International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy is a voluntary educational charity which is unique among research centres around the world in that it combines training and practical work in conflict resolution with studying the entire range of global philosophical and spiritual traditions, together with the proactive search for global responsibility and justice in our time.
Founded in 1990, arising out of a feasibility study investigating the possibility of creating a Peace Studies Institute in the University of London and subsequent years of active educational research, networking and consultancy, the Institute works co-operatively alongside many other institutions and professional networks worldwide and organises meetings, seminars and lecture programmes, while regular seminars have been held in the House of Lords, UK focusing on ‘Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding’, ‘Ethics, Politics and Economics’, and ‘Social Development and Global Justice’.
The Institute also runs the pioneering Multifaith and Multicultural Education and Mediation Service serving in situations of conflict or violence involving a religious or cultural dimension - the MMMS is run as both a consultancy and voluntary effort and is available for situations needing outside intervention to resolve, and tackles disputes ranging from the small to the very large; Commonwealth Interfaith Network, which links together educators, peace activists, environmentalists, human rights and social development specialists from Commonwealth member countries helping to transform the Commonwealth into a vibrant community of nations bearing witness to a wider world order based on peace; and the Global Green University, which is an international network of educators and activists committed to building a peaceful, just, ecologically sane, cooperative and sustainable global society which accepts students for higher degree research on topics of importance to global well being.
The Institute supports the work of the major interfaith organisations worldwide and IIPSGP Director has served in an official capacity for several of the following : World Conference on Religion and Peace; World Congress of Faiths; United Religions Initiative; Initiative for a UN Decade of Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, Understanding and Cooperation for Peace; World Parliament of Religions.
As part of the overall peace education outreach work of IIPSGP and its members, IIPSGP engages in intensive interfaith theological work for peacemaking and healing. Several of our ongoing research and education projects involve this work including the Multifaith and Multicultural Mediation Service, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Middle East.The Multifaith and Multicultural Mediation Service was launched at the time (1996), when its founder, Dr Thomas C. Daffern, was serving in the capacity of Secretary General of the World Conference on Religion and Peace (UK and Ireland) and Director of the Gandhi Foundation School of Nonviolence.
The Periodic Table of the World’s Religious and Philosophical Traditions is a work completed by the Institute in 2010, arising out of many years of pedagogic experience in teaching religions on a global comparative basis. The www.thewisdompages.co.uk website is designed to encourage vital understanding across the fault lines of different ideological beliefs and opinions, encompassing both religious and scientific approaches to knowledge and includes an interactive version of the Periodic Table of the World’s Religious and Philosophical Tradition and presents a scientific way of mapping the diversity of the world’s intellectual and spiritual traditions.