We can never obtain peace in the world if we neglect the inner world and don’t make peace with ourselves. His Holiness the Dalai Lama Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education: Educating the Heart CasE for support We must understand each other and work in harmony with one another, because it is our responsibility to develop in human beings their natural disposition for peace. His Holiness the Dalai Lama 1 the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education is a charitable organization based in Vancouver, Canada that educates the heart and fosters compassion through creative learning, facilitating and applying research, and connecting people and ideas. Committed to the Promotion of Peace More than ever, people the world over are in need of a voice that speaks to the idea of peace, beginning with peace within oneself. They want a means by which people of all ages, faiths, cultural and economic backgrounds can come together in the pursuit of one vision: global peace and understanding. A means by which people will be encouraged to pursue inner peace and harmony in all areas of their lives: their home, their family, their community, their workplace, their environment and the world, in essence transforming lives by “educating the heart.” The fulfillment of that global vision is at the core of the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education. Global reach, Local Presence Founded in 2005 as a charitable trust by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Victor Chan, the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education is a secular and non-political organization that embodies His Holiness’ lifelong commitment to compassion and inner well-being. After an overwhelmingly well-received trip by the Dalai Lama to Vancouver in 2004, Victor Chan proposed this vision of a Center to His Holiness. Recognizing Vancouver as a multi-ethnic city, a place of peace and compassion, the Dalai Lama endorsed this concept and inaugurated the Dalai Lama Center during the Vancouver Dialogues in 2006. 2 The whole of humanity is … one human family. This planet is our only home. HIs HolinEss the Dalai Lama The Center holds the prestigious honor of being one of the very few institutions to which His Holiness has lent his name. It builds upon the Dalai Lama’s unique and compelling appeal as a world figure who reaches out to all people with a message of compassion, kindness, interconnectedness and mutual understanding. It fosters and supports “education of the heart” through education, dialogue and research. Although the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education, as well as the future physical site that the Center plans to establish, is located in Vancouver, its message will be highly visible on the world stage. Using modern technology and acting as a beacon of inspiration, as well as drawing visitors from around the world, the Center will be an emblem of a peace-minded, compassionate city. top Program funding Priorities The Center is planning for a physical site in the core of Vancouver that will serve as a versatile, multi-purpose gathering place for people around the world. Although the physical facility does not yet exist, its philosophy is alive through programming and the current administrative offices. Listed below are the programs that are currently in progress and that, over the next year to 18 months, will require priority attention for financial and resource support. CEntEr for the AdvancemEnt of HEart-minD EDuCation Inspired by the Dalai Lama’s belief that education of the heart is essential for the development of a compassionate society, the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education is establishing a Center for the Advancement of Heart-Mind Education (CAHME) to advance education that addresses the full capacities of children. CAHME will provide impetus, focus and direction for a Heart-Mind movement that will help children and youth develop caring relationships, make responsible decisions, resolve conflict, and understand and manage their emotions. It will support a growing network of individuals and organizations – regionally and globally – committed to creating environments where young people develop positive human qualities such as compassion, altruism, empathy, mindful awareness and a sense Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education 3 Case for Support inspiration for the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education the Dalai Lama passionately believes in three things: 1 To contribute to world peace we must first foster personal peace. 2 We are propelled along the path of personal peace by internalizing universal human values: compassion, love, a good heart. 3 To cultivate these universal values, we need to change our notion of education so that both the heart and mind are nurtured. of purpose. In consultation and collaboration with scientists, schools, policy-makers and community agencies, CAHME will engage in activities that enlarge public understanding, share research, create tools for learning and shine a light on stories of success. It will especially foster the interconnection of research and practice. Why CAHME now? There are many forces that make this an optimal time to launch CAHME. A growing body of scientific research is revealing important information about the roots of caring. schools and community organizations are using this research to develop and deliver evidence- based programs and practices that have been proven to encourage the development of positive human qualities that lead to more success in school and life. British Columbia already has a number of distinctive educational policies and practices that place priority on social and emotional learning and social responsibility, and it is home to several eminent researchers in the field. CAHME will build on existing local and international strengths to stimulate the emergence of British Columbia as a world center for educational approaches that emphasize the heart-mind connection, with a view to extending the global influence of these practices. The activities of CAHME, and the resulting diffusion of research demonstrating the linkages between emotional and cognitive development, may lead forward to the creation of a collaborative school that will model heart-mind education throughout its curriculum. 4 Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education Case for Support 14tH DaLai Lama GLobaL SchoLars anD Fellows ProGram The Dalai Lama Center is investigating the possibility of collaborating with other parties to establish a major program of scholarships and fellowships, in order to create an international learning community of exemplary compassion-in-action practitioners. The program is intended to nurture and sustain secular ethics, compassion in action and service to humanity in the lives and work of selected undergraduate leaders and early-career human-services professionals, drawn from institutions world-wide. Derived from the successful prototype at the University of California, Irvine, the scholars Program would be established at selected partner universities in north America and throughout the world. Each spring, partnering universities will select one or more undergraduate scholars to complete a mentored compassion-in-action project during the following academic year. In parallel with the scholars, there will be a program for established early-career professionals who are employed at international non-governmental organizations engaged in working for social change. These Fellows will be drawn from the staff or colleagues of partnership organizations and provided with a year of sabbatical support to advance their work and professional development. All scholars and Fellows, with others of shared outlook and interests, will be integrated into a Global Learning Community. It will include attending an annual weeklong convergence activity at the Center in Vancouver, and ongoing affiliation and networking to ensure that selection as a scholar or Fellow evolves into a lifelong involvement. It is anticipated that, over time, the program would come to be recognized not only as an aggregation of accomplished and outstanding individuals, but also as an impetus and engine for compassionate action in the world. ConneCting for Change The Center will host a series of dialogues, hosted both locally and internationally, that bring people together across boundaries of business, philanthropy and civil society to build understanding and create inter- connectedness. The program facilitates meaningful conversations and provides tools to inspire personal reflection and transformation and new relationships with others across sectors and professions. Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. 5 HIs HolinEss the Dalai Lama The program in development for 2009–2010 and beyond will build on Connecting for Change 2006 and Connecting for Change 2009, the latter a key element of the Vancouver Peace Summit: Nobel Laureates in Dialogue (Vancouver, Canada, september 2009) which engaged business and civil society leaders and philanthropists from north and south America, Africa and Asia. Building on these landmark events, participants in Connecting for Change will be supported to learn with and from each other about how to create new cross-sector collaborations and how to strengthen existing collaborations that address the most pressing social issues of our time. Informed by the Dalai Lama’s universal values of compassion, peaceful cooperation and mutual understanding, Connecting for Change will continue to support and inspire senior leaders who share a common desire to create a better world. SpeakErs SeriEs The Dalai Lama Center hosts