Universidad Para La Paz/BePeace

Every day this week, we have made a trip way up the mountain, past the shade grown coffee fields to Costa Rica's University for Peace, located just outside Ciudad de Colon, a "suburb" of San Jose. UPeace was established in 1980 via a mandate of the United Nations. Its stated mission is "to promote the spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence, to stimulate cooperation among peoples and to help lessen obstacles and threats to world peace and progress." UPeace offers graduate-level classes and programs in areas such as sustainable development, environmental security and peace, conflict resolution, international law and human rights, natural resources and peace, and gender and peace building. Currently, there are students here from 60 countries. It is a real privilege to be here for a week participating in the BePeace course as a part of the University's summer institute programs.

BePeace is the brainchild of Rita Marie Johnson, an American who moved to Costa Rica 17 years ago, inspired by the fact that the country has no standing army, and with a desire to help in some way. Her accomplishments are nothing less than astounding in that regard. In 2002, Rita Marie created BePeace, a practice that integrates HeartMath and NonViolent Communication, and then founded the Rasur Foundation and the Academy for Peace of Costa Rica, an organization that was awarded the Changemakers Innovation Award: Building a More Ethical Society in 2005. Since then, the Academy has been working with the Ministry of Education to implement BePeace in every high school in Costa Rica.

In 2006, the Rasur Foundation presented a Ministry for Peace initiative that was embraced by Costa Rica’s president, Oscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The bill passed on August 19, 2009, establishing Costa Rica as the third country in the world to have an official government Ministry for Peace. As a result of Rita Marie’s involvement in the Global Alliance for Ministries and Departments for Peace, the Costa Rican government hosted the 2009 Summit of the Global Alliance and the Rasur Foundation facilitated it.


Just this month, Rita Marie has gifted the Rasur Foundation's 2-acre property and its Academy for Peace to Costa Rica's Ministry for Peace to serve as its headquarters, and making Costa Rica the first country in the world to have a complete infrastructure for bringing forth a culture for peace.


Yasar and Mercedes
BePeace Sweethearts

 With that background, I (Carole) can tell you that we are having a magnificent time in the BePeace course, with the majority of the participants being UPeace graduate students from countries all over the world including Nepal, India, Uganda, Iraq, Sweden, and many more. Dave, as he will share, is having a great time setting up and doing interviews, including yesterday's brilliant conversation with the UPeace Vice Rector.


Unbelievably, Nic Marks, the founder of the UK's Centre for Well-Being at the New Economics Foundation, and creator of the global "Happy Planet Index," is on campus next week. We've been invited to attend a 1/2 day workshop next Wednesday, titled "A Happy Planet?: How governments, business and people can nurture well-being and respect nature." The Happy Planet Index has named Costa Rica as the happiest country on earth! Next week, Dave will also be interviewing Costa Rica's Deputy Minister for Peace.

This weekend, we're taking a trip to La Paz Waterfall Gardens with Rita Marie, a BePeace participant from the UK, and a couple of the Academy for Peace facilitators.