Please note that the registration fee covers conference costs and all meals, but does not include accomodations.  The rooms are $99 plus tax but you must book them seperately. Please call the Historic Inns of Annapolis and mention the AfP conference to book a hotel room.  Please call:  410-263-2641.

Regular registration will run until October 15, 2008 at 5:00 PM.  Late registration will run until October 28, and will continue at upon arrival in Annapolis.

Annual Conference and Meeting

October 29-31, 2008

The Historic Inns of Annapolis

58 State Circle

Annapolis, MD

PRELIMINARY AGENDA

Wednesday, October 29

2:00p - 6:00p               Registration

4:00p - 6:00p               AfP Annual Meeting

                                    Greetings from the President and Chair

                                    Introductions

                                    AfP Update

                                    Member Highlights

                                    Review of Retreat Agenda

                                    Determine “Open Space” Topics

            6:30p                           Dinner/Reception

International Guest Speaker: Emmanuel Bombande, Executive Director, West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP)

                                                *After dinner open discussion plenary

Thursday, October 30

The main program on Thursday will take place on Capitol Hill as indicated below.  However, meeting rooms are also available at the Historic Inns of Annapolis for special sessions of high interest.  We will poll the conference registrants to determine how many plan to participate in the program on Capitol Hill and how many wish to stay in Annapolis to address topics of special interest.

            7:30a – 8:30a               Breakfast            

            8:30a                            Vans Depart for Capitol Hill

            10:00a – 12:30p           Whole of Community Conflict Prevention

                                                            Hosted with 3D Security

Panelists from other countries will speak to how civil society groups are engaging governments and military.  

Paul van Tongeren, European Centre for Conflict Prevention/Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, David Lord, Canadian Peacebuilding Coordinating Committee, Andy Carl, Conciliation Resources, United Kingdom, Emmanuel Bombande, West African Network for Peacebuilding, Moderator: Lisa Schirch, 3D Security Initiative

12:30                           Lunch

1:30p – 4:00p               US Government and Military Infrastructure on Conflict Prevention
Panelists from the US government and military will share current efforts to engage civil society groups

David A. Sobyra, Consortium for Complex Operations, Defense Department

Mike Dziedzic, US Institute of Peace

Elizabeth Kvitishvili, Conflict Management and Mitigation, USAID

Cynthia Irmer, Conflict Prevention Unit, State Department's Office on Reconstruction and Stabilization (invited)

Moderator: Major Christina Schweiss, Joint Forces Command

4:30p                               Vans Depart Washington, DC for Annapolis

6:30p - 8:00p               Dinner: Learning from the Elders: Abdul Aziz-Said, Louise Diamond, John McDonald, Chris Mitchell, Joe Montville, and Hal Saunders (invited)

                                    The dinner program will feature a conversation with and among some of the people from the Washington area who helped create and develop the conceptual framework for and who pioneered the practice of citizen engagement in building peace.  It will be a special opportunity to recognize them and learn what inspired them, what obstacles they had to overcome and where they see the field going in the future.  

8:00 p                          Open Space Discussion

Participants will gather for a peacebuilding community discussion of ideas and issues of interest and concern.  With the Presidential election less than a week away, the prospect of a new administration is bound to be of high interest.  There will be follow up on last year’s intense discussion of prospects for a US / Iran confrontation, as well as other current topics.    

Friday, October 31

8:00a – 9:00a              Breakfast

9:00a – 10:30a            Plenary: Elevating the Profile of Peacebuilding

While some progress has been made, peacebuilding remains virtually unknown among government officials, foundations, corporations and the news media.  This makes it extremely difficult for us to have the impact we could, and it makes generating resources very challenging.  We will have experts in marketing and public relations help us address our special needs and strategies.

10:30a – 10:45a           Break

10:45a- 11:45a Workshops:

·        Working effectively with Media

·        Congressional Relations

·        Elevating the profile of peacebuilding

12:00p - 1:00p             Plenary: Collaboration Connections

One of the primary functions of AfP is to facilitate collaboration among our members and others to achieve synergy and more effective conflict resolution.  AfP conducts periodic meetings of NGOs, government officials and policy analysts to examine the conflict environment in specific places.  The process includes identification of the organizations and agencies actively involved in the area, determination of the causes of conflict, exploration of possible solutions, and determination of what, if anything, the participants might be able to do together to help build peace.  Recent Collaboration Connections sessions have focused on Turkey, Cyprus, India and Pakistan, the Middle East, Sri Lanka, and the Horn of Africa.  Future sessions are planned for Nepal, and Colombia. This session will provide a review and analysis of the collaboration process and development of plans for the future.

1:00p – 2:15p               Lunch: Mary Clark from Winning Workplaces

Working in the nonprofit and/or academic environment has many advantages, but to can also be stressful and exhausting.  Winning Workplaces is a not-for-profit committed to helping small and midsize organizations create high-performance workplaces. This session will help everyone look into our internal environments and explore ways to make our work more productive, enjoyable and fulfilling.

2:30p – 3:30p               Workshops:

·        Winning Workplaces: Follow up on the plenary session.     

·        Global Peace Index: Results of and uses of the 2008 Global Peace Index with special emphasis on peace education opportunities and the focus on the correlation between peace, business and economics.

·        Global Crisis Prevention: A new process has been created to identify countries at risk of violence, to assess the dynamics of the conflict environment, and to develop and implement an effective response to help prevent violence.  This session will examine the program model and ways members can connect with it and learn from it.

·        Open Space: Space will be made available for sessions that will be identified at the beginning of the conference.

3:30p - 3:45p               Break

3:45p - 4:30p               Closing Plenary

Review what was learned

Discuss future directions

Evaluation of the conference