September 2002 | August 2002 | June 2002
PRESS RELEASE
Knowledge iTrust and OpenVES Partner on Peace Diaries Volume II: Cultivating Peace
September 24, 2002
Knowledge iTrust, Inc. and OpenVES have partnered for Peace Diaries Volume II: Cultivating Peace. Peace Diaries, Volume II: Cultivating Peace is going to be a book that will be collaboratively written, with words and artwork, by students in the U.S. and internationally with customized Internet technologies.
This is the third project in the 2002 Peace Diaries program developed by Knowledge iTrust (KIT). The current program will launch in November 2002 in countries around the globe with all new features, themes and activities. In addition, the Web site has new Workspace, bulletin board, concept map search, and data collection tool kit technologies supported by OpenVES
In January 2002, KIT launched the Peace Diaries at www.peacediaries.org, as a response to the September 11, 2001 events to give kids a healthy way to express their fears, concerns and hopes for peace. Schools in New York City, Azeraijan, Israel, France, Argentina, Chile, Ghana and South Africa participated. The result was Peace Diaries, Volume I, a 300-page book on human rights and peace that was published by KIT in June 2002 . KIT then produced the Peace Diaries Radio Program, to address environmental and economic issues raised by the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD). The ten broadcasts aired every day during WSSD in Johannesburg, South Africa from August 26 through September 4, 2002 reaching the conference’s 60,000 esteemed delegates and a potential audience of 20 million in Africa, parts of Europe and the Middle East. KIT conducted over 30 interviews in the United States and South Africa that included:
- Peacemakers and Educators Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahandas K. Gandhi and Founder Director of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence;and Ela Gandhi, granddaughter of MK Gandhi and member of South African Parliament;
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu;
- Betty Reardon Ed.D, Founding Director International Institute on Peace Education, and Director and Founder Peace Education Center at Teachers College, Columbia University;
- Joseph Shabalala, leader of South Africa international recording and performing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, SA’s cultural emissary to the world;
- Scientist Dr. David Tilman, the most cited author of the past decade in the field of Ecological Biodiversity;Scientist Per Andersen, Director and Agricultural Economist with Food Policy Research Institute
- Derek Jourbert, Director of South African Institute of Race Relations;
- And other experts and global citizens working towards sustainable development.
The purpose of Peace Diaries, Volume II: Cultivating Peace is to help students globally develop academic and life skills that strengthen their capacities to participate, contribute, communicate and negotiate within their family, communities and the world, and to care for their social and ecological habitats.
In the future, with OpenVES book and multi-media tools, Peace Diaries will offer Web-based publishing tools and projects for students, teachers and schools to publish their own content – as a component of the KIT Life Skills program, "Build Enterprise."
OpenVES Architect TS Vreeland said, "Peace Diaries II is exactly the kind of compelling, high quality, interactive we-based learning activity that teachers and students crave. OpenVES was designed to bring those kinds of activities to teachers and students. Knowledge iTrust has the vision and organization to work on an international scale. OpenVES has the technology to support them."
Knowledge iTrust is a not-for-profit organization that works with K-12 schools, teachers, organizations, and experts from various fields to design, develop, facilitate and disseminate education and information on community and global issues. OpenVES is a non-profit educational organization that develops technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) that create eLearning infrastructure for large-scale implementation, education and information exchange.
"As we continue to grow the Peace Diaries, we require a technology platform that will support thousands to hundreds of thousands of users around the globe. Additionally, we want tools that are developed by educators for educators and students. OpenVES is an elearning environment that offers a robust, scaleable platform for the Peace Diaries community" notes KIT Executive Director, Karen Kaun.
Knowledge iTrust seeks to expand its funding base amidst plans for Peace Diaries, Volume III and other multi-media projects that are in progress.
Janet Oseroff
215 East 68 Street Suite 14Q New York New York 10021
Phone 212.517.7074 Fax 212.517.4950
Email: joseroff@multimediaproperties.com
PRESS RELEASE
Peace Diaries Radio at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)
August 20,2002
The Peace Diaries Radio programme has been produced for broadcast during the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) which takes place in Johannesburg, South Africa from August 26 through September 6, 2002.
The twenty 10 minute segments will be broadcast over the WorldSpace World Summit channel via the AfriStar satellite to an audience including the approximately 60,000 conference delegates as heads of State and Government, national delegates, Non-Government Organization leaders, business and other major groups, and a potential 20 million listeners in Africa, parts of Europe and the Middle East.
The purpose of WSSD is to focus the world’s attention on, and find solutions for, the issues that will move our planet toward peace and security including food, water, shelter, sanitation, health, energy, gender equity, economic security and education.
Peace Diaries is an international education program developed by the not-for-profit organization Knowledge iTrust (KIT). The organization works with students from countries around the world through advanced Internet technology, developed by KIT, to collaborate on projects that produce educational content, global dialogue and commentary for publication or broadcast.
Peace Diaries’ first project was Peace Diaries, Volume One, a 300 page book on human rights and peace featuring both words and artwork written by students in New York, Azerbaijan, Israel, France, Argentina, Chile, Ghana and South Africa. The book was published by KIT in June 2002
Peace Diaries second project, the Peace Diaries Radio programme, features commentary from renowned peacemakers, scientists, cultural icons and of course, the students’ voices:
** Peacemakers and Educators Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahandas K. Gandhi; Ela Gandhi, granddaughter of MK Gandhi and member of South African Parliament; Archbishop Desmond Tutu; Betty Reardon, Director and Founder International Institute on Peace Education, Director and Founder Peace Education Program, Teachers College, Columbia University; Derek Joubert, Director of South African Institute of Race Relations; Thabisile Msezane, Director of the Sithabilie Child and Youth Care Center, Johannesburg; Karen Kaun, a Founding Member and Executive Director of Knowledge iTrust;
** Scientists David Tilman, Regent Professor, University of Minnesota, the McKnight University Presidential Chair in Ecology, Director of Cedar Creek Natural History Area; Per Pinstrup Andersen, Director of the International Food Policy Research Institute; Tamra Raven, Ecological Phenomenologist, International Council of Women and Organization of Tropical Studies;
** Cultural icons Joseph Shabalala, leader of South Africa international recording and performing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, SA’s emissary to the world; Bob McGrath, host of the internationally syndicated award winning children’s television show Sesame Street, which will feature an HIV muppet for its broadcast in South Africa;
** Student’s voices from Peace Diaries; local teachers, principals, community leaders. Interviews are conducted by Television Journalist Cynthia Tornquist, formerly 15 year CNN on-air personality and interviewer; Diana Moy, a Founding Member and Executive Producer of KIT; Cooma Chelliah, a Founding Member and Treasurer of KIT; Janet Oseroff, President of MultiMediaProperties, music industry veteran and KIT General Manager; and Tessa van Staden, formerly of SABC Radio in South Africa.
Peace Diaries Radio Executive Director is Karen Kaun, Executive Producer Diana Moy, KIT General Manager Janet Oseroff, Senior Producer and Interviewer Tessa van Staden, Special Guest Interviewer Cynthia Tornquist. Interviews were recorded in South Africa and at Looking Glass Studios in New York, New York and compiled at Mr. Big’s studio in Oakland, California.
As we near the first anniversary of September 11, we remember why and how we started Peace Diaries. Now, when many Americans will want to come together to remember, grieve and comfort each other, we can especially be proud of our heroes and leaders and the many Americans who took action to heal the suffering and to make sense of the tragedy. One such group is the teachers and students of New York City’s Public Schools who collaborated with teachers and students around the world on Peace Diaries, Volume One.
Determined to find answers to the question, "Why did this happen," we worked to establish a program that would connect students to students and teachers to teachers around the world.
We applied for grants and received funding from the W.T. Grant Foundation to launch the program in January 2002. In just five short months, we developed a Web site and Web authoring tools, wrote lesson plans, recruited teachers and students from eight countries, and archived the students’ completed words and artwork on the Web site at www.peacediaries.org. In June 2002, the Peace Diaries 300-page book was published. Every participating student received a book. Representatives of the contributing countries, from Ambassadors to Consuls, Educators and leaders, have praised the book.
That was just the beginning of the New York City Public Schools’ and the Peace Diaries international success story. In July 2002, KIT was invited to showcase the student work, and additional related commentary, in a radio broadcast that would reach global leaders at the WSSD.
KIT’s third project is Peace Diaries, Volume Two, Cultivating Peace. With funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, work has just begun. It is designed to help students develop peacemaking capacities to transform themselves, and society, in order that all people may equally enjoy its social, economic, and political benefits, including also the topics presented at the WSSD conference. The project will launch in Fall 2002 and will include students in New York City, across the U.S. and from around the world.
Education and awareness are essential to achieving sustainable development for humanity and the environment. The Peace Diaries is committed to enhancing global knowledge and collaboration towards effecting solutions. The Peace Diaries will always be a tribute to the people who give their help and their lives for freedom.
PRESS RELEASE
Peace Diaries Radio Volume One
June 9, 2002
The Global Collaboration By Students in New York City, Israel, Azerbaijan, Argentina, Chile, Ghana and South Africa To Be Presented to the NYC Schools on Friday, June 21
The Peace Diaries, Volume One, with an introduction written by Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, Arun Gandhi, will be presented to the participating New York City schools on Friday, June 21.
The Peace Diaries were created as a reaction to 9/11 to give kids a healthy way to express their fears, concerns and hopes for peace. Volume One includes the work of students in eleven NY City schools, plus kids in Israel, France, Azerbaijan, Argentina, Chile, Ghana and South Africa.
This project is proud news for the New York City schools. It presents our students on a local, national and international stage with kids from other countries. It shows how the schools, teachers and students of New York City took the lead in creating a project of incomparable global significance, as no other school system has done before. And it answers the Federal government’s entreaty, that global education is a moral and political imperative.
The Peace Diaries, Volume One, is literally being printed right now. With 266 pages of compelling words and artwork, the book is a profound collaboration among children of different races, cultures and creeds. The kid’s inspiring voices are literate, beautiful and wise, evoking tears, laughter and breath-taking awe.
There are over 2 billion children on the planet for whom everything important, about the future of their lifetimes, is being determined by what the adults are doing and saying today. So we must hear what the youth has to say. The Peace Diaries were created to give the youth a voice. And indeed they have created an important literary work.
The writing of the books are made possible by a custom technology, developed by the Peace Diaries parent company Knowledge iTrust, Inc., which is moving into schools throughout the U.S. and worldwide. The national U.S. roll-out will begin in the fall, and additional countries will be added.
The Peace Diaries, Volume One, are a monument to our time, and have historical significance for New York City and the world.
Additional information is available. I trust that you can attend this important event (Please RSVP), and that you, and the media entities, can give this effort, by the children of the world, the applause and recognition that it deserves.
- The books will be presented to the students and teachers of the participating New York City schools throughout the day of Friday, June 21. The eleven participating NY City schools are Bronx District 10: PS/MS 95, Jonas Bronck School, MS 390, MS 306, TAPCo, MS206; City Island’s PS 175; Manhattan: Robert Wagner MS167, PS 138M at PS 30; Queens MS 180, Stephen A. Halsey JHS.
With special guests, we will meet at 1:30 PM, Friday, June 21, at the Robert Wagner Middle School located at 220 East 76th Street.
Copyright (c) 2002 Knowledge iTrust, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks, trade names, service marks, and logos referenced herein belong to their respective owners.