Meeting of the Toda International Advisory Council (TIAC)
on 19 July 2008 in Leuven, Belgium

In collaboration with IPRA, the Toda Institute held a TIAC meeting in Belgium in order to mark its new departure for the next twelve years. The first director, Majid Tehranian, shared with the audience the tremendous accomplishments the Toda team has made since the foundation of the institute in 1996. He then introduced the new director, Olivier Urbain. In his speech, the latter reaffirmed the commitment of the Toda Institute to the development of peace research in specific areas. Messages from top experts in the field were read, and an improvised and lively questions & answers session followed.

Many of the TIAC members are also active members of IPRA, which generously arranged for the Toda Institute to use one of the rooms of the University of Leuven.
The future collaboration between the Toda Institute and IPRA was reaffirmed.

Majid Tehranian highlighted the fact that the Toda Institute has organized more than 20 conferences, published more than 25 books, and established a network of about 600 peace scholars throughout the world since its foundation in 1996.

To congratulate Majid on his outstanding accomplishments, and to encourage the Toda Institute to move forward with a renewed commitment to peace research, we had received congratulatory messages from Kevin Clements and Katsuya Kodama, the two new Secretaries-General of IPRA, as well as from David Krieger, Stuart Rees, Anthony Marsella, Sverre Lodgaard, and Julius Spencer.

Luc Reychler, the outgoing Secretary-General of IPRA, as well as Linda Johnston, the new president of the IPRA foundation, highlighted what they see as the Toda Institute’s main strengths, namely youthful enthusiasm combined with respect for the traditions supporting the Toda Institute.

In his first speech as director of the institute, Olivier Urbain then clarified the three themes and three issues the Toda Institute will focus on during the next twelve years:

1. Human Security and Human Rights
2. Dialogue and Nonviolent Conflict Transformation
3. Global Governance and World Citizenship

These three themes will be explored in order to find concrete solutions to three main issues:

1. Abolition of Nuclear Weapons
2. UN Reform, to ensure a more collaborative world
3. Sustainable Peace through Environmental Integrity and Social Justice

During the question & answer session, it was made clear that these themes and issues will serve as guidelines, and that the institute will remain flexible in its selection of research topics. Jake Lynch, Susan Ross and others expressed the desire to see more frequent communication and interaction between the Toda Institute leadership and TIAC, and it was decided that mailing lists and online forums would be set up in the next few months to allow more participation from TIAC members and supporters.

To make a start, we invite you to join our Discussion Forum, only a few clicks away on this website. We look forward to a fruitful 12 years for the sake of peace research, together with the members of TIAC and the many friends of the Toda Institute.

With best regards,

On behalf of the Toda Institute team,
Olivier Urbain
Director

Olivier Urbain's Speech

IPRA Partipant List

International Peace Research Association 2008
Toda Meeting Participants

Michelle Adams, Tatsushi Arai, Cynthia Cohen, Anna Gmosh, Linda Groff, Mushtaq Jeelani, Linda Johnston, Richard A. Kakeeto, George Kent, Wendy Lambourne, Jake Lynch, Jason MacLeod, Lea Maldelzis, Hiroshi Mizuno, Rose Noo, Rune Ottosen, Leena Parmar, Luc Reychler, Susan Ross, Haus Schlichtmann, Mohamed Sheriff, Satoko Takahashi, Hideki Tamai, Majid Tehranian, Katharine Tehranian, Itir Toksoz, Muhammed Kamal Uddin, Olivier Urbain, Yoko Urbain, Peter van den Dungen, Larry Williams.