On October 25th 1992, the Åland Peace Association established the foundation the Åland Islands Peace institute. Exactly 20 years later, on the 25th of October 2012 the ÅIPI presented a report about the process that led to the establishment of the Institute. The report in Swedish was published as no 2/2012 in the report series Rapport från Ålands fredsinstitut - Report from the Åland Islands Peace Institute. The report has now been published in English as no 1/2013 and can be downloaded in pdf here.

The report, written by Martha Hannus, describes how the process was characterized by different visions of what civil society should do, on what peace actually is and could be, and on the specific relationship between Åland and mainland Finland. It is also an example of successful civil society advocacy, and an example of how a minority’s perception of itself can change over time.

Bibliographical information and the report for downloading in both languages can be found here.

A blog piece on the report can be found in Swedish and English here.

At the yearly meeting of the ÅIPI on the 12th of April 2013 three new members were elected to the board; Susanne Eriksson, Secretary General of the Åland Parliament,  Olav S Melin, responsible for Society and Media Relations at the think tank Magma and Katarina Fellman, Master of Social Sciences and Head of Research at Statistics and Research Åland, ÅSUB. Minister Pär Stenbäck, Roger Nordlund, Minister of finance in the Åland Government and Nils-Gustaf Eriksson, Psychiatrist and expert in crisis management, resigned from the board and where thanked for their valuable contributions.
All members of the board of directors are presented here.

Also to the research council a new member was elected, PhD Gunilla Herlof, Associate Senior Researcher of the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, SIPRI.

We are hereby inviting papers for the workshop ”Ideas and Realities of Democracy”, the third international workshop of The Civic Constellation Project to be held in Mariehamn on Åland 26-27 September 2013. This is a cooperation between scientists from across the social sciences. We invite proposals dealing with the workshop themes and which can be addressed from a number of disciplines and academic traditions of enquiry, from theoretical, historical, methodological and empirical views. Deadline for papers is 5th of May. Please forward the call to anyone interested. 

Download more information in pdf here.

The Åland Islands Peace Institute, in cooperation with the Association Norden on Åland, arranged a seminar on Monday, 25 March connected to the current debate about Nordic defense and security cooperation. The seminar took place in the Åland Parliament’s auditorium. Senior researcher Pertti Joenniemi held a keynote speech, followed by four commentaries and an open discussion. The debate was moderated by Dr. Mikael Wigell, researcher at the Finish Institute for International Affairs and member of the research council of the Peace Institute. The seminar was arranged in light of the swiftly progressing debate concerning the strengthening and deepening of Nordic defense and security cooperation. The consolidation of defense and security cooperation in the Nordic countries is high on the agenda during Norway’s presidency in the Nordic Council of Ministers. The seminar touched upon the following questions: What are the implications of strengthened security cooperation for the Nordic countries’ self-image and role as a peace promoting region? Under which democratic requirements can such decisions be made? Should the Nordic countries rather invest in developing their peace profile? What is meant with tighter structures for defense cooperation? 

Further documentation of the seminar can be found in Swedish, here.

Project Manager needed for the project Fair Sex 2013 - work against sexual harassment and sexual violence in Upper Secondary Schools on Åland. Six months part time (75%) during 2013. See full ad (in Swedish) at www.peace.ax.

Martin Ekman, former expert in the Working Group on Borders, has in an article in the newspapers Nya Åland and Tidningen Åland (15 April 2013) summarised the clarifications of the geographic borders of the demilitarised zone around the Åland Islands. In early 2013 the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs has informed the states signatories to the demilitarisation conventions about this clarification through a diplomatic note. This note completes the longstanding work on the borders of the demilitarisation. Ekman's article is available in Swedish only.

The background information to the diplomatic note is now available at the website of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (English and Finnish).

The President of the Republic and the Cabinet Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discussed this issue in 2011 a short Press Release from the meeting can be found on the homepage of the Prime Minister's Office (English and Finnish.)

- I am very content with the extent and depth of the articles. The contributions advance the discussions concerning the theoretical foundations and practical conditions for territorial solutions in today’s globalized world, says Åkermark.

The journal is available electronically and in hard copy at many libraries and through academic databases. The abstracts of the individual articles can be downloaded athttp://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/15718115/20/1.

Senior researcher Pertti Joenniemi has been appointed as the Peace Institute’s first Senior Adviser. Phil. Dr. Pertti Joenniemi has during his long career worked for a number of well-known peace research institutes in the Nordic countries and is the author of a large number of articles and books within this field. During the 1980s Pertti has been involved in the discussions about the creation of a peace institute, an idea that gained his support. He was also a member of the Peace Institute’s first research council. Through appointing Senior Advisers the Peace Institute wishes to institutionalize contacts to key persons in its network. Senior Advisers function as resource persons for the institute’s board and staff and contribute to the extension of the institute’s international network.

 Ålands fredsinstituts verksamhetsberättelse för 2012 finns för nedladdning i pdf här.