Julian Weinberg, Nyon Process Programme Manager, chairs the final day of the launch of the Edinburgh Peace Initiative (EPI), Edinburgh, 22nd October 2012

The symposium to launch the EPI focused on the importance of civil society activities and organisations for peace-building, with an additional programme focusing on the challenges involved in peace-building in religiously divided societies.  Participants came from across the UK, Europe and North America, and engaged in three intensive days of discussions aimed at leading and forging new initiatives and areas where participating organisations could cooperate together.  The participating organisations behind the EPI include all of the principal UN affiliated organisations in the UK as well as many others.  The EPI aims to have an impact on the quality of peace-building initiatives involving Scottish partners, and to add value through the benefits of having a network of complementary initiatives and communities involved. The aims of the EPI Symposium were to:·     Bring the experience of Scotland’s peace-builders together to create innovative peace-building for the future – in particular fostering understanding and cooperation between practitioners, academics, NGOs, community bodies, educational initiatives and political parties.·     Developing traction for the work of specialist and public organisations dedicated to building the conditions for peace at home and across the globe – helping EPI contributors to identify concrete objectives and partnerships.·     Building understanding of how individuals and civil society groups are involved in peace-building processes, and how they can increase their impact on peace-building work – the focus here is on the very challenging processes essential to addressing social and political conflicts.·     Creating vehicles for networking, innovation and engagement in concrete commitments.