In a world filled with pessimism and angst many may wonder what they can personally do to help advance peace. Peace Week, which started on September 21, the International Day of Peace, and ended on September 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, is an annual celebration of peace facilitated by the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement, where different organizations from around the Waterloo region are encouraged to host peace -centred events. This year Peace Week had a wide array of events, including public lectures, art gallery exhibits, choir performances, walks, and more!
The Gidinawendamin/Ska’nikú•lát annual Pow Wow hosted by the University of Waterloo Office of Indigenous Relations, was one of the more prominent events on the Peace Week Calendar. A Pow Wow is a celebration of Indigenous heritage and culture and is a safe and welcoming environment for Indigenous and non-
indigenous people to come together in commemoration. This Pow Wow featured multiple dancers, food trucks, and art vendors. The Centre for Peace Advancement Coordinator attended the event and commented that it was a very inclusive event and that the Jingle Dancers stood out to her because of the beautiful sounds they made while dancing. She also enjoyed being able to try foods such as Bannock Tacos and Pow Wow shortcake.
What does peace mean to you? That’s a question that The Ripple Effect Education aimed to answer with their Peace Week event. Their pop-up display in the Conrad Grebel atrium included an interactive community art piece where individuals were encouraged to write down what peace meant to them on a paper leaf and contribute it to a bigger paper tree. The CPA Program Assistant attended this event and noted how remarkable it was to see the tree slowly become filled with different versions of peace from a large group of people.
Film viewings were also a big part of the 2025 Peace Week Calendar. The three films ranged a variety of different social justice issues and were immensely popular, with one of the films, “A Dream Called Khushi,” even selling out. One of the Core Collaborators of the Centre, Mennonite Central Commitee (MCC), hosted a viewing of the film, “Living Below the Line.” This film centers on the experience of individuals living in poverty in the Waterloo Region. The co-creators of the film acted out their own stories, struggles, courage, and hope, and the play was highly effective in dispelling myths and stigma surrounding poverty.
Another big Peace Week event related to the Centre was Sarah Augustine's Community-Powered Decolonization talk hosted by MCC. Sarah Augustine is an Indigenous Anabaptist activist and author. Sarah situated us as humans in the bigger picture of history in the natural world. For example, she spoke about the air in ways many may not think of something so simple. She alluded to how the air we breathe is the same air from hundreds of years ago, and that we must care for it as it gives us life. Sarah found the thing that gave her most hope was looking around at a room of people that care so much, and mentioned how communities like these are our safety blankets, not our material wealth.
Lastly, another unique event on the Peace Week calendar was the Transformative Mediation training led by Community Justice Initiatives. This four-day workshop took place at Conrad Grebel University College as part of the Conflict Management Certificate Program. The training emphasized the development of practical skills to resolve interpersonal conflict and ease mediation. The participants roleplayed situations of conflict in breakout rooms in the Centre for Peace Advancement, then, in character, had to act out how to defuse the situation and resolve the conflict.
Overall, these events served as stepping stones of knowledge for many people wanting to get more involved with peace in their own communities. Peace Week 2025 was a wonderful assortment of community-based organizations and initiatives coming together to promote peace, and the Centre for Peace Advancement team is already looking forward to next year's Peace Week. See you then!