News

Have you seen the 2016-2017 University of Waterloo Report on Giving? Those who have read it likely noticed the large 2-page spread on The Ripple Effect Education (TREE), a program of the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement (CPA) and Conrad Grebel University College.

Why is TREE so exciting, and their work so important for UWaterloo to highlight? Read the full article, or watch the video on TREE, here!

"Reflections and Gleanings: A learning document of the Global Mennonite Peacebuilding Conference and Festival" is now available for review.

As many are aware, World Refugee Day took place this past Tuesday, June 20. On Wednesday, CPA Director, Paul Heidebrecht, wrote a letter to the editor of the Waterloo Region Record reflecting on

the demonstrated potential of this region to innovate solutions to the refugee crisis. Perhaps most significantly, he called readers to continue our innovative legacy, noting the desperate need for more breakthroughs, considering the complexity and scale of the problem.

At the beginning of May, the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement (CPA) welcomed our newest member, Julia Coburn, cofounder of WorldVuze, to our Epp Peace Incubator program. WorldVuze is a free online platform where K-12 students worldwide can safely share and explore a diversity of perspectives on topics posted by classrooms, nonprofit organizations, or experts.

In the Fall of 2017, CPA Director Paul Heidebrecht will once again be teaching a special topics course in Peace and Conflict Studies on Engineering and Peace. Meeting weekly on Wednesday evenings, this course is built on the conviction that the kinds of problems engineers seek to address, and the ways they seek to address them, should matter for anyone interested in advancing peace in the world.

As past students have noted:

"This course put my work as an engineer in context! I think that by taking this course, I grew both as an engineer and as a person."

Doing your co-op term with the CPA this Fall is the perfect way to enter into the professional world, to network, and to skill-build, without even having to leave campus! The Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement (CPA) has hired co-op students each year since 2014, and we’ve had great experiences. This year, the CPA co-op role focuses primarily on executing communications support.

After an inspirational opening ceremony at Stirling Mennonite Church, participants in the Pilgrimage for Indigenous Rights departed from Kitchener this past Sunday, April 23^rd. Concluding in Ottawa on May 14^th, the 600 km walk aims to build support for Canada’s adoption and implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.

Earlier this month, Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement (CPA) staff members Paul Heidebrecht and Michelle Jackett participated in the 2017 Ashoka U Exchange. Dedicated to transforming higher education into a tool for social innovation, this annual conference brought together over 700 attendees from around the world, including representatives from more than 10 Canadian universities. The CPA’s own Epp Peace Incubator Program is what brought Paul and Michelle to Miami for the conference, and is what drives their ongoing engagement in the growing field of social innovation.

In January, an e-seminar, hosted by the Centre for Security Governance, took place on the topic of "PeaceTech: Harnessing Technology to Advance Peacebuilding".

Paul Heidebrecht, Director of the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement (CPA) parntered with Mark Sedra, Executive Director of the Centre for Security Governance, in lining up speakers in preparation for the e-seminar.

On March 13 2017, Project Ploughshares is marking 40 years of work with a public lecture and conversation with Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow. Join them at Knox Presbyterian Church on Erb St. in Waterloo to join the conversation and to celebrate 40 years alongside Ploughshares.