Update from Milan

By Nick Oatley

Nick Oatley

I am here at the 3^rd Science for Peace Conference in Milan Italy. The Science for Peace initiative was founded by the Umberto Veronesi Foundation to harness the scientific method in the service of peace.

With over 1,000 participants and speakers from across the health, peacebuilding, economics, civil rights and development communities, I am here to present on Search for Common Ground’s education-entertainment or soap operas for social change.

Opened with keynote speakers Shirin Ebadi (Nobel Peace Laureate 2003 Iran) and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (Vice President Science for Peace), the conference is covering topics such as access to water and food, prevention of major diseases, economic sciences for peace, science and civil rights, the arms trade, and new technology and conflicts.

Since 2009 the Science for Peace initiative has included:

123 speakers form 23 countries

7 Nobel Prize Laureates

5000 attendees

5500 students

550 press and online articles about 19000 people connected to the event through the website of the Foundation

9740 online connections from abroad

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Nick Oatley is SFCG’s Director of Institutional Learning, responsible for managing the leadership and technical support on design, monitoring and evaluation of SFCG programs, promoting learning and knowledge management across the organization, and managing our work on Children & Youth and Women, Peace &Security. He has worked in the field with SFCG programs in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Burundi, Rwanda, Morocco and Nepal.