After continuous conversations and meetings, since the second Forum a powerful energy is now emerging and we are very pleased to share with you several new developments.

The 3rd Spirit of Humanity Forum: Reykjavík, Iceland, 27th – 29th April 2017

The theme for Reykjavík 2017 is: "Caring for a World in Transition: Building a Foundation for a Loving and Peaceful World." The Forum will bring together ongoing work of the SoH partners in Education, Peacefulness, Environment and Sacred Presence. E4P, GHFP, BKs and The Fetzer Institute have hosted dialogues related to the specific work they are bringing to the Forum in 2017. The GHFP dialogues have been on the nature of peacefulness. BKs hosted a dialogue on caring for the Earth. And Fetzer has been considering "sacred presence." More of these dialogues are being planned, and participants will also be invited to Reykjavik 2017. A save-the-date message will be sent out followed by formal invitations in September.

Establishing Spirit of Humanity Forum in Iceland

After having been generously hosted by BK Iceland and Education 4 Peace to facilitate the organising of the first two Forums, Spirit of Humanity Forum is now registered as a not-for-profit in Iceland, and is thereby be an entity in its own right! An organisation will be established  consisting of a Board made up of the Founding Partners and our new partners, the Executive Circle, and a Secretariat with a director and a secretary. This will enable us to develop a stronger base in Iceland with more local support.

New Director – Jóhanna Vilhjalmsdóttir

We are delighted that Jóhanna Vilhjalmsdóttir from Iceland will join us as the director of Spirit of Humanity Forum in September. Jóhanna is a mother of 5, presently living with her family in Berlin. She has worked for 10 years as an editor, host and reporter for Icelandic TV. Her personal interest in preventive health care has led to a TV programme and a book, with a second book in the pipeline. The SoH Forum concept speaks deeply to her heart, and she feels very honoured to be invited to take on this task.

New Partner – The Pure Land Foundation

We welcome as a new partner the Pure Land Foundation. The Foundation  was founded by Bruno Wang and reflects his well-established interests in meditation, holistic wellbeing, art and music. He is also founder of the London-based Bruno Wang Production company. www.purelandfoundation.com

Fetzer Institute

Deborah Higgins and Kurian Thomas from the Fetzer Institute have added a lot of value to the conversations and developments of the Forum over the past 12 months.

Founding partners of Spirit of Humanity Forum

The Fetzer Institute and the Pure Land Foundation are invited to become Founding Partners of Spirit of Humanity Forum together with Education 4 Peace, Brahma Kumaris Iceland  and the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace.

Reykjavík Centre for Peace – to be formally launched in October 2016

On the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the Reykjavik Summit between President Ronald Regan and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. We are already in discussions with The Centre to see how we can work together, and our colleagues Scherto Gill and David Cadman will be "in dialogue" with the Centre in October as part of  Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace's work on Peacefulness.  A dialogue will be hosted by the Centre to consider how we might express the deep spiritual nature of peacefulness within the context of a political system, such as a nation or a city, what the criteria for a peaceful city might be, and ways in which bodies such as the UN or a Ministry of Peace might support and facilitate a culture of peacefulness.

Interesting information: Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormakur is in early talks to direct a historical drama entitled Reykjavik. Michael Douglas is set to portray Ronald Reagan, with Christoph ‎Waltz playing Mikhail Gorbachev in a movie about the former world leaders' famous summit amid the threat of nuclear war.