In connection with the 30th anniversary of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, the organisations The Dream of the Good (Norway) and CALM (U.K.), in partnership with Mind and Life Europe, The Mindfulness Initiative (U.K.), and Mindfulness Norway are organising a conference in June 2020 on the theme of ‘Peacefulness through Education.’  Aimed at addressing the need for and lack of integration of contemplative interventions within the education sector, “Peacefulness Through Education” Summit on 14th and 15th June 2020 (in Oslo, Norway) will focus on how mindfulness-based methods, when incorporated within schools and universities, may strengthen positive human qualities such as empathy and compassion, and how these methods may improve mental health and overall well-being through students cultivating peacefulness.

Below is a brief background of the main organisers of the Oslo 2020 summit:

Dream of the Good

Aiming to inspire young students to reflect on and access their potential to be good human beings. In 1996, more than 8 000 young students age 16-18 were given the opportunity to listen to His Holiness Dalai Lama speak in Stockholm, an event that gave birth to the Dream of the Good. The Dream of the Good was initiated by Anna Bornstein and has been active for more than 25 years in schools and kindergartens in Sweden. The successes in Sweden have been replicated in Norway in recent years.

The Dream of the Good provides training in simple and secular mindfulness-based methods for teachers and kindergarten employees, who in turn practice with their students in classroom settings. The methodology is based on four types of methods – stillness, peaceful touch, contemplative movement and reflection. These are different doorways to access calm and peacefulness. Stillness strengthens the contact with oneself, peaceful touch connects oneself with others, reflection allows communication at a deeper level, and contemplative movement connects oneself with nature.

These methods have been researched and tested through a number of studies in Sweden, and also in Norway by Centre for Peace Studies at University of Tromsø, which was then chaired by Ole Danbolt Mjøs, previous leader of The Norwegian Nobel Committee and also long-time Advisory Board member of The Dream of the Good. In 2019 the Dream of the Good was chosen by Alta Municipality in the north of Norway to implement its methodology through a publicly funded R&D project on life-mastery skills. More than 300 hundred teachers and supporting staff in Norway have received training in the methodology of the Dream of the Good.

Bodhicharya

Ven. Ringu Tulku Rinpoche is an author and the Founder of Bodhicharya (www.bodhicharya.org), an international organisation that coordinates the worldwide activities to preserve and transmit Buddhist teachings, to support educational and social projects and to promote inter-cultural dialogues. A Professor in Tibetology, since 1990, he has been traveling and teaching Buddhism and meditation at more than 50 Universities and Buddhist Centres throughout the world including the U.S., Canada, Australia and Asia. With the guidance and presence of Ven. Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, Bodhicharya Sri Lanka was launched in 2015, and is currently in the process of establishing its projects, with a focus on mindfulness-based educational programmes and mindfulness-based community living projects.