About Us
Imagine standing in an auditorium singing freedom songs with Nobel Laureate Tawakkol Karman and then participating in Q&A with people from five continents. Imagine hearing Muhammad Yunus call for putting poverty in a museum and then discussing with your seatmate whether this is possible. Imagine engaging in a live web-based video session with participants in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen to learn how the technology revolution undergirds the Arab Spring.
The Nobel Peace Prize Forum exists for just one reason: to inspire peacemaking by celebrating the work of Nobel Peace Prize winners. And a unique gift from the Norwegian Nobel Institute, who administers the Nobel Peace Prize, makes it all possible: the Forum is the Institute’s only program or affiliation outside of Norway.
When it began in 1989, the Forum’s founding colleges (Augsburg, Augustana, Concordia, St. Olaf, and Luther) envisioned an annual conference that would inspire students. Twenty-five years after Norman Borlaug electrified that first Forum, all expectations have been surpassed. The Forum is a dynamic global event that brings thousands of professionals, citizens and students together with Nobel Peace Prize winners and international leaders.
Held annually in March in Minneapolis, the Forum has never been more successful in achieving its mission. In 2013 the Forum served over 6000 in-person attendees and hosted nearly 70,000 livestream views from 53 different countries. But more importantly, the Forum changed lives. 97% of attendees said they were inspired to peacemaking, and 92% said their lives or thinking had changed. Now that’s impact!
And how does this kind of impact occur? It occurs because the Forum intentionally engages diverse audiences in serious dialogue about crucial topics. The Forum is not a “sit and listen” experience. Whether the topics involve law, science, music, business or global affairs, Nobel Peace Prize winners illuminate the subject. Through discussion and reflection, Forum attendees then develop their own understanding of how they can contribute to a more stable world.
You will have similar opportunities at the next Forum, to be hosted by Augsburg College and the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Multiple additional academic partners and sponsors are creating the 2014 Forum with their merged intellectual and financial resources.
Experience the 26th Forum for yourself on March 1 and 7-9, 2014. Join our email list, our volunteers and our contributors.
