About Us

'Inspiring action through learning about the world'

Goal statement

For Sussex residents to understand the links between their own lives and actions and those of others, and contribute to a just, peaceful and sustainable world.

Brighton Peace and Environment Centre works with schools, community groups and individuals in Sussex to engage in learning activities around global debates.

These debates may be around issues of social justice, identity and diversity, peace and conflict, environmental sustainability and interdependence.

What we believe:

BPEC supports the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, promoting social justice and equality.
BPEC promotes peace building, co-operation and conflict resolution
BPEC works toward a greener future, aiming to minimise the use of resources and mitigate global climate change, avoiding detrimental impact to the environment and unsustainable practices

In encouraging dialogue and debate about global concerns we recognise that:

The issues are complex
The issues are affected by many factors - social, cultural, political, economical and technological
There is great diversity of perspective and opinion
The issues and debates are constantly changing in light of unexpected developments and new thinking and research

In light of this, our approaches need to be reflective and exploratory and in an ethos of shared learning. Our approach encourages:

Critical thought in order to assess the relevance and legitimacy of information
Challenging of assumptions
Questioning in order to find out more
Participation and inclusion

In engaging people with dialogue and debate on global issues, we hope that people will be able to make their own decisions and feel empowered to respond through creating changes to their daily lives or taking positive actions which contribute to a just, peaceful and sustainable world.

Positive actions which people may choose to take include direct action and protest. As an education centre we are not involved in direct action or protest ourselves but we do support people to access information about local and national campaigns and protests which are peaceful, do not use the language of violence and are within the bounds of the law.

Mission Statement

The Brighton Peace and Environment Centre aims to raise awareness and understanding of social justice, peace, sustainable development and environmental protection matters by providing information, education and positive practical solutions to global problems.

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We are now heading towards our 30th birthday and looking to celebrate our previous successful work and build on it in the years to come.

Meet the team...

ruth-england Ruth England is our Schools Coordinator. She has worked within Education for Global Citizenship for the past four years, both with us and at Kent & the Wider World, supporting and advising teachers in this field.

Ruth also teaches in Post Compulsory Education. Previously she worked with young people engaging in active citizenship and volunteering and coordinated international youth exchanges in Central and South America.

gianpaolo-boldrini

Paolo Boldrini is the Community Learning Coordinator. Since September 2009 he has been coordinating our Climate Connections programme. Paolo's outreach work includes planning workshops with local community groups around the global impact of climate change.

Paolo's professional background is in community involvement and migrant outreach work. He was part of the team that set up the Migrant English Project and is a trustee with Refugee Radio. He studied Social Anthropology and is interested in people's identities and how groups work.

Volunteers (we currently have 20 volunteers)

Goal statement

For Sussex residents to understand the links between their own lives and actions and those of others, and contribute to a just, peaceful and sustainable world.

Brighton Peace and Environment Centre works with schools, community groups and individuals in Sussex to engage in learning activities around global debates.

These debates may be around issues of social justice, identity and diversity, peace and conflict, environmental sustainability and interdependence.