World Peace Centre
The establishment of the First UNESCO Chair for promoting Culture of Peace, Human Rights, Democracy and Tolerance in the South Asian Region at the World Peace Centre of MAEER's MIT, Pune, India on 12 May 1998, unveils a Golden Chapter in the history of the Indian Education System. The twenty five years journey of MIT, Pune has been a continuous process in the pursuit of excelle
nce not only in the field of Engineering Sciences, Medical Sciences, Management Sciences, Healthcare, Environment and Pollution Control, Ecology and Sustainable Development but also towards promoting the time-tested human values and attaining the ultimate goal of World Peace. All this calls for total dedication, commitment and teamwork with a vision for the 21 Century. This saga of challenge, struggle and success was possible due to the untiring efforts of the Founders, who have dedicated their life for the noble cause of World Peace, in co-operation with a highly motivated team of leading scientists, thinkers, philosophers, eminent educationists and teachers committed to contribute their share for this noble cause of human welfare. The UNESCO Chair at World Peace Centre of MAEER's MIT, Pune, India is very much engaged in promoting a Culture of Peace and Education for Human Rights Programme with an integrated approach and implementing an action plan to achieve the desired objectives. The Centre has established a research wing in Peace Studies and Human Rights to work in close collaboration with other Human Rights Centers, Educational Institutions, NGOs and Government Organizations to establish a networking in this region to promote the Culture of Peace. The multifarious activities of the World Peace Centre of MAEER's MIT, Pune, India reflect its main objectives, which can be summarized as follows.:
1. To foster a spirit of Universal Brotherhood by laying emphasis on the pursuit of peace as a way of living and education as a means of attaining the ultimate goal of building up a holistic global society wherein sanctity of life will be respected.
2. To inculcate a value system, which will create love and respect for one another, transcending barriers of caste, creed, religion, ethnicity and geographical boundaries through a well-planned academic programme thereby encouraging and promoting cross culture.
3. To educate and train the students not only for their own sustainability but for making them responsible, peace loving citizens of the world and thereby help in building an integrated and holistic society through sustainable development with reverence to all the living beings vis-à-vis Environment and Mother Nature based on the principles of EARTH ETHICS, EARTH CARE AND EARTH UNITY.
4. To educate, train and prepare the ambassadors of peace/peace messengers full of courage with conviction and a sense of commitment to help and resolve the conflicts arising out of any reason, in a spirit of friendship and fellowship.
5. To establish, co-ordinate and work in close liaison with various heads of religions, social/political organizations and ethnic groups to create a healthy rapport so as to help in resolving the issues, which cause crisis, disturbance and violence in the society.
6. To establish, promote and strengthen the bonds of love, affection, mutual trust and healthy understanding devoid of self centered, narrow minded and egoistic impulses in the individuals to shape the "family system" as a nucleus for promoting world peace.
7. To promote research in the areas of peace, human rights, moral sciences, ethics, ecology, environment and in other professional fields with the objectives of building up a new world order on the principles of social justice, equity, good conscience and sustainability.
8. To educate, train and conduct programmes amongst individuals and specially amongst parents and teachers to rekindle a spirit of harmony as a regularly continuing process of learning for achieving social harmony and building up a holistic society.
9. To strive to establish a global society where the youth of the world would be cultural and peace ambassadors manifesting in themselves a blend of tradition and modernity to promote goodwill, harmony and peace on the Mother Earth and goodwill among humankind.
10. To organize and conduct various short term courses, academic programmes, workshops, conferences etc at the national and international levels which will help to motivate the students, parents, guardians, teachers and all other sections of the society for promoting the cause of moral, ethical and spiritual values, non-violence and peace for the welfare of humanity. UNESCO, Paris has appreciated the work done by the World Peace Centre of MAEER's MIT, Pune, India in the following words in one of the posters displayed by it. "A noteworthy example is the recent establishment of the UNESCO Chair in Human Rights, Democracy, Peace and Tolerance at the World Peace Centre (Alandi), Pune, of the Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT), at Pune, India. In 1996 and 1998, this MIT a branch of the Maharashtra Academy of Engineering and Educational Research (MAEER), has organized two World Philosophers Meets, dedicated to Science, Religion and Philosophy"And further UNESCO says "The aim of MIT's World Peace Centre can be summarized by article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights". Subsequent to the various important activities taken up by the World Peace Centre of MAEER's MIT, Pune, India, this Center has been chosen as a nodal point for coordinating the activities of UNESCO Chairs in the Asia Pacific Region.
