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The vision of the nonprofit group Zones of Peace International Foundation (ZOPIF) merges conflict-resolution, community-building, and preservation of cultural and historic sites. ZOPIF grew from a recognition of the symbolic value of natural and cultural sites in conflict and peacemaking. From the desecration of mountains in Korea by the Japanese army in the early twentieth century to media coverage of fighting around the Olympic stadium in Sarajevo in the 1990s and the destruction of Buddhist sites by the Taliban at the turn of this century, historic sites have become special targets for groups attempting to destroy culture and identity. Some sites or events have come to represent dialogue, cooperation, and contemplation–including areas like the memorial at Hiroshima and the former prison on Robben Island.
In order to protect sites from conflict and promote peacebuilding, ZOPIF encourages broad collaborative efforts to create Zones of Peace–cultural areas that serve as sanctuaries and educational centers–that coordinate the efforts of government agencies, religious groups, local residents, and NGOs including UNESCO. The program invokes a set of mutual obligations as participants move from sharing resources to preserve the site to transparency and more open cooperation on other social and political issues. The tranquil enclaves will serve as examples of community management and living laboratories through which the public can explore conflict-free societies. While strengthening civil society, the zones ideally will also help individuals and families by encouraging visitors to reflect on the emotional origins of fear and aggression.
Problems exist, however. Enforcing times or places of sanctuary has always proven problematic–as seen most recently in the conflict between Russia and Georgia during the Beijing Olympics. ZOPIF itself takes a strangely proprietary attitude toward the idea of “zones of peace,” going out of its way to distinguish ZOPIF-approved sites from zones of peace created by community groups in Africa, Asia, and the Americas over the last few decades–even UN sites including the sculpture shown above.