From 30 September to 2 October, the 10th conference of the PeaceLife movement took place in Brandenburg and Berlin, Germany.
FriedensBrot e.V., a non-profit organisation set up in Germany, is the initiator and main coordinator of this citizens' initiative. Representatives from 12 countries are involved in the movement. Estonia joined in 2014.
The Estonian delegation was led by Piret Hartmaman, Minister of Regional Affairs.
The delegation included Kerttu Kaldoja, Advisor to the Minister, Janika Salev, Advisor to the Department for External Relations and European Coordination of the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture, and Vahur Kukk, Head of the Genebank at the Rural Knowledge Centre.
At the conference, representatives of civil society organisations gave an overview of the activities of the Peaceful Movement in all countries over the past ten years. Group work was carried out to define activities for the coming years. The main objective was to involve young farmers and representatives of rural areas in the activities of the PeaceLiving movement.
A joint declaration was adopted confirming that agriculture needs cooperation between all countries to function and develop. The link between peace and bread was particularly emphasised -
no peace without bread, no bread without peace.
The main topic of the agriculture ministers' meeting was ensuring food supply in peacetime and in crisis situations. Minister Hartman also met the German Minister for Food and Agriculture, Cem Özdemir.
An ecumenical service was held in the chapel of the former Berlin Wall, where a loaf of rye bread harvested from the fields of the countries participating in the Peace Bread project was cut.
Minister Cem Özdemir handed over the symbolic Peace Bread to the Hungarian delegation, as the conference will be held in Szarvas, Hungary, in 2025.
