Tarja Halonen, Margot Wallström and Marja Lehto are among the speakers in this years digital peace talks.

Due to the corona virus and the measures to stop its spread, this year's peacetalks talks will not be held as usual in the Kastelholm castle on Åland. Instead, the Åland Islands Peace Institute, in collaboration with the the Nordic Institute on Åland (NIPÅ), now arranges a digital conversation, where the speakers participate through internet connection. The goal is for everyone who wants to be able to see and hear the live call.

The peacetalks will be broadcasted March 30th at 13.00 to 15.15 EEST through nipalive.ax

Questions and reflections from the audience can be sent to the e-mail address kastelholmssamtal@peace.ax both before and during the talks.

So far, five out of six speakers have confirmed that they are participating in the digital talks and in addition to this President Tarja Halonen will be attending - she had previously announced that she was unable to be part of this years peacetalks. The speakers who answered affirmative are Margot Wallström, former Swedish Foreign Minister and EU Commissioner, and Marja Lehto, associate professor of international law, ambassador and leading expert at the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Also commentators PellaThiel, ecologist, systemic activist and cultural change agent, Mikael Sjövall, journalist and communicator and career diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Emma Hakala, doctor of political history at the University of Helsinki, have also confirmed their participation.

It is the first time the Åland Island Peace Institute has organized a conference of this kind online and the talks must be both live and banded so that they can be viewed afterwards.

Together with the Åland Peace Institute, we at NIPÅ are very pleased to be able to ensure that the annual peace talks can be carried out despite the spread of ithe Corona-virus and the state in the world right now. It is great to see how cooperations around the annual peacetalks now is being further developed and creating new opportunities for the future.

Information is constantly updated on the Peace Institute's website and through social media.

More information about this year's speakers and theme can be found at www.peace.ax

Contact:
Organization Secretary Miriam Lukola
+358 (0) 40 8262573
mirjam@peace.ax