COPENHAGEN PEOPLE POWER CONFERENCE
4th - 6th of March, 2025
ActionAid Denmark, together with partners, will host the 2nd Copenhagen People Power Conference from the 4th-6th of March 2025. The goal of the conference is to deepen our understanding of the importance of supporting social movements for global peace and justice.
In light of the escalating conflicts and humanitarian crises witnessed globally over the past decade, the imperative for collective action in support of peace and justice has never been more pressing. From Palestine to Ukraine, from Sudan to Myanmar, the need for effective strategies to address conflict and promote lasting peace is evident. It is within this context that the Copenhagen People Power Conference aims to explore the vital role of social movements in driving positive change.
The conference will focus on areas under the theme peace and justice, looking at the impact of social movements in conflict resolution, and the imperative for inclusive and collaborative approaches to building sustainable peace.
Join us!
We invite movement leaders, government representatives, parliamentarians, academia, multilateral institutions, private and bilateral donors, media, activists, and civil society organizations from around the world focused on how to solve the biggest crises of today and those interested in the role of social movements to do so.
Through panel discussions, workshops, and keynote addresses, participants will have the opportunity to exchange insights into the newest research and learnings of social movements, share best practices, and establish alliances for collective action.
Themes for the conference
What do we want to achieve
The Copenhagen People Power Conference aims to directly improve the prevention, mitigation, and resolution of violent conflict around the world, by increasing the support from key external stakeholders to movements working for positive peace.
Our mission is to unite movement leaders across generations and contexts to heal, learn, and strategize. We aim to:
- Foster connections and healing among movement leaders.
- Explore commonalities and lessons across different movements.
- Discuss strategies and tactics specific to pre-, during, and post-conflict situations.
- Explore specific movement support mechanisms.
Social movements creating People Power
At the heart of the drivers of conflict in many contexts around the world is economic, political, and social inequality: access to resources, land, food, housing, education and the marginalization and discrimination of minorities. Therefore, the struggle for peace cannot be separated from the struggle for social justice. Supporting social movements and the organizations they form is crucial for peacebuilding.
It is increasingly recognized that institutional peacemaking and movement-based approaches are complementary pillars in strategies for transforming conflict and establishing a durable and just peace: while institutional peacebuilders may adopt an impartial stance that prioritizes stability and depolarization in a conflict, social movements can ensure that transformative justice is also prioritized. And whereas some institutional peacebuilding approaches focus on engaging with the leaders of states and armed groups, the inclusion of social movements ensures that societal engagement is both broad and deep.
Research shows that while citizens' engagement through small and large-scale movements contribute positively to peacebuilding before, during and after conflicts, they are seldom understood and included in formal peacemaking efforts. Better support to them is key to reform a peace-making system in crisis.