Over thirty former combatants, social and cultural operators gathered in Naples from 15 to 17 October to build a Euro-Mediterranean platform which aims at developing cooperation in the field of dialogue, reconciliation and peace.

During the Seminar, participants who came from Italy, Ireland, United Kingdom, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, Turkey, Israel and Palestine agreed that the platform should be working on the basis of the following principles:
- The platform should result useful to the respective organizations involved in the platform, and should support them in their activities. The platform should therefore multiply and not replace the activities of the involved organizations, as time and resources are limited.

- The platform should offer mutual support in terms of exchange of knowledge and services, and in terms of international participation in actions of the organizations represented in the platform. In mutual support there is not a "giver" and a "receiver": all parts must benefit from the process.

- The platform should facilitate processes of “conscientization” in the terms described by the philosopher Paulo Freire: Getting aware of the state of oppression, Liberating yourself from oppression, Mobilizing and participating actively in the transformation of the society in which you live. Those addressed by the activities of the platform are all potential actors of transformation. The "conscientization" - which can be built up in different ways and with different means - can make of the involved persons the main actors of a conflict solution process.

- The platform shall gather ex-combatants, but the platform's expertise could help also establishing a space of support to nonviolent action in the societies of the Euro-Mediterranean region at large. The experience of the ex-combatants could in fact help social activists in other violent contexts under a state of tension and crisis (areas with a marked ethnic diversity due to the presence of immigrant communities, areas subject to the control of organised crime; etc.). Supporting nonviolent action could also be required in a context of post-armed conflict, where reconciliation is necessary, or in a context of potential armed conflict, where the conditions for the use of weapons start to emerge.

- The platform should work on the human dimension of those who are involved in a conflict. Working on rediscovering the humanity of people means preparing the conditions for a political and social change in those conflict areas.

- The platform should start promoting concrete projects which can engage the different organizations represented in the platform. Without a project-oriented and operational focus, the development of the platform might indeed be at risk. Promoting concrete projects implies the adoption of a working methodology, establishing cooperation with partners, and identifying the resources to implement those projects. The Anna Lindh Foundation can facilitate the promotion of concrete projects of the platform. The promotion of such projects shall require the engagement of other donors.

- The platform should be able to meet periodically, in order to build on the foundations laid down in Naples. Fondazione Mediterraneo is ready to offer a space to periodically host the platform working meetings, in the frame of its International Peace Workshops.

The Nonviolence Seminar was organized by the Anna Lindh Foundation, Fondazione Mediterraneo and ARCI Italy, in cooperation with Combatants for Peace (winners of the 2009 Euro-Med Dialogue Award) and the Coordination of Italian Cities and Towns for Peace and Human Rights, and with the participation of Libera and the Italian Office of Civil Service.