Establishment The Non-Violence Project Foundation was born with the idea to use
non-violence to inspire, motivate and engage the young community in positive action and give them the tools and skills to solve conflicts peacefully. In 1993, Jan Hellman and Rolf Skjöldebrand founded the Non-Violence Project. They believed that the best way to achieve the non-violence mission was to convince schools and sports clubs to include violence prevention and life skills programs into their basic education schedule. The Non-Violence Project Foundation's concept was first piloted in Sweden with great success. NVP invited the business community to partner in their endeavor and toured roughly 100 cities, spreading the non-violence message. A year later, NVP had reached 100,000 students and initiated 300 local projects in Sweden. In 1995, a crowd of people gathered at the Sergel's Square in central Stockholm, lighting candles in the shape of the Knotted Gun. Several celebrities participated at the event, such as model
Emma Wiklund, singer
Siw Malmkvist,
Lill-Babs and the actress
Lena Olin. The television host
Kristin Kaspersen organized the event.
Worldwide development Over the years, NVP has increased its international activities from 10 to 31 countries on five continents around the world including the
United States of America, the
United Kingdom,
Brazil,
South Africa,
Japan,
China,
Pakistan,
Mexico,
Sweden,
Uganda,
Peru,
Guatemala,
Tanzania, the
Bahamas,
Liberia,
Kenya,
Italy and
India. The headquarters are in
Geneva, Switzerland. In 2008, the first Knot Violence Campaign was launched in
Portsmouth, United Kingdom, with the support of England soccer goalkeeper
David James and the presence of local pupils. The campaign helped to introduce the Non-Violence Creativity Program into local schools. The initiative was an arts-based education program whose main tool was the Non-Violence Box. The box includes a violence prevention module as well as a one-meter fiberglass replica of the Knotted Gun. Students, teachers and sports coaches are challenged to give their interpretation of the symbol and of what it communicates. David James has worked closely with pupils from City of Portsmouth Boys' School to help them paint their own knotted gun sculptures. He also did his own interpretation which is displayed outside the
Fratton Park stadium in Portsmouth. During the 2010
FIFA World Cup in South Africa, under the campaign theme "Futbol For Peace" and in close cooperation with the
Western Cape and
Gauteng Education Departments, NVP engaged several prominent football players such as the Italian goalkeeper
Gianluigi Buffon, German captain
Michael Ballack,
Wilson Palacios from Honduras,
Alex Song from Cameroon,
Aaron Mokoena from South Africa and football legend
Gus Poyet to paint and interpret the Non-Violence symbol. This became an exhibition at the Waterfront in Cape Town. The painted sculptures communicated a global vision of peace and non-violence and created awareness of the education programs which took place at several youth hubs and schools in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The campaign included daily football tournaments, violence prevention education, life skills training and a "Train the Trainer" program to secure continuity after the World Cup. In 2011, Gianluigi Buffon donated his self-designed Non-Violence sculpture to former South African President
Nelson Mandela on
Mandela Day, July 18, in recognition of his lifelong work to bring peace and non-violence in South Africa and the world. ==Education initiatives==