Nobel Peace Prize Winners

2018-10-16T09:33:31+01:00October 10th, 2014|

On Friday 10th October at 11am, the Nobel Institute will announce the 2014 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has received nominations for 278 candidates (the highest number of nomination in the history of the prize) including nominations for 47 organisations.  The Nobel Peace prize aims to reward a person, or organisation, who’s worked tirelessly for peace despite the world’s many hurdles. Last year, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was awarded the prize for its mission to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons stocks and 16 years of wider global efforts.

Nominees for this year’s award include: Edward Snowden, Pope Francis, Ban-Ki Moon, Malala Yasafzai, the international Space Station Organisation, Jose Mujica, Chelsea (Bradley) Manning) and many others. Since the opening of the College, the Nobel Institute in Oslo has kindly given 5 tickets for RCN students plus one for a member of staff to attend the ceremony in Oslo City Hall – and we look forward to being part of the ceremony on Wednesday 10th December.

Please click here if you would like to learn more about the Nobel Peace Prize. You will also discover on this page that the Red Cross has been awarded the prize on three occasions (1917, 1944, 1963). On this page, there is also a game which invites you to perform as a camp commander of a prisoners of war camp and test your knowledge of the Geneva Convention.

Update:

Nobel Peace Prize Winners 2014: Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzay

This morning, it was announced that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2014 is to be awarded to  and Malala Yousafzay (Pakistan) and Kailash Satyarthi (India) for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education. On behalf of UWC Red Cross Nordic, congratulations to the joint recipients of this award and a heartfelt thank you for your unstinting and continued struggle against suppression and for the rights of children and adolescents. Since starting in 1995 we have had the privilege to send a group of our students to the prize ceremony. This year it will be a very special occasion – the award gives so much hope for young people’s rights for an education.

For more information, please click here.

 

Nordic Ambassadors

2014-10-09T05:01:39+01:00October 9th, 2014|

On Monday 6th October 2014, General Secretary Espen Stedje at “Foreningen Norden”, together with Olemic Thommesen, in his role as Chair, hosted a reception in Oslo as a prelude to the 20th anniversary of our College. This was a fine way of bringing together different stake holders within Nordic co-operation; for the College, it was an opportunity to express our gratitude to representatives of all countries and also to initiate dialogue about the road ahead. Fortuitously, the reception was held on the date of Thor Heyerdahl’s centenary anniversary.

The ambassadors from Denmark (Torben Brylle), Sweden (Axel Wernhoff) and Finland (Erik Lundberg) were all present. Iceland was represented with Embassy Counsellor Elín Rósa Sigurðardóttir. Anne Sofie Bjelland, Special Advisor on Nordic Affairs in the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, was there, together with Secretariat Leader Vibeke Greni from the Norwegian Parliament delegation to the Nordic Council.

Our Chair, Tove Veierød, gave an introduction to the College, followed by an address by Rektor Richard Lamont on Thor Heyerdahl and his vision of a Nordic college – please click here to access the speech. Director of Development Arne Osland presented on recent and future developments at the College. After the lunch, an open invitation to visit the College was given the embassies to connect with our students and staff during their posting as ambassadors to Norway.

Coming up to the end of our teenage years, we will continuously look for relevant ways of combining the Nordic and the global perspectives in our educational operation – also for the next 20 years!

Dr. Ronald Sturm

2014-10-10T06:55:11+01:00October 5th, 2014|

Dr. Ronald Sturm (AC Alumnus), Head of the Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Unit of the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs of Austria, kindly offered to come to UWC RCN for the second year in a row to address the World Today Forum on nuclear disarmament and the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons. Ronald brought with him two copies of the new United Nations publication “action for disarmament: 10 things you can do” (to be found here ) and donated them to the College library for reference and use by Global Politics students and others. He has also invited the College to send a student to be a representative at the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons – we are also looking into live streaming the conference in the auditorium on 8th-9th December.

Ronald, until recently, was a member of the Board at UWC Mostar and has put a great deal of time and energy into contributing to the success of our sister college – and he is also an active member of the Austrian National Committee. As part of his diplomatic portfolio, he will be moving at some point to North Africa in 2015 – and we wish him all the best for this new position.

Thor Heyerdahl Week

2018-10-16T09:33:31+01:00September 29th, 2014|

The 29th September marked the beginning of UWC Red Cross Nordic’s Thor Heyerdahl Week – our College’s contribution to celebrations planned across Norway for the centenary of Thor Heyerdahl’s birth on Monday October 6th.

Thor Heyerdahl – archaeologist, author and explorer –  played a hugely significant part both as International Patron of the United World College movement and, at a later stage, in developing the concept of a United World College in Norway. We continue to be grateful for the support and energy he committed to the establishing of our College in the fjords. Please click here for the speech given by Thor Heyerdahl at the official opening of the College on 30th September 1995.

Thor Heyerdahl Week at RCN included: a presentation on the life and legacy of Thor Heyerdahl, a screening of the film ‘Kon-Tiki’, and a student-led raft-building project. Students this weekend have braved apocalyptic rains to build their own version of Kon-Tiki; the challenge is for the students to attempt to sail the raft across Haugland Bay. Here are some images of the work done so far on the raft.

Indeed on the day of the centenary itself, our Board Chair Tove Veierød, has invited the current Oslo-based Nordic ambassadors to a reception at the Nordic Association  where Rektor Richard Lamont will speak about the vision of Thor Heyerdahl and the other members of the founding team of this College. The text of his speech is here. A delegation from UWC RCN will be meeting with Maja Bauge, the Director of the Kon-Tiki Museum, on Tuesday 7th October.

Heyerdahl taught us of the possibilities of living on a raft or papyrus ship within speaking and touching distance – day and night – with ‘room only for people who could shake each other by the hand’. Following in the footsteps of Thor Heyerdahl and those responsible for the founding of the College, we continue to encourage our students and staff to contribute to society, both now and in the future, by reaching an open hand to fellow humans everywhere.

Click here to see an excellent documentary about Thor Heyerdahl.

 

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