1. Proclaim your town/city/county/state to be an International town/city/county/state.

2. Bring together members from a broad range of perspectives to discuss education, its strengths and areas in need of improvement or expansion.

3. Bring together students. Ask them to describe an ideal education. What would they want to be sure all students understood? What are skills all students will need to be able to be successful? What do schools need to do to be sure everyone understands what it means to participate in a true democracy?

4. Bring together people of all ages to discuss what peace means to them.

5. Develop a curriculum on peace for students of all ages. For example, instead of studying wars, study the conditions that enabled countries to live without war for extended periods. What were the characteristics of those countries that lived peacefully for long periods?

6. Develop a curriculum on diversity. Beginning in elementary school, have students learn about themselves. Compare and contrast skin color, backgrounds, beliefs, food, and holiday celebrations. Use a theme of, "It takes all kinds of people to make a world" to discuss issues about diversity.

7. Explore technology available to students and adults in your community. How many have computers in schools? At home? At work? How many have access to the internet? Are students being prepared to do business on the internet in addition to our traditional methods?

8. Have an arts festival featuring the cultures that make up your community. Encourage people to bring in old instruments, music books, pictures, and costumes representing our diverse backgrounds. End the day with a festival of foods. Donate the money for books on diversity for your school.

9. Have an Old Timers Day for the community. Encourage storytelling, dancing, old records, and other items of personal history to be shared with old and young.

10. Have a writing contest on the topic of Peace or Unity. Allow the winners to read their winning compositions on local television. Or have a statewide congress of students and adults talking together on the topics of Peace and Unity.

11. Develop an area of the community to be the International Unity Day celebration location. Have indoor plants donated by community members in honor of those who practice peaceful living.

12. Invite students from several locations to discuss race relations and to develop activities to interact together peacefully.

13. Develop International Unity Day buttons, slogans, banners, parades, and discussions. Select a planning committee to develop long-range community themes on living together peacefully. Encourage members not often invited including the poor, disabled, or other often-disenfranchised members to participate. Develop new initiatives that can become themes in churches and community organizations.

14. Develop a definition for health. Define what it means to be healthy from birth through old age. Assess you community services for strengths and also for gaps. Develop a plan for providing new services to promote and strengthen the quality of life for all people in your community.

15. Adopt a town/city/county/state in another country. Communicate through a variety of media including internet technology.

16. Celebrate those initiatives already in place that exemplify unity and peace across differences. Celebrate those educational experiences that are preparing students to be successful in a diverse society. Celebrate the use of the internet as a communication tool for developing understanding around the world.

  For more information: www.humanempowerment.org