Structure

As a network, the group will not form an organisation of its own and will not raise any membership fees. It will rather aim to help its members to establish contacts, to exchange ideas and to organise activities of all kinds, using the connections and relying on the name and the public 'address' of the network.

The network will aim to organise a venue for the face-to-face exchange and discussion of ideas, either through the organisation of conferences on its behalf, or through the organisation of thematic panels in the context of other European history conferences.

During the foundational stage, the network will also invite major relevant institutions (university departments of peace studies, research institutes, archives and libraries working on the history of peace and non-violence, as well as peace museums) in various countries either to become members of the network or, where their institutional regulations do not allow this, to name full-time staff members who could work as liaisons in the respective country.

The network will also seek to establish a close cooperation with the Peace History Society in the USA, the Arbeitskreis Historische Friedensforschung in the Federal Republic and with the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) and its Peace History Commission (PHC).

The internal structure of the network would need to be determined by its founding members. The network should perhaps elect a chairperson and a vice-chairperson for a three-year term in order to increase the visibility of the network, allow for accountability, and channel incoming enquiries.

The chairs would have a special responsibility for co-ordinating and managing the network as well as gather and channel proposals for new initiatives. They would also handle applications. Brief statutes should spell out the aims and structures of the network. One of the founding institutional partners of the network should be asked to take on the responsibility for the servicing of membership lists and the webpage of the network.