November 13-14, 2026 : join our international conference on civilian-based defence in Strasbourg

The Mouvement pour une Alternative Non-violente (MAN), the Institut pour la Paix (IPP), the Institut de recherche sur la Résolution Non-violente des Conflits (IRNC), the Organization for Nonviolent Movements (ONM), the Center on Nonviolent Conflict Research (CNCR, USA) and the Organization for Nonviolent Movements (ONM) are organising a conference on November 13th and 14th 2026 :

« CONSTRUCTIVE DEFENCE : The contribution of unarmed civilian-led strategies to whole-of-society defence »

Registration is now open !

Capacity is limited. You can book (optional) on site accommodation and meals during registration.
Register here : bit.ly/inscriptioncol26

We have launched a crowdfunding campaign. If you want to support our project you can donate here : bit.ly/doncol26

Why do we organize this conference ?

In an uncertain, turbulent and imperilled world, military responses to contemporary threats appear to be increasingly challenged. We are nevertheless seeing the emergence of civilian initiatives across the world showing that it is possible to implement civilian-led strategies without involving armed forces.

What are the objectives ?

We believe it is both necessary and urgent for civil society organisations to update and share their work in the field of unarmed civilian-based defence and to publicise their innovative and disruptive proposals in this field.

We want to bring together a wide range of actors (activists, researchers, political leaders or from the military) from Europe and beyond to exchange experiences and reflections on unarmed civilian defence. Together, it is our hope to explore and to bring to the fore the value, the feasibility, and the limitations of unarmed civilian options in the field of defence.

Proposed themes

• WHY study the contributions of nonviolent strategy to defence and security at the present time ?
• THE LOGIC OF UNARMED CIVILIAN-BASED DEFENCE
• WHO AND WITH WHAT IMPACT ? : (Historical experiments, implementation conditions)
• IMPLEMENTATION : exchanges of perspectives from politicians, the military, and civil society

For more details, you can download the full conference presentation below :