Imagine a nonviolent city where everyone strives to practice nonviolence, where all institutions teach and promote nonviolence, where violence is no longer rampant. That is the vision of the “Nonviolent Cities Project” of Pace e Bene (peace and all good), an American NGO. In this project, people are working to make this vision a reality in the US and ultimately the world. Under the banner of “Campaign Nonviolence”, the organization engages with activists in the US to create more just and violence-free cities.

It all started with Carbondale, Illinois and their Nonviolent Carbondale project where people have been working for years to create a more violence-free community in every aspect of life in Carbondale. When John Dear of Pace e Bene visited the community, he saw how every aspect of the community worked to promote nonviolence at the local level. They’re working with the city council, police, the school system, libraries, health care, religious communities, and non-profit organizations. With the support of Nonviolent Carbondale, John and Pace e Bene launched the Nonviolent Cities Project which now has organizers in over 50 cities across the US that have launched their own Nonviolent Cities.

The project invites everyone to work together with people in their local community to claim this vision as progress, uphold this vision and make their city a violence-free city. And to bring together activists and local leaders, following the example of nonviolent Carbondale and work for a nonviolent local community or city.

Perhaps the greatest impact of the Nonviolent Cities Project is the collaboration in every city to address violence in all institutions. The project requires cities to create a holistic, creative vision for the entire city, in which everyone practices, promotes, educates and institutionalizes nonviolence together. Hopefully, the organizers of the Nonviolent Cities Project can inspire others to work together for a new nonviolent community and a new nonviolent future. In this way, they not only try to undermine the local and regional culture of violence, but also strive for a reform or transformation towards a general culture of nonviolence. The project shows that it is possible to jointly tackle issues of violence in the cities and pursue nonviolence for a nonviolent transformation of every city.

Some organizers of the Nonviolent Cities project also use the Study Guide published by Pace e Bene: “Engaging Nonviolence, Activating Nonviolent Change in Our Lives and Our World“.

Read more on Paceebene.org/nonviolent-cities and see the plan with The Seven Steps.