Foreword

You can't really put what happens at a War Resisters' International Triennial into a brief report. It's a time when WRI activists from around the world gather. Over the course of a week together, 180 people attended from 20 countries/ from every continent. The conference title -- Stories and Strategies: nonviolent resistance and social change -- was really the central theme. Storytelling began at each morning's plenary as somebody told their own personal story. Storytelling and sharing strategies continued in the evening plenaries and daily theme groups.

People who worked together from a distance came together in Dublin. It was also a place for people new to WRI to join with us, to bring their stories, strategies and to learn with us. It was an opportunity for all of us to network, to bring information back to our grassroots organizing, to create links across borders. It was also a time for stories to be told through music and theatre and over meals and into the evening as we continued to talk and listen.

This report does tell some of the stories that were told and the strategies that we shared and developed. If you attended the Triennial, this will refresh your memory and be a record of the plenaries and theme group you attended. But so much more happened than any one of us could tell. So, for everyone -- whether or not you were there -- it is a record of the stories and strategies we shared as we strengthen our nonviolent resistance and work for social change. You'll find resources listed in a number of the theme group reports if you are interested in reading more about the topic.

Many theme groups made suggestions for further work. The WRI Triennial Business Meeting and Council have taken the proposals into consideration and incorporated many into our programme work for the coming years. This Triennial is part of a process. We will not leave the theme behind, we will continue to explore how to use stories and how they help us develop strategies.

I want to thank everyone who made this Triennial possible. It takes a lot of work to organize such an event. Thanks to the staff, volunteers, presenters, facilitators, resource people, the funders and all the participants.

Joanne Sheehan