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In the modern world, people in cities tend to live lives quite removed from nature. Many people in urban spaces have never had the experience of growing their own food, or tending to a garden at all. Yet as the movement to counteract climate change and build more sustainable living spaces grows, some people are seeking ways to rekindle their communities' relationships with the environment.

Peace Boat will visit the Port of Seattle, Washington for the first time on Tuesday, August 7, 2018 as part of its 98th Global Voyage. To celebrate the inaugural visit of the Peace Boat to the one of the most sustainable cities in the United States, Peace Boat will host a special event onboard the ship entitled "Sailing for Sustainability", in collaboration with the Impact Travel Greater Seattle, Adventure Travel Trade Association and the Port of Seattle.

From June 25 to July 13, Peace Boat organized the second edition of the Ocean and Climate Youth Ambassador Programme. With this programme, Peace Boat brings young people from the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the Caribbean to travel onboard its ship to engage in capacity training and raise awareness about the impact of ocean degradation and climate change issues affecting their regions, spreading their messages to civil society organizations and governments across the world. 

Though the seven Ocean and Climate Youth Ambassadors remained onboard for a relatively short portion of Peace Boat's 98th Global Voyage, they made quite an impact while they were on the ship. The group kept busy with discussions and lectures on climate change, attending social and artistic events, and of course, getting to know each other better through their shared commitment to fighting for a safer and more sustainable future for their countries and the world.

On 26 June, a special feature of Peace Boat's 98th Global Voyage oyage officially began: the Ocean and Climate Youth Ambassador Programme.

Peace Boat welcomes the agreements made at the US-DPRK Summit in Singapore on June 12, 2018, by the leaders of both states to move away from hostile relations and towards cooperation for the permanent peace and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Education has been at the core of Peace Boat's mission since inception. Peace Boat began in 1983, in the midst of a controversy about how Japanese textbooks should cover Japan's WWII-era actions. When a newly developed national curriculum deeply upset many of Japan's neighbors, a group of Japanese university students decided to travel by sea to learn from people there about how they understood the war and Japan's military activities of the time.

Peace Boat and the Global Challenges Foundation will hold a symposium onboard Peace Boat's vessel in Stockholm, on June 26. The event, ‘Ocean Degradation and Climate Change: Perspectives from the Global to the Local', will bring together young leaders from Small Island States, experts, and activists to consider the dual crises of ocean degradation and climate change.

A Step Towards a Peaceful, Nuclear-Free Korean Peninsula
Statement by the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC)

As a global network of civil society peacebuilding organisations, the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) welcomes today's historic summit and subsequent agreement in Singapore by President Donald Trump of the United States and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). The points laid out in the agreement, relating to the establishment of new US-DPRK relations, the building of a lasting peace regime, and the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula are important, positive steps forward to achieving a peaceful, nuclear-free Northeast Asia.

On May 8th, 2018, the Ocean Dream departed from Yokohama for the 98th voyage of Peace Boat. The chilly weather did nothing to dampen the spirits of the attendees at the opening ceremony, who gathered to celebrate the start of the long-awaited voyage.

The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) Northeast Asia, a network of civil society organizations working for peace and dialogue in the region, wholeheartedly congratulates the leaders of the DPRK and the ROK, as well as the Korean people, for the historic achievement of the "Panmunjeom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula" issued following the Inter-Korean Summit of April 27, 2018 at the Peace House on the southern side of Korea's Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The Summit contributed to a significant reduction of tensions and indeed avoidance of the catastrophe of a potential nuclear war. Furthermore, it showed the world the true impact of committed leadership and diplomacy, and the direct, personal meeting between the leaders of both Koreas sent a powerful wave of emotion around the world.

From April 2-20, Peace Boat US held the second instalment of its Sailing for Sustainability programme, developed to offer youth from the United States and around the world the opportunity to gain firsthand experience in issues related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including environmental degradation, indigenous culture and gender equality.