ATU Signs MoU with Berghof Foundation and Peace Museum

Directorate of International Academic Cooperation–

An MoU was signed between ATU, Berghof Foundation and Tehran Peace Museum on 20 April 2017.

The session was held with the presence of the Executive Director of the Berghof Foundation; the Director of the Peace Education and World Learning Programme; some officials from the Peace Museum; the Dean of ATU Faculty of Law and Political Sciences (LPS); and other LPS Vice-Deans, the three parties discussed various advantages of peace, numerous disasters of war, and the cultural dialogue among world countries.

Dr Seyed Mansour Mir Saeedi, Dean of the LPS Faculty first welcomed the guests and hoped that such sessions can open new horizons to the parties' serious cooperation. He then pointed to the willingness of ATU to expand its ties internationally and the special capacities of ATU LPS to have academic cooperation with international society. He then added that one of the benefits of each collaboration is the mutual understanding and friendship it brings about in the relations of the two countries and insisted on the multiple effects of the present MoU dealing, specially with the issue of peace.

Dr Hamid Salehi, Faculty Member at ATU LPS and Member of the Board of Directors at Tehran Peace Museum, then pointed to the many efforts made by the veteran members of the Museum as the harbingers of peace and their firm belief in the rightness of their way.

Then Prof Hans Joachim Giessmann, said: "In fact, this MoU will bring about a joint learning activity, as well as a sharing of experiences and knowledge by its three parties, and paving the way for further steps." He then added that the mixture of cultures and histories of the parties to this MoU can lead to the formation of a joint cooperation model in the field of peace.

Mr Mohammadreza Taghipour Moghadam, Director of Tehran Peace Museum, then recounted his memory of one of the visits by a group of students of Peace Studies from Uppsala University to the Museum, saying: "On those days, I wished that we could one day deal with the subject formally and academically. Today I am so pleased to see that, thanks to the efforts of ATU, we are approaching this aim."

At the end of the session, Dr Mir Saeedi, Dr Giessmann, and Dr Salehi signed the MoU on behalf of LPS, the Berghof Foundation, and the Tehran Peace Museum.