January 2011

For immediate release

Pioneering Professor of Peace to deliver lecture

Acclaimed peace worker and Professor of Peace Studies, Johan Galtung, will deliver
the 2011 Olof Palme Memorial Peace Lecture, organised by Leeds Metropolitan
University and Leeds City Council Peacelink Group, on Sunday 23 January at Leeds
Civic Hall at 6pm.

Professor Galtung has played an active role in helping mediate and prevent violence
in 45 major conflicts around the world over the past forty years, and is the founder
and Director of TRANSCEND - a peace and development network for conflict
transformation by peaceful means. As a Professor of Peace, he is widely regarded
as the founder of the academic discipline of peace research and one of the leading
pioneers of peace and conflict transformation in theory and practice.

Dave Webb, Professor in Applied Global Ethics at Leeds Metropolitan, commented:

"Academics and students around the world recognise the important work that he has
done to establish Peace Studies as a vital and vibrant academic subject. It is a
wonderful opportunity to bring together the two aspects of Leeds - a city of learning
and a city of peace. It is particularly appropriate that Professor Galtung should be
presenting in memory of the work of Swedish Prime Minster Olof Palme as he was a
personal friend who gave the memorial speech at the day of his funeral."

Councillor Keith Wakefield, Leader of Leeds City Council, said: “It is fantastic that
we have someone of Professor Galtung’s status coming to talk to the people of
Leeds. His work to prevent violence in many major conflicts is worldly acknowledged
and it will be fascinating to hear him speak.”

Johan Galtung has taught Peace Studies at the Universities of Hawai'i,

Witten/Herdecke, Tromsoe, Alicante, Ritsumeikan and the European Peace
University, among many others.
The Leeds International Peace Lecture is held in memory of the late Swedish Prime
Minister, Olof Palme, a leader and campaigner for peace and human rights, who was
assassinated in 1986. Previous lectures have been given by the Mayors of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, actor Patrick Stewart, Nobel Peace Laureate John Hume
and former US Senator George Mitchell.

For more information on the lecture and to get your name on the free guest list,
please email peace@leeds.gov.uk or call 0113 247 4339. There is limited availability
with only 250 tickets available. Tickets will be allocated on a first come first served
basis.

Ends

For further details please contact Carrie Braithwaite in the News and Media team at
Leeds Met on 0113 812 3022 or email c.braithwaite@leedsmet.ac.uk

Notes for editors:

 Leeds Metropolitan University has 30,000 students and over 300,000

associate students through its partnerships with 24 colleges.
 The University has achieved its best ever Research Assessment Exercise
results. Sports-Related Studies is in the top 6 institutions in the country with
research rated at the highest levels of 4* and 3*.
 The University’s award-winning learning environments include the iconic Rose
Bowl building, awarded Best Commercial Property Development in the 2009
Yorkshire Property Awards; Broadcasting Place, winner of the 2010 Leeds
Architecture Awards New Building category and the pioneering Carnegie
Village student accommodation.
 Leeds Metropolitan is one of only a handful of UK universities to have been
awarded the Carbon Trust Standard.
 The University is home to The UK Centre for Coaching Excellence for sport
and disability sport and is 2nd in the British University and Colleges Sport
(BUCS) rankings.
About Peacelink
Peacelink is a group of Leeds organisations, including an elective representative
of Leeds City Council as the chair, who work together on peace initiatives.  In
addition to the lecture the group annually arranges the Hiroshima Nagasaki
memorial service and promotes the Leeds Peacetrail, a walking tour of historic
and important peace sites in the city.  Organisations interested in joining
Peacelink can contact the Secretary at peace@leeds.gov.uk.