The Concept of Positive Peace

Name: The Concept of Positive Peace
Start: 2024-12-11T12:00:00-07:00
Location: The Westbank

Schedule

Wed, 11 Dec, 2024 at 12:00 pm

UTC-07:00

Location

The Westbank | Idaho Falls, ID

French, visiting Rotarian, Loic Bosland, will share the "Concept of Positive Peace" at our Club Meeting this week.
Loïc grew up in a small village called "Vivans" (250 inhabitants), in the middle of nowhere in the center of the country. Curious and interested from a very young age about Science and Technology, he directed his curiosity towards Physics and Chemistry and obtained a Ph.D. in Nuclear Chemistry. Loïc is captivated by foreign languages and cultures and as a result speaks Spanish, English and Italian on top of his native language of French.
Loïc has been involved in international scientific research projects and this international scientific environment led him to be a visiting scientist at SANDIA National Laboratory (Albuquerque, NM) in 2011 and 2012. After returning to France, a 4-hour carpooling ride with a Rotarian convinced him to participate in the creation of a new Rotary Club with the idea being to connect people.
Willing to continue serving in international environments, he joined the France-Nepal[1] InterCountry Committee (ICC) in 2021 while feeling the need to get closer to the USA, again. He contacted the France-USA[2] and USA-France[3] Rotary ICCs and was intrigued by their seminar announcement on “Positive Peace” in 2021 (Rennes, France) together with the Institute for Economics and Peace[4] (IEP). He has been dedicated to promoting the values of Positive Peace in Rotary Clubs (contributing to the first area of focus of rotary: peace and conflicts prevention) which led him to become an IEP Ambassador for Positive Peace in 2023. Then, his RC got certified the first French Peacebuilder Rotary Club by the Rotary Action Group For Peace[5] (RAGFP) and one of the first in Europe.
Last year, a professional opportunity arose to return to the United States for one year, as a visiting scientist at INL, to collaborate on a new research project related to nuclear safety. On top of contributing to this scientific topic, returning on a territory that had been the birthplace of Rotary made sense to him. It is also a great opportunity to continue serving and contributing, in a very modest manner, to the friendship between France and the USA.