Peace Circle – From Insight to Circle

Peace Circle wasn’t born at a desk, but in the soil, in song, and through years of lived experience. This is for all of us who wish to build peace – within ourselves, in our relationships, and in our environments.The model can be applied in everyday life, as well as in schools, communities, organizations, and city development.

I’ve been planting trees within my network for over 20 years. At first, it was an environmental act on the International Day of Peace. Gradually, I came to understand it was also part of how my personal understanding of peace was evolving. To strengthen the message, I composed a song for it – and it has since been sung around the world. It shows how peace can also be communicated through culture and shared experiences.

Planting trees taught me what peace truly is. It’s about compassion and hope – seeing growth and meaning even in small beginnings. It also requires understanding: how trees are connected to the environment, the climate, and our well-being. And in the end, it’s about action – the moment when hands reach for a shovel and roots are laid in the ground.

This experience crystallized last year into a concrete form. The idea of a peace symbol–shaped place emerged, a space where peace can be both experienced and cultivated. Its three lines began to represent three fundamental human dimensions: the heart, the head, and the hands. They are like roots, growing from the same core in different directions. And it is their balance that keeps the tree – and peace – standing.

When one of them is missing, peace wavers.Feeling without understanding can blind.Thinking without compassion turns cold.Action without either can lose its purpose.Only when the heart, the head, and the hands work together can peace truly take root and endure.

Peace Circle is a model in which peace is built through emotion, insight, and action. It is now being applied in schools, community projects, and international networks. The model has also expanded into a digital environment – a virtual Peace Park where users can explore symbolic trees, reflect on peace values, engage in simple practices, and share their experiences. It serves as a space for learning, reflection, and connection across borders.

For example, in one classroom activity, students are divided into three groups: heart, head, and hands.Each group reflects on the values connected to their part – such as compassion, wisdom, or protecting nature – and presents a situation where these values can help in school, at home, or in nature.The exercise helps students see how emotion, thinking, and action are connected in real-life acts of peace.

Peace doesn’t live only within us – it lives between us and around us, among people and in our relationship with nature.Ultimately, peace is planetary – a connection with all living things, and a way of being that allows life to continue sustainably, together, and in mutual care.