To: UK Universities

UK Universities - Adopt The dED Treaty to End your Partnerships with the Global Arms Trade!

We want to see a world where universities end their partnerships with the global arms trade and invest in peaceful innovation instead - add your voice to this call by endorsing this petition and advocating for The Demilitarise Education (dED) Treaty!

Demilitarise Education (dED) is calling for UK Universities to publicly commit to demilitarisation by adopting The dED Treaty, stating that they will change policy to exclude arms companies, ending their financial, academic and research partnerships with the arms industry, and reinvest in peaceful and renewable sectors. This campaign is being run in partnership with World BEYOND War, a global nonviolent movement to end war and establish a just and sustainable peace.

Why is this important?

The military industrial complex – the relationship between a country’s military and the defence industry – is not often the first thing that comes to mind when we think about UK universities. But as climate change and global conflict escalate, it has never been more important that our education systems are used to advance peace.

But UK universities continue to invest in and partner with the companies who profit from and contribute to this instability. The dED database has uncovered £2BN+ of university investments in military partnerships - and we’ve barely scratched the surface yet!

This demonstrates the massive scope of university relationships with arms entities, rooted in an industry which will not help us tackle modern-day security threats. The arms industry cannot help to resolve the security threats arising from climate change, poverty, and global instability. Veterans for Peace have said this plainly: “War cannot solve the problems we face in the 21st century”. We cannot fight climate change with fighter jets, and cannot solve health crises with combat drones.

As Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”. The military sector and arms industry make their profits from resource exploitation, conflict and the building-up of weapons reserves: the exact things generating instability. To create a more peaceful world, our universities should support and develop security innovations to help us face modern-day security challenges – rather than investing in ones that negatively contribute to the threats we face.

Universities hold undeniable power to shape society. By signing this petition you will help to make sure that this power is used in favour of peace and not war.

Add a direct message to the Chancellor of your University in the comment box available, using your university email address if possible.

Organisational endorsements:

Bury & Salford Peace Group
Centre for Peacebuilding Organisations
For Our Great-Great-Grandchildren
ForcesWatch
Glasgow University Arms Divestment Coalition
International Peace Bureau
London Campaign Against Arms Trade
Manchester & Warrington AM Quaker Peace Group
Musicians for Peace and Disarmament
Rethinking Security
Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group
Scientists for Global Responsibility
Shadow World Investigations
Stockport for Peace
Stop Fuelling War
The Vivienne Foundation
University of Bristol Students Union
WILPF UK

Sign on behalf of an organisation here: https://forms.gle/NLscs5TDJNi1KrjNA

Please also consider supporting our crucial work by contributing to (and sharing) our just-launched fundraising campaign! https://gofund.me/3a8050b7
> Buy dED Merch - https://webuildpeace.shop/

How it will be delivered

Student and staff campaigners and key representatives will deliver the petition directly to their university's Vice Chancellor to negotiate for the adoption of The dED Treaty. It will be used to demonstrate widespread, as well as university-specific, support for this crucial change.

Links

Campaign Facebook Page Campaign Website

Updates

2024-11-11 17:11:06 +0000

Our CrowdFunder campaign is now LIVE!!!🔴 Please donate & share: https://gofund.me/3a8050b7

Hey everyone! 🌍✨ dED has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds to develop a Universities Ranking report.

Please help us raise £10,000 by year-end so to expose and hold universities to account for their complicity in genocide. If we make the goal, a generous donor will match every donation, doubling our impact to £20,000 which will skyrocket dEDs capacity to develop the Universities and Arms Database! 🙌📊

Universities must end their complicity in conflicts.

This report will expose their ties to the arms trade and rank them, creating a strong incentive for demilitarisation and accountability.

Please share with your network and donate. ❤️

2024-11-05 11:00:09 +0000

We are excited to share that dED has received endorsements from several university UCU branches, reinforcing our mission and building trust with university leaders. This support reflects a growing commitment among academic institutions to divest from the arms trade and hold universities accountable for their ties to military contractors. These official endorsements include through co-sponsorsip of on-campus events and passed motions from Durham UCU, Essex UCU, Bristol UCU and Warwick UCU.

This public support marks a significant step toward fostering an ethically responsible educational environment that prioritises peace over profit.

https://www.ucu.essex.ac.uk/2024/02/15/bae-systems-and-the-university-of-essex-motion/
https://warwickucu.org.uk/demilitarisation/

* A portion of the signature total has been collected offline and has not yet been verified by 38 Degrees.