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The Peace Crane Project, founded in 2013 by Sue DiCicco, was created at the request of the United Nations International Day of Peace NGO, in order to promote world peace and raise awareness of the International Day of Peace (21 September). Over one million children are estimated to have taken part in the project.
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Background
Although the Peace Crane Project is designed to stand on its own, the reason the UN contacted DiCicco in the first place was because of her already-existing organization Armed With The Arts, and of her involvement with children. The Peace Crane Project was initially intended as a global art project for children, but it has been advertised more widely as something everybody can join in, anytime of the year.
The origami crane was already a symbol associated with the idea of world peace through the story of Sadako Sasaki. The Peace Crane Project participates each year in the celebration of the 20th Annual Sadako Peace Day, hosted by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in Montecito.
Concept
Participants in the Peace Crane Project are required to fold an origami crane and then sign up on the website to exchange their crane with someone in a different city, state, country or continent. They are encouraged to take a photo of their crane after placing it in their community, and to upload the photo online. Journalist Liza Frenette wrote in her article: "Placed on a countertop, windowsill, in the crook of a tree, on a blackboard ledge, a sports field, a desk, a dining room table, or a bureau – or strung from a ceiling- the brightly colored cranes, so delicate, are whispers for peace."
An online map on the website shows the various locations of peace cranes around the world. Several of the participating schools have also been keeping a blog on their participation to the project. In Bangalore, India, over sixty schools took part in the peace crane exchange in 2013.
Other non-profits are joining the effort: the Canadian arts and culture non-profit Muskoka Chautauqua contributed to the project by holding several peace crane workshops in the Muskoka, Ontario area between August 14–23, 2014. DiCicco made a special guest appearance on Friday, Aug. 22 at Clevelands House, leading a peace cranes folding workshop. DiCicco and the Peace Crane Project also join the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation's "Sadako Day" held at La Casa de Maria Retreat & Conference Center in Santa Barbara, California each August 6, in honor of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.
World Crane Tour
The Peace Crane Project announced a new initiative for 2017, inviting students around the world to fold a crane and include it in a traveling exhibit of 1,000 cranes which will appear at a variety of venues over the next several years.
Awards
Purpose Global included the Peace Crane Project in its inaugural list of the 500 most influential global initiatives for peace in 2016.