Peace Begins at the Kitchen Table: Rotary's Citizen Diplomacy in Rotterdam

This post is part 4 of 23 in the newsletter of October 2026

Peace does not begin only at the negotiating table. Often, its foundations are laid much earlier — at an ordinary kitchen table, over a shared dinner in someone’s home.

Before delegates from across the world gathered for the plenary sessions of the Rotary European Action Summit in Rotterdam (September 11–13, 2026), many had already spent their first evenings in the homes of local Rotarians, through the tradition of home hosting.

It was there, over a glass of wine and conversation about family, work, and dreams, that the real work of the summit quietly began.

Peace Begins at the Kitchen Table: Rotary's Citizen Diplomacy in Rotterdam - Screenshot 4

Friendship dinners and informal gatherings between hosts and guests proved to be the foundation on which something larger than networking was built: trust. These personal moments sit at the center of “peacebuilding through friendship” — the idea that peace starts with a single conversation between people from different cultures who discover they share more than they expected. TO BELONG, the power of Connections and Action brought together the Rotarians and Rotaractors from across Europe and beyond. When people feel they belong, they connect and dare to act. And when we make connections and act together, we create change that lasts.

This spirit ran through the entire summit and found its symbolic home in the House of Friendship, the interactive hub officially opened by Rotary International President Olayinka Hakeem Babalola. Networking zones, humanitarian exhibitions, and cultural booths showcasing local cuisine and crafts created a space where ideas moved freely among participants from around the globe. The ICC booth, purpose-built to unite Rotarians, Rotaractors, and partners across borders, was one of the most memorable spaces — a fitting tribute to everyone who made it possible.

This message found further expression during the Intercountry Committees (ICC) session, “Connecting for Peace,” held on September 12. Marking more than 76 years of cross-border dialogue rooted in Franco-German postwar cooperation, the session opened with an address by President Babalola, followed by perspectives from the Institute for Economics & Peace — Founder and Executive Chairman Steve Killelea and Europe Director Mathieu Lohr — on global peacebuilding frameworks. A presentation of the Youth Peace Summit by Anastasia Moor preceded interactive panels linking the Rotary Action Group for Peace (Dirk Lustig) with Rotary’s peacebuilding and conflict-prevention programs (Lies van Wijngaarden), moderated by ICC President Annemarie Mostert.

One of the session’s concrete outcomes came with the signing of a Protocol of Intent by RI President Babalola, RI Director and Convenor Harriette Verwey, RI Director and Co-Convenor Emmanuel Katongole, Chair of the European Action Summit 2026 and ICC Chair of The Netherlands, Jan de Mooi and ICC President of the Executive Council, Annemarie Mostert —establishing a framework for cooperation between The Netherlands and D9400 in Southern African. It was a small, formal gesture, but one that gave institutional weight to everything discussed around it that day.

Behind the scenes, Annet Weijermars and Evelina Knowlton together with the ICC executive leadership, host and organising committees in country, organized both the ICC program and the House of Friendship — opening not just the windows of Rotterdam, but its doors.

What links the House of Friendship, the ICC session, and the evening dinners in hosts’ homes or the historic SS Rotterdam is this: institutions build frameworks and strategies, but relationships bring them to life. Rotterdam showed that friendship is not an accessory to citizen diplomacy — it is one of its foundations. A handshake at a front door, a shared meal, a conversation at a market stall: each becomes a small building block in the bridge between nations.

May this summit stand as a reminder that world peace is not only the distant goal of institutions, but something each of us can help build today — by opening our door to a stranger and listening to their story.