What does it mean to be an International City of Peace (ICP)? For Cleveland, and 400 other cities around the world, it means promoting peace, safety and quality of life.
A year ago, on the United Nations Day of Peace, “Cleveland” officially became the 401st International City of Peace (ICP).
This proclamation, which is a symbolic commitment to advancing peace, was announced on the stage of the LatinUs Theater in the Pivot Center located on W. 25th Street. The designation was facilitated by the Heartfulness Meditation Center (HMC) that holds weekly meetings in the Urban Community School in Ohio City. For over four decades in Cleveland, this organization has quietly promoted peace through teaching meditation, inner connection, relaxation and a signature practice they call rejuvenation.
What are International Cities of Peace?
ICP is a global network that was formally established in 2009. It’s a non-political association and not-for-profit. J. Frederick Arment is the founder and chair of International Cities of Peace, an organization dedicated to cultivating and mentoring peace leadership.
“Working for Peace is what our essence is about,” said Arment. “Rather than telling people how to find peace, directing them, or coordinating them, I consider myself a lead facilitator. There are approximately 8 billion people on the planet, 8 billion ways to work for peace, and we need to respect that. The cities of peace themselves are what should be given the accolades. They are the people. They are the leaders.”
ICP now has dozens of volunteer central facilitators and hundreds of leaders and teams on six continents, 76 countries and 475 cities. Cleveland is now one of them.
How Did It Begin for Cleveland
The HMC first submitted its Intention for Peace in an application to ICP. They believe that inner peace in an individual can be the foundation for resolving conflict at home, work, local communities and on the global stage. This Intention for Peace takes place every night on Zoom from 9 to 9:15 p.m. They facilitate a guided session meant to connect participants to their own inner tranquility and then through a collective intention, amplify and radiate that peace into our environment. https://www.heartfulnessmeditationcleveland.org/community-of-hearts
The goal is to provide practical experience in peacebuilding. Their effort in promoting the principle of peace aligned with ICP qualifications. And now, Cleveland is the 401st city of peace.
Nadine Feighan, who has practiced Heartfulness for over 25 years and is a certified trainer in their method, played a key role in Cleveland becoming an International City of Peace. She shared with me how she believed an intention for peace could be effective.
“I have worked for peace in various functions and ways, governmentally, education, non-profits. I’ve done a lot of protests and outreach over my lifetime,” Feighan said. “I learned through my meditation practice that logically, if you’re not peaceful on the inside, you probably can’t be peaceful on the outside. In my own little way to bring peace into the world, I do this Intention for Peace.”
Finding Their Way
Many citizens and organizations were invited to join the peace wave. This initiative became “Cleveland’s Rise to a City of Peace.” The project title was inspired by Rhonda Crowder (Editor’s note: Crowder was recently appointed to the Land’s Board of Directors) who facilitates the Early Ink community writing club that is hosted by Literary Cleveland. The HMC, a nonprofit organization, then applied for an action grant with Neighbor Up, neighborupcle.org whose mission is to strengthen community relations. They were awarded the grant which was instrumental in fulfilling their goal — to bring awareness to the residents of Cleveland that it had become a city of peace.
In the lead-up to Cleveland’s official proclamation being announced, HMC held weekly sessions of the Intention for Peace last August and September. They had the full support of The Martin Luther King Jr. library branch on Euclid; The Cleveland Museum of Art Community Arts Center and The Pivot Center, both located on W. 25th Street. Certified Heartfulness trainers led a 15-minute guided experience of inner focus.
These sessions anchored HMC’s mission to bring peace and tranquility to the city.
According to Feighan, many studies show that positive group intentions can affect our environments. She suggested looking at the Center for Wellness and Achievement in Education website, https://www.cwae.org/ where you can view their story that made national news on NBC. Cleveland’s Rise to a City of Peace project members were inspired by the CWAE experiment. They then reached out to Dornat Drummond, chief director of public safety for Cleveland, requesting help from his department. Through email correspondence, he wrote: “I applaud the initiative and will do what we can to support the endeavor.”
Senior Strategist Michael Herb, from Drummond’s team, assisted the group by gathering crime rate data during the intentions for peace. It was submitted to the Heartfulness Institute who sponsored the local meditation center’s grant project. Their research team will eventually put the collected data into an information graph. https://www.heartfulnessinstitute.org/research-about/ The HMC is hopeful that the data will provide some tangible evidence for Cleveland.
Through the many collaborations, the cultivation of peace was now on its way into the broader community.
Official Proclamation
Mayor Justin Bibb was informed of the designation for Cleveland at that time. He provided the official proclamation, which was then announced on the United Nations International Day of Peace, on September 21, 2025.
“In Recognition of Cleveland, International City of Peace: on behalf of the citizens of the City of Cleveland, I am honored to offer this Proclamation in recognition of Cleveland being recognized as the 401st International City of Peace. I urge all Clevelanders to join me in celebrating such a wonderful honor. We are proud and grateful.”
Arment posted on the International Cities of Peace Facebook and website the following statement:
“And so, it begins. The Epiphany does not come on the day a community becomes a City of Peace. It arrives in stages: Should we? Could we? But how? Relationships begin to develop. Schools. Spiritual groups. Businesses. Sports. City Commissioners. New guard. Old guard. Cleveland had an Epiphany. They celebrated. Communed. A small group, now large, were inspired.”
The Heartfulness Meditation Center invites all Clevelanders to join the peace wave and create their own unique efforts to cultivate peace throughout the city.
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