The Demilitarise Education Treaty

Becoming a champion for peace.

Preface

This Treaty (available at ded1.co) is designated for UK universities, also referred to as higher education institutions. This is dED’s central document, which is used to engage university administration with the need to commit to demilitarisation (defined below). dED’s goal is to engage every brick and mortar university in the UK with the opportunity of making a public and long-term commitment to break from the military industrial academic complex (MICA), in signing, universities make a plan to demilitarise, with changes occurring at a yearly rate. This will enable dED to begin to work with universities to carry out this agreement, further benchmarking and enabling their commitment to transparency, accountability and cooperation with this process.

Disclaimer

The Treaty provides recommendations as part of a comprehensive demilitarisation model for universities. Articles are subject to signature and ratification, representing a planned commitment with Demilitarise Education and does not constitute formal, legal, or other professional advice beyond this process. dED is committed to working with universities to plan this agreement and support university administration to make the changes needed to demilitarise and become champions of peace.

Revised edition of 2022. Latest version as of 31/10/2023.

All rights reserved. dED maintains ownership of this document as work done by employees. Permission is granted to download or copy for personal and educational uses only. Commercial copying, hiring, and lending is strictly prohibited.

Interpretations

The following terms are defined as they appear in the dED university and arms database, given the official definitions and dED’s context, linked here:

In alphabetical order:

Academic Partnerships	A partnership between universities to collaboratively facilitate the delivery of learning and other strategic opportunities. For example, graduate schemes, degree apprenticeships, academic scholarships, consultancy, donations and sponsorships (incl. sponsored departments, see dED context).
Arms companies	Companies that produce weapon systems (including small and light weapons, heavy and conventional weapons, and nuclear weapons) in one or more sectors (including dual-use purpose companies) (see dED context).
Arms trade Brick and mortar university	Purchase/Sale/Distribution and/or production or manufacture of military goods and services to military customers domestically and/or abroad. A college, university, or other type of school that conducts the majority of their instruction on a physical campus with courses being taught primarily in person. Also referred to as traditional institutions.
Defence or Military	The central leading military institution in the UK. This definition includes The Ministry of Defence (MoD), MoD-serving labs and military entities, e.g. The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), and military bodies within the British armed forces.
Demilitarisation	Removing, and sustaining removal, of all investments, academic and research partnerships, monetary or otherwise, with the arms trade and Military Industrial Complex (MIC) inclusive of all arms companies, defence or military (dED context).
Divestment	The act of selling or removing the shares you own in a company or of taking money away from where you have invested it. In dED’s context, the action or process of finalising or selling off current investments or shareholdings on the premise of an ethical or moral standing/code of the investor.
Dual Use	Goods, software, technology and personnel that can have both civilian and military (arms trade or defence) applications.
Investment	An investment is an asset or item acquired with the goal of generating income or profiting from appreciation (the increase in the value of an asset over time). Direct investment: The university directly puts money into an arms company through shareholdings, and profits off the company's success and growth. Third-party investment: The university uses an outsourced fund management service to control their investments.
Military Industrial Complex (MIC)	An alliance between military leaders and the industries that benefit from international conflict, such as arms companies. This includes public military institutions such as the MoD and armed forces entities, as well as private bodies such as private and arms companies. Military Industrial Academic Complex (MICA): The interrelationships between universities, the arms industry, and military establishment (Congressional Record, 1967:4). As a concept, it describes universities becoming increasingly dependent on military contracts, grants, and funds.
‘Peaceful and sustainable sectors and industries’	A work domain whose operations does not contribute to war or violence and minimises impact to climate and environment.
Research Partnerships	The collaborative effort of researchers and industry to achieve the common goal of producing new scientific knowledge. Specifically, research collaborations that involve the active student body or academic staff with companies or institutions who have commissioned university faculty, department, entity or individual to carry out and produce research that contributed to the defence industry/arms trade.
Undertakes	Describes the agreement, an active commitment or promise to plan and carry out said plan. Synonym for declares, pledges, vows, certifies, asserts, maintains and upholds.

Text of Treaty

Preamble

The Universities party to this Treaty,

In signing this Treaty,

Considering the devastation that armed conflict has had in the world,

Believing that, as higher education institutions, they hold a responsibility for forming tomorrow’s leaders,

Believing that, as higher education institutions, they are at the forefront of innovation in the technology and research sectors,

In advocating for the respect of human rights and the end of violent conflicts,

Undertaking to create a better tomorrow for the next generation by educating the youth of today,

Expressing their support for human rights, sustainable peace, and efforts to curtail the climate crisis,

Desiring to further their presence in research and development of future technologies as crucial and necessary for peaceful and sustainable industries,

Have agreed as follows:

Article 1

Upon signing, the institution will maintain a commitment to transparency by publishing and providing publicly accessible and detailed information of funding from or linked to arms companies and the military, to dED and in compliance with all requests made under the Freedom of Information Act of 2000.

1 - Interpretation

Universities should willingly, and upon request, disclose information about any funding they have received from or linked to arms trade companies and the military (directly and indirectly). This means that all universities should (begin or continue to) list all direct investments made, third-party financial or investment managers, all active research projects, academic or collaborative efforts with external partners. This could be through complying with FOI's for full disclosure of information or publicly letting people know a project/academic partnership is paid, sponsored or in partnership by/with an arms entity (to a reasonable extent). Transparency is the first step in a university’s cooperation with this agreement.

Article 2

Upon signing, no new investments, academic partnerships, and research partnerships will be made with arms companies and the military.

2 - Interpretation

dED recognises these links cannot be broken in a day and sometimes the university will have sustained investments or partnerships contracts that need to expire. At a minimum upon signing this Treaty, the university should commit to not forming any new partnerships and not taking any funds from arms companies and the military.

Article 3

Each Institution party to this treaty undertakes to meet with student representatives and researchers from various degree levels and departments, to negotiate the creation or amendment of an existing ethical investment policy, which commits to divest from arms and defence companies that have a dual use nature to their products and/or services, where these investments are directly or through dual-use contributing to the development of arms and/or defence (military) weapons, technologies and systems.

3.1 Each Institution party to this treaty undertakes to meet with student representatives to negotiate the appointment of an ethical investment fund manager to redirect investment into peaceful and sustainable sectors and industries.

3.2 In accordance with Article 1, reports and minutes will be published of meetings between the student body, committees responsible for relevant areas such as investments and finance, development, sustainability and ethics.

3.3 Following the creation or amendment of an existing ethical investment policy, and subsequent reporting and appointment of an ethical investment fund manager, each institution party to this treaty undertakes to divest and reduce by at least 1/3 of their investments in the arms trade and the defence industry (subject to negotiation depending on existing investments). This reduction will occur at a yearly rate. Within one year, proof of reduction is reported using dED’s database and evidence of ethical reinvestment is expected to appear in the next annual investment report/portfolio.

3 - Interpretation

Create an alternative investment portfolio, working with the university’s lead financial officer, third-party investments managers, and involve student and researcher representatives, including but not limited to: SU council members made up of elected positions like SU President, SU Vice-President, sabbatical officers, group or society members, and individual college or school representatives. Third-party investments should adhere to the commitments made in this Treaty.

Article 4

Each Institution party to this treaty undertakes to organise meetings of administrators and researchers to negotiate the amendment or creation of a research ethics policy with guidelines to prevent research and research partnerships in the arms trade, and integrate an ethical framework standard to assess, monitor, and prevent the risk of dual-use research being designed for arms or defence purposes.

4.1 Each Institution party to this treaty undertakes to negotiate and plan for alternative research programs in peaceful and sustainable sectors and industries, encouraging input from committees responsible for research, innovation, academics, sustainability and ethics.

4.2 In accordance with Article 1, reports and minutes will be published of meetings between the student body, committees responsible for relevant areas such as research, innovation, academics, sustainability and ethics.

4.3 Following the negotiation of a new research ethics policy and development of peaceful and sustainable alternative research programs, each institution party to this treaty undertakes to reduce by at least 1/3 their research collaborations with the arms trade and the defence industry (subject to negotiation depending on current projects or contracts). This reduction will occur at a yearly rate.

4 - Interpretation

Develop and apply risk-assessment criteria to be applied to projects with dual-use technologies. Set up an ethics committee including students, faculty, and staff for ethical review and to ensure that a project does not produce military or defence applications. This can include changes to the university’s research ethics criteria and process for approving projects, project funding and sponsorship, and so on. This should also align with a commitment to transparency, documenting and reporting on alternative research in peaceful and sustainable sectors.

Article 5

Each institution party to this treaty undertakes to revisit their academic partnerships (in all aspects, as defined by our definition above) through policy reform and begin new partnerships with peaceful and sustainable sectors and industries.

5.1 Each institution party to this treaty undertakes to develop a new ethical careers policy (or clause in an ethical academic partnerships policy) to exclude academic partnerships with arms companies and the military or defence, and exclude them from all recruitment events, career fairs, sponsorships, and advertising.

5.2 Each Institution party to this treaty undertakes to report on and enter into negotiations for the creation or amendment of an ethical academic partnerships policy. In accordance with Article 1 reports and minutes will be published of meetings between the student body, and committees responsible for relevant areas such as academics, employment, student opportunities, partnerships sustainability and ethics.

5.3 Following the creation or amendment of an ethical academic partnerships policy, the university should effectively organise and report on meetings to listen to students' needs, and seek input from local government, community and industry leaders to collectively promote professional opportunities and careers in peaceful and sustainable sectors and industries.

5.4 Following this, each institution party to this treaty undertakes the creation and implementation of new academic partnerships with peaceful and sustainable sectors and industries, to reduce by at least 1/3 of their academic partnerships with the arms trade, in the categories of: graduate schemes/apprenticeships/Careers fair appearances, directly sponsored PhDs or studentships, consultancy, academic scholarships, and company involvement in and sponsorships of university departments - i.e. MoD Laboratories, EPSRC centres for doctoral research. This reduction will occur at a yearly rate.

5 - Interpretation

Work with alumni, lecturers, academic and research staff, university staff and academic representatives such as department heads, council or committee representatives, and in considering community and local leaders, including council members and committees, trade unions and student support networks to assist university administration in creating new ethical partnerships in line with demilitarisation. Considering the current state of employment and industry in the region, strategic partnerships should be formed with ethical and sustainable employers, community leaders and local government representatives, like the city council, in order to boost job options and explore alternative opportunities for students.

Article 6

Each Institution party to this treaty will work with Demilitarise Education to create a sustainable and feasible pathway to demilitarisation, using dED’s expertise to assist in a peaceful transition with the financial and academic success of the university in mind, which includes a tailored demilitarisation process to end and replace existing unethical financial, research and academic partnerships with the to champion peace.

6.1 Each Institution party to this treaty undertakes to provide transparent information throughout the process through regular reporting and communication on the policy reform process and key stakeholders involved, needed in order to negotiate, draft and amend existing policies to fit within dED’s arms exclusion criteria.

6 - Interpretation

dED recognises the pressure universities are under to find funding and develop opportunities for students and beyond. The process of carrying out these changes will be specific to the individual university, considering current policies, governance structure and processes including policy reform initiatives including SU motions, financial and industrial needs. This will be discussed and planned with the university administration, representatives appointed by the university and dED, and as supported by dED through guidance, standards, success cases and suggested frameworks.

Article 7

Each Institution party to this treaty will establish a clear line of communication with Demilitarise Education to ensure the creation and achievement of the demilitarisation process, which includes full guidance to champion peace.

7.1 Each Institution party to this treaty will establish a main point of contact within the university administrative staff and ensure representation from at least one student-elected representative, who will help ensure accountability by communicating, monitoring, and reporting in accordance with the treaty terms at least once quarterly in carrying out the demilitarisation process.

7.2 Each institution that signs this treaty gives dED permission to use this public commitment and correspondence related to the ratification of treaty terms and the implementation of changes as positive promotional materials within the limits of GDPR compliance (for dED’s social media, online platforms or otherwise).

7 - Interpretation

dED will recognise the positive steps being taken by the university and its administration to carry out the above and celebrate small wins with our community, network and audience. This includes ongoing communication, cooperation and collaboration: demonstrating commitment and willingness throughout the process, and monitoring, evaluation and sustained accountability through followup.

Article 8

Each Institution vows that, following the relevant adoption of dED’s policy recommendations, and the signature to this Treaty, they will undertake the above mentioned processes of demilitarisation, and not return to their previously held financial, academic and research partnerships.

8 - Interpretation

Signing this treaty means you are making a public commitment to begin taking steps towards demilitarising through long-term undertaking and sustained change. This includes negotiations, planning, reporting and implementation. As such, some of the above terms are subject to change upon ratification and subject to review every 2 years.