The seminar gathered Peace Prize laureates - or their representatives (some were prevented as they are in prison) from Burma, Western Sahara, Zimbabwe, Columbia and East Timor. The initiative to the "Student’s Peace Prize" came from the student community in Trondheim, and the first prize was awarded to Antero Benedito da Silva, from East Timor, in 1999. He was involved in the illegal, non-violent resistance movement in the country from 1994 and is the founder and leader of the student movement "East Timor Student Solidarity Council". On the day he received the Student Peace Prize, Antero was told that it would be arranged a referendum on autonomy the same year. Antero is currently a professor and head of the "Peace and Conflict Studies Centre" at the University of Timor-Leste.
President Jose Ramos Horta took part in the student conference as an active discussion partner. Norway's special envoy to East Timor, Gunnar Stålsett gave a speech on behalf of Mr. Erik Solheim, Norwegian Minister of Environment and International Development. He also talked about the ongoing "National Consensus Dialogue - Justice, truth and reconsolidation - How to deliver?" in Timor Leste. A dinner was arranged at the embassy section for participants, which included an impressive group of enthusiastic students from Trondheim. Minister of Education Joao Freitas, Ambassador Eivind Homme, Special Envoy Gunnar Stålsett, and other representatives from the government and the parliament attended and listened to moving speeches from the peace prize laureates. On the final day of the conference, a declaration was signed in support of Western Sahara and Saharawis people's freedom struggle.
Hans Peter Christophersen, Dili