Pathways to Reconciliation: Investigating the impact of ES.PE.RE (Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation) on psychological and social well being
Lead Research Organisation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Department Name: Psychological and Behavioural Science
Abstract
This project investigates the impact of ES.PE.RE, a third-sector programme of schools for forgiveness and reconciliation, on the psychological and social wellbeing of victims of the Colombian conflict. More specifically, it studies if and how these Schools for Forgiveness and Reconciliation improve mental health, social capital, and positive life tracks, all of which central to stabilising communities hardly hit by armed conflict.
Forgiveness and reconciliation have a central role in the reconstruction of civil-war-torn countries. Although difficult to realise, they are key social and psychological processes for aiding people who have been placed in a vulnerable situation move past their debilitating circumstances. Depression, loss of emotional control, feelings of rage and vengeance are frequent outcomes of violent traumatic events and experiences of justice having been offended. In combination, they result in powerful barriers to return to a functional livelihood. Recent research on the consequences of traumatic events shows that diminished mental health as an outcome of political violence translates into a loss of social capital and decreased capacity to re-join communal and productive living. Individual suffering intersects with societal negative representations and stereotypical social attitudes towards those involved, compromising both life trajectories and wider social cohesion. This in turn obstructs individual, social and economic development, with ramifications that go well beyond the locales most affected by conflict.
In this project, we seek to assess if participation in ES.PE.Re (Schools for Forgiveness and Reconciliation) results in measurable sustained improvements in psychological and social well being, defined as improvements in the areas of mental health, social capital and choosing a fulfilling life-track. We adopt a clinical socio-cultural approach to human development and wellbeing that combines the individual, community and societal levels of analysis. We aim to investigate both the detrimental consequences of violence and how to forge positive responses to these consequences. We will work in five municipalities prioritised by the Colombian government for the high levels of violence experienced during the conflict. Each community is located in a different region of the country and all have been struggling with reconciliation. In each one of these municipalities, two Schools for Forgiveness and Reconciliation will take place, each comprising twenty-five participants of different age groups, 16-25 years old and 25+ years old. Quantitative measures of mental health, social capital and life-track choices will be administered to participants at four different points: before and after the SFRs, with three and nine-months follow-ups. A measure of forgiveness and reconciliation will also be administered in order to chart willingness to forgive and reconcile as both, outcome of the intervention and their mediating role on psychological and social well being. A qualitative interviewing protocol will explore first-person perspectives and narratives of self, community, social attitudes towards people involved in the conflict and potential futures.
So far, ES.PE.RE workshops have been widely conducted in Colombia; however, we still need to know more about the outcomes of the intervention and how these are sustained over time. Systematic evidence is decisive for supporting these initiatives and developing policy that fosters positive futures for the individuals and communities affected by the armed conflict. This project contributes to these aims by systematising evidence, generating knowledge exchange and impact, and informing evidence-based policy making in the domains of mental health, social capital and human development.
Forgiveness and reconciliation have a central role in the reconstruction of civil-war-torn countries. Although difficult to realise, they are key social and psychological processes for aiding people who have been placed in a vulnerable situation move past their debilitating circumstances. Depression, loss of emotional control, feelings of rage and vengeance are frequent outcomes of violent traumatic events and experiences of justice having been offended. In combination, they result in powerful barriers to return to a functional livelihood. Recent research on the consequences of traumatic events shows that diminished mental health as an outcome of political violence translates into a loss of social capital and decreased capacity to re-join communal and productive living. Individual suffering intersects with societal negative representations and stereotypical social attitudes towards those involved, compromising both life trajectories and wider social cohesion. This in turn obstructs individual, social and economic development, with ramifications that go well beyond the locales most affected by conflict.
In this project, we seek to assess if participation in ES.PE.Re (Schools for Forgiveness and Reconciliation) results in measurable sustained improvements in psychological and social well being, defined as improvements in the areas of mental health, social capital and choosing a fulfilling life-track. We adopt a clinical socio-cultural approach to human development and wellbeing that combines the individual, community and societal levels of analysis. We aim to investigate both the detrimental consequences of violence and how to forge positive responses to these consequences. We will work in five municipalities prioritised by the Colombian government for the high levels of violence experienced during the conflict. Each community is located in a different region of the country and all have been struggling with reconciliation. In each one of these municipalities, two Schools for Forgiveness and Reconciliation will take place, each comprising twenty-five participants of different age groups, 16-25 years old and 25+ years old. Quantitative measures of mental health, social capital and life-track choices will be administered to participants at four different points: before and after the SFRs, with three and nine-months follow-ups. A measure of forgiveness and reconciliation will also be administered in order to chart willingness to forgive and reconcile as both, outcome of the intervention and their mediating role on psychological and social well being. A qualitative interviewing protocol will explore first-person perspectives and narratives of self, community, social attitudes towards people involved in the conflict and potential futures.
So far, ES.PE.RE workshops have been widely conducted in Colombia; however, we still need to know more about the outcomes of the intervention and how these are sustained over time. Systematic evidence is decisive for supporting these initiatives and developing policy that fosters positive futures for the individuals and communities affected by the armed conflict. This project contributes to these aims by systematising evidence, generating knowledge exchange and impact, and informing evidence-based policy making in the domains of mental health, social capital and human development.
Planned Impact
This project will impact multiple stakeholders and increase knowledge, capacity, reach, evidence-base for policy making and psychological and social wellbeing of victims of the armed conflict. It will impact upon the following users: a) the Foundation for Reconciliation and the Public Health Axis of the Santa Fe Foundation (FSFB), b) participants in the proposed intervention ES.PE.RE, 3) the municipalities where the intervention will take place, 4) rural communities affected by the conflict, 5) wider audiences such as the Colombian government, local officials, NGOs and international organisations, and 6) the Colombian and UK teams.
The FFR and FSB are co-investigators in the project and have been actively involved in all stages of project preparation and execution. FFR will have increased knowledge about the contribution of its intervention for the psychological and social wellbeing of those affected by the conflict. The project will strengthen the FFR's work and visibility with policy makers in Colombia and internationally and contribute to transforming practice - the ES.PE.RE intervention - into evidence based policy. The project will increase FFR's organisational capacity to collaborate with academics, practitioners and international institutions. FSFB will extend its work to populations that it has not been able to reach so far, and strengthen its mental health outreach programmes and knowledge-base.
Participants in the ES.PE.RE workshop will experience its methodology, which offers psychosocial support and fosters narratives of peace, enabling individuals to work through difficult emotional experiences, affecting frames for decision making and steering participants towards alternative ways of telling stories of hatred, rage and revenge. We expect that improvements in willingness to forgive and reconcile will have an impact on the mental health, pro-social capital behaviours and positive life tracks of participants. Participants will also acquire skills by becoming multipliers of the methodology.
The municipalities where the fieldwork will take place are supporting the preparation of this proposal and exchanging knowledge with the team. Because these communities are 'receiving' contexts for ex-combatants, our intervention and research will improve conditions for reintegration, forgiveness and reconciliation. This will increase the bottom-up strengthening of local institutions and governance, an urgent need emphasized by the peace accords, and a contribution that is particularly relevant for prioritized municipalities. A central aspect of the ES.PE.RE methodology is to prepare multipliers to replicate the workshops, which will benefit other rural communities affected by the conflict. Because the Foundation for Reconciliation works globally including countries in the Americas, Africa, and Europe, our research has potential to be used to create impact in other developing countries.
Our project will increase the evidence base available to the government of Colombia and local officials and contribute to the implementation of the peace accords. Dissemination and knowledge exchange activities will reach Ministries, NGOs, the Reincorporation and Normalization Agency (ARN) as well as global audiences and international organisations.
The Colombia and UK project teams have built a partnership, which has enriched all participants involved and which can enhance capacity for impact. All partners worked together in the scoping of the project, defining the research questions and project aims. Academic researchers learned the methodology and the extensive practical knowledge the FFR has of the research context, developed over the course of 14 years working on the topic of reconciliation in rural areas of Colombia. Given the inter-disciplinarity of the team, we also learned from each other across fields and disciplines.
The FFR and FSB are co-investigators in the project and have been actively involved in all stages of project preparation and execution. FFR will have increased knowledge about the contribution of its intervention for the psychological and social wellbeing of those affected by the conflict. The project will strengthen the FFR's work and visibility with policy makers in Colombia and internationally and contribute to transforming practice - the ES.PE.RE intervention - into evidence based policy. The project will increase FFR's organisational capacity to collaborate with academics, practitioners and international institutions. FSFB will extend its work to populations that it has not been able to reach so far, and strengthen its mental health outreach programmes and knowledge-base.
Participants in the ES.PE.RE workshop will experience its methodology, which offers psychosocial support and fosters narratives of peace, enabling individuals to work through difficult emotional experiences, affecting frames for decision making and steering participants towards alternative ways of telling stories of hatred, rage and revenge. We expect that improvements in willingness to forgive and reconcile will have an impact on the mental health, pro-social capital behaviours and positive life tracks of participants. Participants will also acquire skills by becoming multipliers of the methodology.
The municipalities where the fieldwork will take place are supporting the preparation of this proposal and exchanging knowledge with the team. Because these communities are 'receiving' contexts for ex-combatants, our intervention and research will improve conditions for reintegration, forgiveness and reconciliation. This will increase the bottom-up strengthening of local institutions and governance, an urgent need emphasized by the peace accords, and a contribution that is particularly relevant for prioritized municipalities. A central aspect of the ES.PE.RE methodology is to prepare multipliers to replicate the workshops, which will benefit other rural communities affected by the conflict. Because the Foundation for Reconciliation works globally including countries in the Americas, Africa, and Europe, our research has potential to be used to create impact in other developing countries.
Our project will increase the evidence base available to the government of Colombia and local officials and contribute to the implementation of the peace accords. Dissemination and knowledge exchange activities will reach Ministries, NGOs, the Reincorporation and Normalization Agency (ARN) as well as global audiences and international organisations.
The Colombia and UK project teams have built a partnership, which has enriched all participants involved and which can enhance capacity for impact. All partners worked together in the scoping of the project, defining the research questions and project aims. Academic researchers learned the methodology and the extensive practical knowledge the FFR has of the research context, developed over the course of 14 years working on the topic of reconciliation in rural areas of Colombia. Given the inter-disciplinarity of the team, we also learned from each other across fields and disciplines.
Publications
Dedios Sanguineti M
(2021)
Is violence ever right? Moral reasoning about violence among youngsters belonging to gangs and peacebuilding groups.
in Psychology of Violence
Jovchelovitch S
(2020)
Imagination and mobility in the city: Porosity of borders and human development in divided urban environments
in Culture & Psychology
| Title | Pathways to Reconciliation is an animated film depicting how the Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation (ESPERE) in Colombia provide tools for individuals and communities to build trust and re-think their futures |
| Description | In collaboration with our Colombian partners, we worked with an all-female visual design Colombian organisation (Pataleta) to develop a short animated film to communicate our findings to our communities, stakeholders and the general public, producing a sustainable audiovisual product that depicts our three year research journey as part of our Festivals of Reconciliation. Our bilingual film (English and Spanish versions) describes our findings, the NGO intervention and our partnership with communities living in territories of armed conflict in Colombia. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | The short films and the rest of our dissemination products were launched by the LSE's Department of Psychlogical and Behavioural Science on 1 February 2022 and supported by the LSE's Global Health Initiative and the Latin American and Caribbean Centre. The films have also been uploaded in online platforms by our Colombian partners: https://linktr.ee/PathwaystoReconciliationCo They have been promoted in social media through our LSE team, colleagues and networks, reaching a global audience including Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, UK and beyond. |
| URL | https://www.lse.ac.uk/PBS/Research/Pathways-to-Reconciliation |
| Description | This research found that the experiences of forgiveness and reconciliation provided by the ESPERE (Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation) in territories in need of development in Colombia are overall transformative.They improve mental health, trust in people's capacity to achieve goals, re-think the future, quality of life and personal relationships. • Quantitative results show that levels of depression and insomnia were reduced after the ESPERE ended, and this effect was maintained up to three months later. We found that the more willing people are to forgive, the less they suffer from depression or insomnia. Those with a better ability to reinterpret or make sense of difficult events have a better capacity for recovery. We found that it is more difficult to have a better mood in those who have difficulties in controlling their emotions and have a higher degree of post-traumatic stress disorder. There were no major changes in social capital after participation in the ESPERE. However, it is important to consider that two of our measurements were made in socially difficult times: one during the start of the national strike, and the other during the pandemic. • Qualitative findings reveal that the Schools allowed people to regain trust, challenge resentment, transform their personal relationships and strengthen their community ties, by enabling dialogue and focusing on non-violent behaviours. Participants report transformative experiences; for some these were "life changing". The workshops impacted youth's future expectations, giving them the possibility of broadening their horizons, to believe more in themselves and trust their ability to achieve goals. Yet, youth are aware of how contextual adversity in these territories limits their opportunities, in particular how poverty, violence and inequalities compromise life trajectories. Despite this awareness, we found that future self-projections focus on getting an education and reaching a better quality of life. Despite the adversity of the context, young people describe themselves as fighters who can overcome contextual barriers through a strong motivation and positive attitude to thrive in life. • Ethnographic findings show that the ESPERE enhanced disposition to forgive, which generated individual wellbeing by changing self-perceptions and that of others, which was put into practice in community relationships. Participation in the workshops enabled community ties, by linking people who did not know each other before or by rebuilding relationships from past conflicts. Specifically, the workshops facilitated weaving bonds of solidarity around collective pain, which enable feelings and emotions to be expressed, resulting in psychological and social wellbeing. Some participants recognise that putting into practice what they learned from the ESPERE is a challenge at a time of fear, insecurity and uncertainty, as violence persists in many PDET (territories in need of development). These remain as large challenges for the sustainability and permanence of NGO programmes in contexts with serious structural problems and violence. • The research found that the work of third sector organisations such as the ESPERE is integral for the development and consolidation of cultures of peace in Colombia. •The project found that research partnerships are beneficial to bottom-up grassroots organisations such as the NGO involved in the research. Working as a team of academics and NGO members and activists through dialogical meetings and collective decision-making increased citizen science and research capacity for all members of the project. Through co-production in design and implementation of the research, all members learned new research skills. • The project established a new methodology, the socio-cultural validation of qualitative interviews, based on the development of the LiTra, 'The Life Trajectory Interview'. The full protocol for socio-cultural validation and the LiTra guide are established and available for the research community. |
| Exploitation Route | This research findings will be used by the Foundation for Reconciliation for both internal change and planning and for disseminating the work they do with some of the most vulnerable communities in Colombia. The films, infographics and podcasts based on the research findings will support further work by the Foundation at community as well as policy level. Our research leverages the power of bottom-up voices to understand the impact of their work in the mental health of individuals and communities and informs policy makers about the importance of partnering effectively with NGOs and local communities. At the same time it enables government at local and national level to understand the role of local forgiveness and reconciliation interventions on the mental health of populations exposed to violence and armed conflict, which can improve access to services and provision. Communities themselves are able to use the outputs produced for impact in order to organise their claims and engage with NGOs, government and policy-makers. The findings and research outputs can serve as a model for other international contexts which experience protracted political conflict and are transitioning towards cultures of peace. Finally, fellow academics will benefit from the conceptual model proposed and tested by the research (integration of individual, social and community levels of analysis for investigating individual and social wellbeing), use the methodology of socio-cultural validation and the Life Trajectory Interview as well as learn from partnership models in social research. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Description | Pathways to Reconciliation involved a research partnership between academic and non-academic partners that enabled maximising impacts during and after the life of the project. We have designed and executed activities to sustain collaboration and dialogue between researchers, community and policy-makers at all stages of the project's lifecycle and beyond. We have impacted multiple stakeholders, including: a) the Foundation for Reconciliation and the Public Health Axis of the Santa Fe Foundation (FSFB), b) participants in the proposed intervention ESPERE, c) the municipalities where the intervention will take place, d) rural communities affected by the conflict, e) wider institutional audiences such as the Colombian government, local officials, NGOs, academics and international organisations, f) the Colombian and UK teams and g) the public at large. Our activities led to an increase in knowledge and capacity, wider reach and dissemination of knowledge, evidence-base for policy making and increase in the well-being of research participants. This was attained through the following activities and events: 1) Four Research Dialogue Meetings (2018-2021) held each year with an average of 20 people participating per session, including researchers, NGO practitioners, students, community facilitators and leaders, students, research users, as well as design and communications partners. In 2018 and 2019 before the pandemic we met young professionals in the business, legal and third sectors and raised awareness of peace and reconciliation processes. 2) One Community Meeting (2018) with 30 local community facilitators from the Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation (ESPERE) from the territories of the research. 3) Weekly online meetings between UK and Colombian researchers; fieldwork visits (pre-pandemic as well as during the pandemic, depending on biosecurity conditions); methodology training of junior researchers and students. 4) ESPERE Workshops: we conducted 20 Forgiveness and Reconciliation (ESPERE) workshops across seven municipalities, which impacted 150 young (16-24 year-olds) and 170 adult (25+) beneficiaries. Facilitators and research users report positive behavioural changes through non-violent practices and by promoting dialogue to resolve tensions and transform their personal relationships with families and communities. Regained trust, increased in self-belief, ability to rethink the future, and trust in capacity to achieve goals were all reported. This led to social and psychological healing through strengthening family and community relations. Young people's aspirations and commitment to study increased and so did their disposition for self-improvement, 'to be a better person'. People's mental health improved with participation in the workshops where symptoms of depression and insomnia declined, and this was maintained three months after people attended the Schools. 5) An LSE public lecture: with over 500 live participants and 24,805 downloads of the podcast. 6) An international seminar hosted by our NGO partner with 340 practitioners participants from 21 countries and including academics from MIT, Harvard University, Wisconsin University, Virginia University, LSE and University of Los Andes/Foundation Santa Fe de Bogota. 7) A bilingual blog entry published in the LSE's Latin American and Caribbean Centre. 8) An evidenced review of the Psychosocial and Integral Health Programme for Victims of the Conflict (PAPSIVI) programme with the Ministry of Health (Colombia). 9) Festivals of Reconciliation: these were planned to take place in each one of the research sites but due to the pandemic were redesigned and conducted online. They proved to be highly effective in online format, both in terms of events and in terms of concrete outputs that will sustain impact and knowledge exchange well beyond the life of the project. The Festivals comprised: 9.1) A webinar with community women leaders, researchers and local public stakeholders (so far with more than 1,450 views in YouTube). 9.2) The production of five podcasts, each linked to one of the sites of the research, comprising research findings, testimonies from facilitators of the Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation, community women leaders, research users and our own research team. These were promoted through social media and aired in local and regional radio stations through our Colombian media communications partner KeepUp Communications. 9.3) A short-bilingual animated film about the project developed by our design partners Pataleta, preceded by a press release to launch the films in the partnering institutions' websites. 9.4) Two bilingual infographics. 9.5) A bilingual interactive infographic. 9.10) Three research bulletins in Spanish housed by Foundation Santa Fe de Bogotá. Additional impacts include: ? Empowerment of our NGO partner, community leaders and practitioners: the research findings leveraged the self-esteem and capacity of these actors and their actions, systematising the successes and limitations of bottom-up solutions to the development of sustainable peace, reconciliation and improved mental health for the most affected populations. This is scaffolding and leveraging advocacy programmes that aim to multiply their work in forgiveness, reconciliation and peace-building in Colombia and other similar contexts. ? Empowerment of Women: our partnership had a strong gender focus. At senior level, it was directed by a female Latin American/British Professor who is the UK PI, with two thirds of the partnership being composed of women. The Colombian NGO's manager is a woman, four out of five student volunteers and all nine community facilitators are women leaders. Pataleta, our film-making partners, are an all women, award-winning Colombian graphic design company. ? Empowerment of historically excluded populations: these included women victims of the armed conflict, campesinos, Afro-Colombian and youth-based organisations, such as: Corpomanigua, Narrar para Vivir; COINTRASUR; La Casa de la Cultura; Parroquia Catedral Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes and Colegio Santa Clara de Asís. ? Strengthening of Leadership: The international seminar hosted by our NGO partner La Fundación para la Reconciliación (16-21 November 2021) focused on strengthening leadership and influenced practitioners and researchers trained in the Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation (ESPERE) methodology. The weekly-long seminar provided an interdisciplinary space to share knowledge between our research team and academics from MIT, Harvard University, Wisconsin University, Virginia University and practitioners from Colombia and various Latin American countries. The learning gains have changed knowledge and attitudes of practitioners about the impact that ESPERE have on mental health, community ties and positive life trajectories. It has increased their confidence in the benefits that the workshops can achieve in psychological and social wellbeing. ? Strengthening of Evidence-Based and Practice-Based Policy Making: engagement with local government and policy stakeholders from Colombia, the UK, Latin American and other countries has contributed to the increase in awareness towards peace and reconciliation, showing that programmes like ESPERE have a positive impact. The webinar with community women leaders and officials from the health and education sectors informed local government of the intervention. ? Development of Networks: in addition to the above events, we have made more than 100 contacts and carried out face-to-face and online meetings (July 2018-December 2021) to promote the project with stakeholders including: 1) a member of the House of Lords and associates (Centre for Democracy and Peace Building and the Netherlands Institute for Democracy); 2) Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff; 3) Representatives from the Colombian Truth Commission; 4) The BBC World Service; 5) Grassroots Business Fund; 6) Chief Prosecutor and Advisors from the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP); 7) The President of the Board of Entrepreneurs for Education (Colombia); 8) A Colombian Senator (Partido Verde); 9) Former Director of the Agency for Reintegration (Colombia); 10) Representatives from the National Competitiveness Council (Colombia); 11) CEOs and Managing Directors from the private sector (Colombia); 12) The Head of Latin American relations at LSE; 13) Senior Members of the Colombian Association of Psychology Faculty; 14) the Colombian College of Psychologists (COLPSIC); 15) the Colombian National Academy of Sciences, and 16) Psychosocial and Integral Health Programme for Victims of the Conflict (PAPSIVI) programme at Colombia's Ministry of Health. Foundation for Reconciliation strengthened their network with international organisations, mainly from Latin America, including: 16) UNICEF Paraguay; 17) Federación Bíblica Católica (Panama); 18) Fundación Scala (Dominican Republic); 19) Hermanas Misioneras de la Consolata (Venezuela); 20) Centro de Derechos Humanos y Educación Popular de Campo Limpo (Brazil); 21) Aldeas Infantiles SOS (Haiti); 21) Proyecto Consolata Intergentes (Argentina); 23) Kolping Uruguay (Uruguay); 24) Parroquia La Salette en Cochabamba (Bolivia); 25) Fundacion Ampin (Chile); 26) Diocesis de Cartago (Costa Rica); 27) Forgiveness International (USA); 28) Instituto Misiones Consolata (Portugal); 29) Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution (Canada). In addition, the project also engaged with 30) Local Mayors and local authority officials from the research's municipalities; 31) UK academics and research students (UCL, KCL, Oxford, LSE, Open University, University of Manchester, Sheffield University) and international academics (Neuchatel, Switzerland, Boston University, Universidad de Los Andes, Universidad del Valle, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Universidad de la Sabana, Universidad Antonio Ruiz de Montoya, Peru). The PI was a keynote speaker at the following academic conferences: the 15th International Conference on Social Representations, 9-10 September, Athens, Greece, Doing Interviews: A trans-disciplinary conversation with experts, 27-28 May, European University Institute, Florence, Italy; Anchoring the Past: The Psychology of the Ancient World, Leiden University, Amsterdam, Netherlands and the 24th International Conference of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1-5th July, Guelph, Canada, where she delivered the Walter Lonner State of the Art Distinguished Lecture. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
| Description | CONPES on Science and Technology |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
| Impact | The Colombian co-PI, Fabio Idrobo, was invited by the ministry of science and technology (Minciencias) to take part in a committee to inform the design of the CONPES for science and technology. The CONPES is a document developed by the national council of social and economic policy that frames the development of policies in relation to one topic. In this case, the group of experts was invited to provide guidance on the development of the CONPES for science and technology. This document will frame the country's policies on science and technology. |
| Description | ESRC Workshop |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Expert dialogues on mental health and wellbeing in Colombia in the context of COVID19 (Minciencias) |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | This was a meeting organised by Minciencias (the ministry of science and technology of Colombia). The meeting called on national experts on mental health and wellbeing to develop a call for research on mental health and wellbeing in post-conflict Colombia. Fabio Idrobo (Colombia co-PI) was a participant of this meeting. He contributed to the development of funding priorities on these topics. |
| Description | International Seminar: Strengthening leaderships for forgiveness and reconciliation |
| Geographic Reach | South America |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The learning gains from the international seminar have changed knowledge and attitudes of practitioners about the impact that the Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation (ESPERE) have on mental health, social capital and positive life trajectories. It has increased their confidence in the benefits that the workshops achieve in psychological and social wellbeing. They reported feeling more capacitated to continue delivering the Schools of Forgiveness in their communities. |
| URL | https://youtu.be/tfDASRC7q1s |
| Description | Reviewer of the PAPSIVI policy |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Impact | The Colombian co-PI, Fabio Idrobo, conducted the evaluation of the PAPSIVI programme. The PAPSIVI is the "Psychosocial and integral health programme for the victims of the conflict". |
| Description | Starting from the bottom: Using participatory action research to rebuild community mental health services in Colombia |
| Amount | £333,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 5039903 |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2021 |
| End | 05/2023 |
| Title | Development of the 'Life Trajectoriess' Qualitative Interview Protocol |
| Description | A qualitative interview protocol was designed to investigate youth life trajectories experiencing contextual adversity. It will be applied before and after the Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation. This protocol was developed in 8 steps: 1) designed in an inductive manner according to Vygotskyan model of human development and our own lab conceptual model of human development under contextual adversity; 2) reviewed by UK team; 3) reviewed by Colombian team and during dialogue meeting in Bogota, in the presence of field workers from Fundacion para la Reconciliacion; 4) consultation with experts in working in Colombian barrios and other contexts of adversity; 5) another review in the light of the steps above; 6) feedback from field workers/ facilitators and other experts in Colombia; 7) thinking aloud validation with young people in barrios; 8) Thinking Aloud validation with facilitators working in barrios. The categories above do not really apply to the development of an interview protocol so we opted for improvement in research infrastructure as the closest. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Academic collegues in the global South will be also using this tool. |
| Title | Post-Phase Revision of the Life Trajectories Qualitative Interview Protocol (LiTraQ) |
| Description | To continue implementing the semi-structural interviews in the research, the LiTraQ instrument ("Life Trajectories Qualitative Interview Protocol") was revised for the post phase (Time 3) of data collection (after the Forgiveness and Reconciliation workshops took place in the territories). For this, an adjustment of the instrument we call "Repetition +" was applied. We maintained the T1 structure of the instrument, following methodological principles of rigour of the longitudinal design. The "Repetition +" concept enables the comparison of the databases between T1 and T3 ("Repetition"), as well as the adaptation of data collection based on the input we gathered from the field, which includes emerging issues found in T1 (the "+"). |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Colleagues and practioners will have access to the tool. |
| Description | STARS-C |
| Organisation | University of the Andes |
| Country | Colombia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We developed a collaboration with colleagues at Los Andes University and UCL to apply for funding to expand our research in Colombia. We were successful in our bid and were awarded a grant that has now been reported in the grants/further funding section. LSE and UCL were awarded the funds by ESRC. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The collaboration resulted in the award of a binational grant. Los Andes University was awarded the funds by Minciencias. |
| Impact | Binational research grant awarded |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | 1st Dialogue Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | The first meeting was held in Bogotá in November 2018. Fundación Santa Fe and Fundacion para la Reconciliacion hosted the meetings. The meeting established the partnership, focusing on team building and knowledge exchange. We practically learned about each others' work, understanding our combined knowledge and experience. The meeting involved: 1) presentation of the work and components from each of the organisations involved in the project (with powerpoint presentations); 2) reviewing the requirements of field work, instruments and data collection; 4) experiencing the ES.PE.RE intervention. Key outcome was knowledge exchange between academics, third sector practiocioners and students and commitment of policy makers to the research process. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | 2nd dialogue meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The second dialogue meeting was held in Bogotá in October 2019. The meeting was hosted by Fundación para la Reconciliación, one of our partner institutions. The meeting focused on assessing the data collection work done thus far, and planning in detail the next steps. We discussed the lessons learned related to the challenges of collecting data in fragile and violent settings, and structured a plan to finalize the collection of data for our project. We also discussed our plans for publication, developed a publication plan, and revisited the dissemination strategy. The meeting involved: 1) revising the data collection done so far, 2) planning the next steps of data collection, 3) development of a publication plan, 4) revisiting and planning in detail the dissemination strategy. Key outcomes included the strengthening of the partnership and the enhancement of the capacity for impact. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | 3rd Dialogue Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | The third Dialogue meeting was held as a webinar with all the project partners (Fundación Santa Fe de Bogota, Fundación para la Reconciliación and LSE) in January 2021. The meeting started by assessing the work carried out so far in the context of the difficulties we have faced during the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly to access the communities in the remote territories where we work. We provided mutual updates on data coding, analysis and discussed alternative plans for dissemination of our findings. We agreed that all our dissemination events will be delivered virtually. This decision implies planning multiple strategies to reach out each of our research participants, who live in municipalities with little connectivity and have limited access to technological devices (4G mobile phones or computers). As such, our partners from Fundación para la Reconciliación identified that particularly the Festivals of Reconciliation in the territories will require more time to be delivered than initially estimated. We agreed to mutually draw out plans to accommodate accordingly. Finally, we continued to develop our joint publication strategy and confirmed one paper is under review. Key outcomes included fortifying the partnership and continuing to strengthen the capacity of each member of the teams. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | 4th Dialogue Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We delivered our final dialogue meeting in June 2021 with our LSE team and Colombian partners. During the meeting, we shared our mixed methods findings, pulling together our combined knowledge and experience. It involved: 1) PowerPoint presentations from each of the organisations on qualitative findings, including the ethnographic component and quantative results; 2) Receiving extremely positive feedback from the Director and President of our NGO partner (based in Mexico) and a representative from the World Bank about our findings and the project overall. It was very gratifying to receive such positive feedback from the NGO and its associates. This final dialogue meeting solidified our knowledge exchange between academics, third sector practitioners and students, as well as stakeholders connected to the NGO. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | A bilingual blog published in the LSE's Latin American and Caribbean Centre |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Our LSE team published a bilingual blog entry in the LSE's Latin American and Caribbean Centre (LACC) in December 2021 to help raise awareness of the project and our findings. The blog looks at "Forgiveness as a vehicle to improve wellbeing in post-conflict Colombia". It has been shared in our media channels with support from LSE colleagues at the LACC, the Global Health Initiative, our Department and linked into our NGO partners' online platforms, who are supporting its dissemination in Colombia. This output is part of our impact strategy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/latamcaribbean/2021/12/20/forgiveness-improve-wellbeing-in-colombia/ |
| Description | British Sociological Association Youth Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The British Sociological Association (BSA) Youth Study Group is a long-standing academic initiative to establish a networking group, produce inclusive and dialogical opportunities for research students and early career researchers (mainly) across UK universities who have a research interest or practical experience with youth projects or across the wider youth studies' community.The meetings run monthly and provide a space for knowledge exchange amongst academic peers. One of the UK researchers actively promotes the Pathways project through her participation in the BSA Group meetings (2020-2021). She also takes part in a mentoring scheme offering one-to-one support to a doctoral student at Sheffield University. Through ongoing meetings, she helps the doctoral student increase her capacity in implementing a community-based youth project in the UK. Much of the learning gains passed on have stemmed out of the collaboration and implementation of the UKRI project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
| Description | Colombian Conference of Psychologists 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The Colombian PI, Dr Fabio Idrobo, was invited to present at the Colombian Conference of Psychologists 2021, an annual meeting with Colombian, international academics and senior policy makers from the Ministers of Health and Education in Colombia, where he discussed with national and international colleagues mental health recommendations to mitigate the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had in violence within the context of the territories where the Colombian armed conflict was lived. Speakers included: Nelson Molina Valencia (President ASCOFAPSI), Gloria Amparo Vélez (President COLPSIC) German Gutierrez (President IUPsyS) with international mental health academic experts: Vikram Patel (Harvard), Susan Clayton (Yale), Michael Levin (Tufts) with Colombian academics from Universidad de los Andes, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Universidad del Valle, among others. The conference focused on the following themes: transforming global mental health, social and economic inequalities, the psychology of peace violence and armed conflict. It called on policy makers to focus actions aimed at protecting public health, generating healthy lifestyles and to scale-up initiatives aimed at improving wellbeing. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://congresopsicologiacolombia.com/index.php |
| Description | Festivals of Reconciliation - Podcasts |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We developed five podcasts for each of regions where the research took place. The podcasts presented testimonies from our participants, community leaders and our research team Dr Maria Cecilia Dedios and Dr Natalia Concha (LSE), María Camila García and Dr Diego Salcedo (Fundación Santa Fe de Bogota) accompanied by Leonel Narvaez (Fundación para la Reconciliación). All the podcasts were aired by various Colombian local and regional radio stations during 13-21 December, including: Emisora Radio 1040 (Popayán, Cauca), Emisora Ambeima Estéreo (Chaparral, Tolima), Emisora Divina Estéreo (María la Baja, Montes de María), Emisora Innovación Estéreo (San Juan de Nepomuceno, Montes de María), Emisora Ecos del Caguán FM (San Vicente del Caguán, Caquetá), Emisora Comunitaria 104.1 (Florencia, Caquetá). They were sent directly to our participants and stakeholders. In addition to the landing page provided in the linkw below, they have been uploaded in the following online platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0wQFTnXd98pyffr6wU2nfy?si=d883b9d3c9ef4f2e&nd=1 Deezer: https://deezer.page.link/vsJWY59Q8NRM3Um4A Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/co/podcast/caminos-hacia-la-reconciliaci%C3%B3n/id1600421676 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://podcastcaminoshacialareconciliacion.libsyn.com/ |
| Description | Festivals of Reconciliation - Webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | The webinar disseminated our research findings back to our communities, engaging in knowledge exchange with community leaders and local policy stakeholders from the territories of our research. Speakers included: Professor Sandra Jovchelovitch (LSE), Leonel Narvaez (Fundación para la Reconciliación) and Dr Fabio Idrobo with Dr Diego Salcedo (Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá), accompanied by women community leaders from our territories: Yulima Arias, Luz Mari Cundumí, Fanny Gaviria, Carmen Cárdenas, Flor Alba Arias and local public health and education representatives Flor Alba Zambrano Morillo and Ema Galindo, moderated by our communications partner, Emiliano Restrepo (KeepUp Communications). The participants and community leaders were all very engaged during the event and we received very positive feedback about the project, where they reiterated how the workshops had a positive impact in their psychological and social wellbeing. The webinar also served to better inform local institutions about the NGO's work, as we highlighted we found it to have a positive impact on mental health and life trajectories. As such, it enabled us to hear from our community leaders and helped establish bridges between the different sectors. The webinar, which is posted in YouTube (see link below) has had 1,453 views (14 February 2022). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvh_Q7xjQDc&feature=youtu.be |
| Description | Global Health Initiative Research Showcase at LSE |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The project participated as one of the investigations exhibited by the Global Health Initiative (GHI) at the LSE research showcase in November 2019. Our poster included a summary and a large photograph taken in the field. During the showcase we engaged with the academic community, including academics and students, practitioners and the public at large. The event offered an opportunity to speak to inspiring colleagues and students about their research and connect with the interested public. From this, additional meetings with academic colleagues have developed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://info.lse.ac.uk/staff/services/knowledge-exchange-and-impact/lse-research-showcase |
| Description | Innovations in Transitional Justice: the case of Colombia - Private meeting with the JEP Fiscal |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was a private meeting held at the LSE on February 2020 with Chief Prosecutor Giovanni Alvarez and his Advisor, Juan David Velasco from the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) of Colombia. The JEP is a key mechanism stemming out of the Peace Accords which remit is to research and sanction direct actors of the Colombian armed conflict, who committed serious violations of human rights and importantly, to guarantee victims' rights. This event was hosted by Professor Gareth Jones, Director of the LSE Latin America and Caribbean Centre (LACC) and by Dr Andrei Gomez-Suarez, UCL Institute for the Americas, and Founder of Embrace Dialogue. The private meeting served as a privileged opportunity to discuss with the Chief Prosecutor (Fiscal) at JEP its innovations and challenges. It provided a closed space under Chatham House Rules to discuss with the Fiscal, transitional justice experts and peacebuilding practitioners the state of play of the JEP and reparations to the victims of the Colombian conflict. The meeting was attended by Dr Tibber, former British Ambassador (2015-2019) to Colombia, Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff, Representatives from the Colombian Truth Commission, Peace Building NGOs, LSE, UCL and other national and international visiting academics. It served to introduce the project to the former Ambassador and to re-connect with academic colleagues (Professor Jenny Pearce who specialises in violence and participarty approaches in Latin America, based at the LACC, Dr Elena B. Stavrevska from the Centre for Women, Peace and Security, Viviana Garcia Pinzon from the German Institute of Global and Area Studies) and other stakeholders working in the Colombian peace process and transitional justice more generally. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | International Seminar: Strengthening leaderships for forgiveness and reconciliation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Our NGO partner Fundación para la Reconciliación hosted the international seminar 'Strengthening leaderships for forgiveness and reconciliation' on 16-21 November 2021 with international practitioners and academics, including Fred Kofman (MIT), Robert Enright (Wisconsin University), Everett Worthington (Virginia University), Donna Hicks (Harvard University), Martin Leiner and Berneth Pena (Kena University, Germany) and our very own, Sandra Jovchelovitch (LSE) with Fabio Idrobo (Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá), amongst many others. This was a hybrid event which was broadcasted via Zoom and was attended by more than 340 people, who were part of our NGO partner's international network, including practitioners and international academics from the 21 countries (Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, United States and various other Latin American and African countries) were they work and have established links. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://youtu.be/tfDASRC7q1s |
| Description | LSE Public Lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The public lecture discussed the context of peace, justice, forgiveness and reconciliation processes in Colombia and beyond, by sharing international experiences from post-conflict societies. Speakers: Professor Lord Alderdice, Dr Fabio Idrobo (Colombian PI), Professor Nicola Lacey and Federico Rodriguez. It was chaired by our PI, Professor Sandra Jovchelovitch. Lectures in the PLP are listed on the LSE events website, which can have as many as 270,000 hits a month and each term LSE Events produces 32,000 event leaflets and sends out to its email subscription list with over 65,000 contacts. The event's podcast has been downloaded 24,805 (7 January 2022) and had over 500 live participants (through zoom and Facebook live). Our event had a wide global audience with participants from the UK, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, United States, Canada, India, Morocco, Indonesia, Rwanda and various European countries. The Public Lecture was also advertised via Facebook and Twitter. LSE has over 440,000 followers on LSE's Facebook page, and @lsepublicevents has over 53,000 followers on Twitter. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.lse.ac.uk/lse-player?id=d19547e2-4e54-4f53-aab2-e5738d69c516 |
| Description | LSE project website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Our LSE Department hosts our project's website where we have designed a user friendly space to showcase our research. We have uploaded the short bilngual films, provide descriptions and links to our dissemination activities. We also have a showcase of our field images from the ESPERE workshops. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020,2021,2022 |
| URL | https://www.lse.ac.uk/PBS/Research/Pathways-to-Reconciliation |
| Description | Meeting with President of the Board of Fundacion Santa Fe de Bogota |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A meeting took place with Dr Diego Pizano, President of the Board at Fundacion Santa Fe de Bogota. The meeting adressed the ways in which the Fundacion with be involved in the investigation. At the meeting Dr Pizano confirmed that we would receive full support from the institution. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Meetings with LSE Alumni |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This activity involved meeting former LSE students in Colombia, who work across multiple sectors of Colombian society. The meeting focused on our research and sparked many questions and discussion. Since this meeting we have had many emails and offers from Colombians in key positions in the peace process to support our research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Online platform for dissemination products |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Our NGO partners Fundacion para la Reconciliacion produced an online platform to collate our Festivals of Reconciliation products (bilingual infographics and film, press release, webinars, blog, website and social media) to help raise awareness of the project and provide a user friendly space for our research participants and community leaders to find the resources we created. It will also support the dissemination of our findings in Colombia and with their partners (particularly in other Latin American countries). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://linktr.ee/PathwaystoReconciliationCo |
| Description | Online public event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Colombian team with Colombian Co-PI Dr Idrobo took part in an online public event live-streamed with 100+ people, focusing on the challenges for peace building in Colombia with the emerging consequences that COVID-19 has posed on mental health |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Online workshop hosted by the National Academies of Science |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Fabio Idrobo took part in an online workshop hosted by the National Academies of Sciences in Managing, Reducing, and Preventing Fear of Violence, with an audience of more than 350 people. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Peace building in Colombia: how to overcome current challenges |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Although we were not part of the panel, we were directly invited by the LSE Colombian Society to the event, where we met with Juanita Goebertus, a Colombian Congress woman from the Partido Verde (Green party) who is a lawyer who previously worked at the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace in Colombia. We re-connected with Dr Andrei Gomez, the Founding Member of Embracing Dialogue (Rodeemos el Dialogo, an international Colombian network which raised the awarness of the importance of peace and dialogue) and Dr Elena B. Savreska, an LSE academic colleague based at the LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security working in Colombia. The event served as a good networking opportunity to promote the project and strengthen our UK-Colombian links with UK-based academic colleagues, as well as Colombian politicians and practitioners. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Press Release for launch of short films: Forgiveness and reconciliation key to help mitigate long-term mental health impact of armed conflict in Colombia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | We developed a press release partnering with our LSE's communications colleague describing the Pathways project for the launch (1 February 2022) of the short animated films we developed and produced as part of our deliverables. The press release and films have been featured in our main departmental page which showcases the real world research and global impact of our research. They have been promoted frequently since the launch through our Department's Twitter account, which has more than 7,000 followers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.lse.ac.uk/PBS/News/Press-release/Forgiveness-and-reconciliation-key-to-help-mitigate-lon... |
| Description | Qualitative analysis training |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The UK research team delivered a qualitative data analysis training session to our Colombian research partners using the software NVivo12. The UK research team showed our partners the functionality of the software and provided a practice-based talk on qualitative research and analysis. The training session was very well received the Colombian team and supported the development of researchers in qualitative methodologies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Re-thinking Human Behaviour critical perspectives on the psychology of COVID-19 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The event reached a global public audience and took place on 7th October. It was part of "Shaping the Post-COVID World" LSE initiative, which focused on the social and community dimensions of global health, arguing for the need to apply a bottom-up approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event centre the discussion on the following questions: "What are the social and community based aspects of human behaviour and health? How big is the importance of going beyond a purely individual or top-down paternalistic approach to the COVID-19 pandemic?" The UK PI chaired the event with Dr Rochelle Burgess (UCL), Professor Ama de-Graft Aikins (UCL Institute of Advanced Studies) Professor Helene Joffe (UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences) and Professor Stephen Reicher (St Andrews and member of SAGE). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.lse.ac.uk/lse-player?id=c522c0d6-075a-422c-96ff-2abdec62a945 |
| Description | Small group meeting and consultation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The Colombian research team led by the Colombian PI held a small meeting with Dr Erin McFee (Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago) on 4 February 2021. The meeting focused on analysing the structure of the ethnographic publication that they are drafting, which describes the NGO intervention and the views from research participants. The consultation and discussion with Dr McFee enhanced the team's ethnographic knowledge of the regions where the armed conflict took place and supported their interpretation of research findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Small research meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The meeting "Exploring the Imagination-(Im)Mobility Nexus: from Imaginaries to Imagining on the Move", tookl place on the 18-19 May 2018, in Neuchatel, Switzerland. It was organised by the Swiss Science Foundation and brought together academics, postgraduate students and NGOs to explore the links betwee mobility and the imagination in the contemporary city. Professor Sandra Jovchelovitch gave a paper entitled "Imagining the City: porosity of borders and human development in divided urban environments". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://nccr-onthemove.ch/events/interdisciplinary-workshop-exploring-the-imagination-immobility-nex... |
| Description | Social entrepreneuring virtual activity |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Supporters |
| Results and Impact | Women leaders who have been community partners in our project from Narrar para Vivir (a grassroots organisation working with and for women victims in the Bolivar region) showed their sewing workshops as a social entrepeuring virtual activity to the Grassroots Business Fund. This provided an international reach to their work and potential for new partnerships, which was enabled by our Colombian research team networks. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Talk at the LSE's International Inequalities Institute |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The UK PI gave a talk accompanied by the UK team about the project to the LSE's International Inequalities Institute (III), invited by Professor Nicola Lacey, Professor of Law, Gender and Social Policy and Professor David Soskice, Research Director at the III and Professor at the Department of Government. The talk was attended by III researchers and doctoral students. The audience provided positive and encouraging feedback about the fieldwork challenges we have faced given that we are operating in remote territories with highly mobile communities. Links were made by the Research Officers with LSE doctoral students working in Colombia. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Talk at the Public Policy Webinar Series - School of Government at Universidad de los Andres |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Dedios and Dr Concha (LSE team) co-presented a paper on our qualitative findings entitled: "Future expectations in young people who participated in a forgiveness and reconciliation intervention in PDET territories". The talk was part of the Public Policy webinar series (20 May 2022) hosted by the School of Government at Universidad de los Andes, Colombia, aimed mainly at a national public policy audience, students from Los Andes and the general public. Dr Dedios presented the background of the research and provided insightful and relevant policy implications based on our findings. Dr Concha centred on discussing our qualitative findings. The talk has had 263 views via Facebook Live (see link below). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://fb.watch/dlWtLzC6Fz/ |
| Description | Talk on Forgiveness and Reconciliation for the seminar series "Occupations, Resistance and Peace" at the National University of Colombia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Dr Diego Salcedo, who is part of our Colombian research team, delivered a talk about the ethnographic component of our research on Forgiveness and Reconciliation to the research group "Occupations, Resistance and Peace" at the National University of Colombia led by Professor Carmen Aleida Fernandez Moreno. The talk formed part of a seminar series with students working on the Colombian armed conflict, on themes related to postconflict, reintegration and rehabiliation processes for both victims and demobilised populations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Forum on Global Violence Prevention: Managing, Reducing, and Preventing Fear of Violence |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Forum on Global Violence Prevention hosted a webinar on July 21-23, 2020 on the biological impacts, cultural influences, prevalent causes, and intervention strategies related to fear of violence. Speakers included: Laura Rogers (Office on Violence Against Women at the U.S. Department of Justice); Rachel Yehuda (Traumatic Stress Studies Division, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai); Joseph LeDoux (the Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Science at New York University); Martin Teicher (Developmental Biopsychiatry Research Program, McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School); Corinne Peek-Asa (University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center and International Collaborative Trauma and Injury Training Program, Central Europe); Park Dietz (Park Dietz & Associates and Threat Assessment Group); Polly Wiessner (The University of Utah); Helen Neville (University of Illinois); with our Colombian PI Dr Fabio Idrobo. The proceedings of the workshop can be found in the following link: https://www.nap.edu/read/26038/chapter/1#6 The online video with Dr Idrobo's talk (Day 2) can be found in the URL below. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/07-21-2020/managing-reducing-and-preventing-fear-of-violence... |
| Description | Three infographic bulletins sent to our facilitators and research users |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Three bulletins were published on the institutional page of our partners Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, which can be found in the link below. The first bulletin is entitled: "Forgiveness, reconciliation and mental health in PDET territories" and includes demographic data from the communities we studied as well as prevalence of mental health problems. The second bulletin describes preliminary findings from our ethnographic component. The third bulletin "ESPERE: a commitment to forgiveness, reconciliation and peacebuilding from the territories and with the communities affected by the armed conflict" describes research users' initial perceptions about the workshops and how it impacted their lives, the peacebuilding actions carried out in the territories and cultural values and identities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020 |
| URL | https://bit.ly/34fqpVt |
| Description | Visit to House of Lords |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A dialogue meeting took place in July 2018 at the office of Lord Alderdice in the House of Lords. The meeting was attended by the LSE team, (including a Senior Public Affairs Officer, Greg Taylor, the PI Professor Jovchelovitch and Dr Natalia Concha, Research Officer), Lord Alderdice and members of his team, Eva Grossman, co-founder and CEO of the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building and a team of staff and interns from the Netherlands Institute for Democracy. Lord Alderdice played a significant role in negotiating the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and has strong links with the Colombian peace process. He is also an expert on peace, reconcialiation, violence and mental health. Professor Jovchelovitch introduced the project which was followed by a discussion about collaboration and the planing of mutual activities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Vulnerable youth and violence in Colombia - seminar between Tiempo de Juego and LSE |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The project was promoted through the participation of one of our Research Officers as the chair and discussant in a panel organized by the LSE's Colombian Society on youth and violence. It focused on presenting the work of a Colombian NGO, "Tiempo de Juego" (Time to Play), which uses sports and culture as tools to generate social transformation in more than 5,000 vulnerable youth in Colombia. It also works with young people in one of our field territories (Timbiquí). The panel consisted of the NGO Director Esteban Reyes and a youth leader Brayan Garey, who has now been capacitated and works for the organisation. The event connected the academic community (academic colleagues and postgraduate students) and was open to the public, which was largely Colombian. The discussion centred on youth, violence and intervention strategies where common processes between our NGO partner (Fundacion para la Reconciliacion) and Tiempo de Juego were identified. Links with a follow-up meeting with Hernando Alvarez, the Editor of the Digital Content Hub at BBC News were established. In addition, The LSE Colombian Society had requested we participate in a larger conference on Colombia in 2020 and for one of our UK team to chair another event on urban transformations with Camilo Santamaría and Professor Julio D Davila at UCL. This events were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Workshop on social change and the transformation of ideas |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The UK PI co-hosted with Professor Paula Castro from Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL) a workshop in Lisbon on "Social change and the transformation of ideas" with doctoral students from LSE and ISCTE-IUL in March 2020. The two-day workshop enabled knowledge exchange and discussions from the two institutions. It combined senior and peer guidance for the participating students, some of which stemmed out from the current UKRI project. Doctoral researchers found the event very helpful. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |