Culture for Sustainable and Inclusive Peace (CUSP)

The Culture for Sustainable and Inclusive Peace Network Plus (CUSP N+) addresses the call "Preventing Conflict, Building Sustainable and Inclusive Peace". It draws together non-academic partners from Low- and Middle-Income Countries (Ghana, Mexico, Morocco, Palestine and Zimbabwe) who work with young people in different artistic and cultural settings (e.g. dance, theatre, literature, music). CUSP's main aim is to strengthen arts and cultural institutions/organisations in LMIC, so they can become a reference point for the identification and transformation of social conflict. Through original research with core partners (strand 1), the commissioning of research to new partners (strand 2) and the synthesis of insights and knowledge exchange/sharing (strand 3), CUSP will focus on key issues identified as desirable for the N+ research agenda by each partner and context. These are: (a) fragile, and presently resilient cultural work in communities of the Global South; (b) the arts and cultural work in southern contexts as means to explore and share relevant strategies for conflict prevention and conflict transformation; (c) the arts and cultural work for the promotion of individual wellbeing and sustainable employment; and (d) South-South and South-North partnership building and networking towards the sharing of sustainable cultural and governance practices to maximise the reach and usability of digital technologies for artistic sustainability and peaceful cultural change.

During strand 1, CUSP N+ partners will work with artistic and cultural organisations in each location to identify, explore and disseminate culturally- and age-appropriate conflict transformation strategies to achieve positive change in relation to challenges experienced by women and girls. CUSP N+ partners will reflect on and share insights on processes and outcomes. The portfolio of activities thus developed will be expanded and refined through the commissioning of new research to explore further emerging themes, open questions and 'translatability' of practices to different contexts. CUSP will also engage in ongoing critical reflection on the internal dynamics of the network as it employs conflict transformation strategies also to work collaboratively. The synthesis of findings, and divergence of approaches, will offer innovative insights in relation to theoretical, methodological and policy-oriented questions.

Drawing together expertise from a range of disciplines (i.e. theatre studies; arts practice; languages, literature and cultural studies; gender studies; anthropology; sociology; postcolonial studies) CUSP builds on and expands established academic and non-academic collaborations with a range of partners based in fragile contexts and contexts of conflict and protracted crisis. In Ghana we work with young performers to whom dance can offer a way to survive disadvantaged backgrounds, deprivation, marginalisation and, in some cases, domestic violence. In the Gaza Strip, we work with educators and artists who respond creatively to lack of employment prospects in a collapsing economy and under constant threat of military violence; in Zimbabwe, we work with artists and writers who find strength in theatre and literature in what is an extremely fragile and volatile political, economic and material environment; in Mexico we support mediators and other professionals who, through books and the arts, work with children and young people displaced by poverty and violence; in Morocco, we work with cultural actors to revitalise civic values and democratic engagement through the production, dissemination and consumption of arts for all. Young people dealing with challenging situations in the UK with whom we have established partnerships, such as those seeking asylum and refuge, will also be engaged as consultants and in the work of synthesis and dissemination, and to explore potential for learning that flows South-to-South and South-to-North

We have identified a range of beneficiary groups which will be impacted positively by the work of the CUSP Network Plus. Below is a list of beneficiaries and of the ways in which they will benefit from the research:

A. LMIC countries involved (as core team and at commissioning strand). These will benefit from strengthening their cultural and artistic institutions/organisation in line with SDG 16. Stronger cultural and artistic organisations engaged in conflict transformation through culturally appropriate strategies will promote enhanced communication and security.

B. The individuals and arts/cultural institutions/organisations involved in CUSP N+. These will benefit from developing and sharing (North-to-South, South-to-South, South-to-North) the knowledge and expertise to become experienced, trusted and knowledgeable points of reference for their communities when social conflict and tensions arise.

C. Communities in partner locations experiencing social conflict and tension in relation to gender violence and coercion. These will benefit from developing culturally-grounded strategies for conflict resolution through arts and cultural work that will aid the long-term resolution of challenges, avoiding escalation and violence and working towards lasting peacebuilding.

D. Communities in partner locations (devolved projects) in relation to proof of concept enterprises using arts and culture that may develop as a result of funded projects. These will benefit from insights into ways in which artistic and cultural enterprises can also become a source of sustainable employment for local young people.

E. Women and girls involved in the CUSP project. These will benefit from the co-creation and leading (SGD 5) of safe spaces in which to discuss experiences of violence and coercion (physical, mental, social) and to identify gender / culturally-appropriate strategies to conflict transformation and long-term solutions.

F. Indigenous peoples in partner LMIC countries. These will benefit from having their knowledge, practices and protocols become an integral part of arts-based conflict transformation strategies, thus ensuring they maintain (or take back) relevance and value for their communities.

G. NGOs and civil society organisations working in situations of conflict and crisis in CUSP N+ partner countries (e.g. IRADA - IUG; UN Women Maghreb/Morocco; women's and girls' rights CSOs in Morocco; Zimbabwe Human Rights Organisation; policy briefs for Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission; Comisión Mexicana de Derechos Humanos; Red Mujeres, Desarrollo, Justicia y Paz; Fundación SM México) and more widely (Peace Commission; Truth and Reconciliation Commission; Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict; European Peacebuilding Liaison Office). These will benefit from having access to research-led strategies for conflict transformation and sustainable peacebuilding that are grounded in local knowledges and practices; that are gender-sensitive; and that facilitate the inclusion of women and girls also in leadership roles.

H. LMIC academic and non-academic partners in CUSP N+. These will benefit from capacity building in relation to requirements and processes of UK funding, which will allow them to be active in seeking, putting forward and shaping funding proposals that address their needs and interests, that are aligned with local knowledges and practices and grounded on cultural contexts.

I. NGOs, civil society organisations and academic institutions working with partners in LMIC countries. These will benefit from the insights into the ways in which Conflict Transformation strategies can also be adopted as culturally-sensitive ways of collaborating and redressing power imbalances and conflicts that may arise in the course of collaborations.