Getting on with it: understanding the Micro-Dynamics of Post-Accord Intergroup Social Relations
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: Politics
Abstract
Approximately 2 billion people live in regions plagued by violent conflict (World Bank 2017); within a decade, half the global population will live in countries affected by violence and instability. A key factor shaping global insecurity is that the conventional means for bringing an end to armed conflict do not deliver sustainable peace: around 50% of peace settlements collapse within 10 years. Even when peace holds, its quality is often poor. Recidivism and poor-quality peace represent significant global security concerns, as pervasive post-accord political/criminal violence, poverty and exclusion continue to blight the lives of people living in fragile societies. Peace tends to reach conflict-affected communities slowly, if at all, and ordinary people must get on with living, providing for their families where jobs and state/government support are often absent. They must navigate complex, often traumatic relations between neighbours/authorities, where mutual distrust and discrimination and the legacies of war mean that people experience the present and imagine the future through the societal cleavages and violent memories of the past.
This research aims to understand how civilians face the challenges of failed/failing peace and how they navigate the causes, consequences and legacy of intergroup political violence when formal, top-down interventions do not reach them (RQ1). The project will create innovative original empirical and theoretical data and develop the concept of the Micro-Dynamics of Post-Conflict Intergroup Relations, describing the everyday tactical agency, mechanisms and narratives that individuals, communities and groups employ in order to cope with the legacy of political violence and learn to co-exist with or challenge their former 'enemies' (RQ2). The research will evaluate whether and, if so, how ordinary people play a role in sustaining peace when formal interventions do not reach them, or, if they do, generate limited effect (RQ3). Employing a cutting-edge participatory, co-production methodology of qualitative and quantitative methods, such as embedded ethnography, life histories, map-making, walking, photography, Nvivo, the project will develop a systematic evidence base of everyday tactics and strategies and the factors that shape civilians' ability to craft them. The project explores how factors such as inequality, economic/political exclusion and criminal/political violence affect civilian capacity to levy everyday micro-practices and their subsequent influence upon peacebuilding, intergroup coexistence and reconciliation. Given our focus upon local knowledge and everyday tactics/strategies, 3 country Partners and community stakeholders will participate from the outset through planned and costed activities and strategies to develop a robust theoretical model informed by stakeholders themselves. This model will advance theoretical insights by developing innovative concepts, such as post-accord civilian social entrepreneurship and individual and intergroup micro-social contracts, significantly advancing scholarship and leading to academic impact. Through Knowledge Exchange (KE) with funded direct Partners and wider networks of policymakers and scholars, we will contribute substantially to policy/practitioner knowledge of the factors shaping the stability of political settlements, the likelihood of recidivism and the quality of peace. Working with Partners, PolicyBristol and Durham Policy Hub, we will organise learning events, disseminating evidence-based knowledge of how local actors can sustain or challenge peace from below. We thus expect to facilitate considerable economic/societal impact through KE and lessons learned with peacebuilding/development practitioners. As an integrated whole then, the research will yield academic and economic/societal impact, ultimately reframing key debates, strengthening local capacities, building policy-relevant conceptual models and shaping policy and practice
This research aims to understand how civilians face the challenges of failed/failing peace and how they navigate the causes, consequences and legacy of intergroup political violence when formal, top-down interventions do not reach them (RQ1). The project will create innovative original empirical and theoretical data and develop the concept of the Micro-Dynamics of Post-Conflict Intergroup Relations, describing the everyday tactical agency, mechanisms and narratives that individuals, communities and groups employ in order to cope with the legacy of political violence and learn to co-exist with or challenge their former 'enemies' (RQ2). The research will evaluate whether and, if so, how ordinary people play a role in sustaining peace when formal interventions do not reach them, or, if they do, generate limited effect (RQ3). Employing a cutting-edge participatory, co-production methodology of qualitative and quantitative methods, such as embedded ethnography, life histories, map-making, walking, photography, Nvivo, the project will develop a systematic evidence base of everyday tactics and strategies and the factors that shape civilians' ability to craft them. The project explores how factors such as inequality, economic/political exclusion and criminal/political violence affect civilian capacity to levy everyday micro-practices and their subsequent influence upon peacebuilding, intergroup coexistence and reconciliation. Given our focus upon local knowledge and everyday tactics/strategies, 3 country Partners and community stakeholders will participate from the outset through planned and costed activities and strategies to develop a robust theoretical model informed by stakeholders themselves. This model will advance theoretical insights by developing innovative concepts, such as post-accord civilian social entrepreneurship and individual and intergroup micro-social contracts, significantly advancing scholarship and leading to academic impact. Through Knowledge Exchange (KE) with funded direct Partners and wider networks of policymakers and scholars, we will contribute substantially to policy/practitioner knowledge of the factors shaping the stability of political settlements, the likelihood of recidivism and the quality of peace. Working with Partners, PolicyBristol and Durham Policy Hub, we will organise learning events, disseminating evidence-based knowledge of how local actors can sustain or challenge peace from below. We thus expect to facilitate considerable economic/societal impact through KE and lessons learned with peacebuilding/development practitioners. As an integrated whole then, the research will yield academic and economic/societal impact, ultimately reframing key debates, strengthening local capacities, building policy-relevant conceptual models and shaping policy and practice
Organisations
- University of Bristol (Lead Research Organisation)
- Ohio State University (Collaboration)
- University of Notre Dame (Collaboration)
- University of Tampere (Collaboration)
- Autonomous University of Occident (Collaboration)
- Committee on the Administration of Justice (Collaboration)
- UN Women (Collaboration)
- Yale University (Collaboration)
Publications
Brett R
(2024)
The micro-dynamics of peace and conflict
in Security Dialogue
Mac Ginty R
(2024)
Simultaneously inhabited lifeworlds: A phenomenological approach to understanding peace and conflict
in Cooperation and Conflict
| Title | Community Visual Maps and Photographs. |
| Description | The micro-dynamics mapping method collects not only information to generate a micro-dynamics database, but also incudes a visual element that allows participants to produce their own representations of their relationships and dynamics in everyday life at the micro-level. These visual diagrams, generated by each interview, are then transformed into a digitally accessible series of maps, linked to specific country cases across Colombia, Lebanon, and Northern Ireland, and which permit audiences to associate individual experiences with the geographic and micro and macro contexts in which they occur. This mapping technique also allows participants to produce their own photographic interpretation of these interactions, taking photos of their day to day life - keeping in mind concerns of anonymity and security - that will also be digitally displayed alongside the drawn diagrams. This allows audiences to 'see the world' through local eyes as well as understand the myriad interactions and emotions individuals experience navigated conflict-affected areas. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | We are developing this methodology/artwork, but have already collected over 50 community maps that will be digitised. We will begin phase 2 of the research to collect further community maps and the photographs in May 2023. |
| Title | Visualising Conflict and Migration: Exhibition |
| Description | An exhibition of photographs and annotations held in the Teaching and Learning Centre at Durham University 1-14 March 2024. Contains photos by research team members and research participants. Related launch event attended by 30+ people. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Impact | Held in an area of the University with significant footfall. |
| Title | Visualising Conflict and Migration: Photo Exhibition |
| Description | This exhibition of photographs and annotations is held in the Teaching and Learning Centre at Durham University, 1-14 March 2024. It contains photos by research team members and research participants. Related launch event attended by 30+ people. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Impact | It is held in an area of the University with significant footfall. |
| Description | Current post-conflict peacebuilding strategies are failing to secure durable, stable peace after violent conflict ends. Whilst research and policy has focused on top-down mechanisms/institutions, little is known about how communities get on with life, how people learn to coexist or whether their actions may sustain or undermine peace. At community level, despite a signed peace agreement, peace is often absent and hostilities remain. Here, opposing groups are not always willing to make peace. Armed groups may retain their presence. State institutions are often weak. Public services providing security, healthcare and education might not be easily accessed. Our research in Colombia, Lebanon and Northern Ireland provides new insight into how civilians get on with life in contexts, where, for them, the consequences and benefits of peace are limited. The study presents convincing evidence of how, under insecure, violent conditions, civilians may play a crucial first line of defence in upholding fragile peace. Using innovative methods including life histories, community mapping and walking interviews, and with support from local partners, we spoke to over 387 people about their experiences and daily lives in conflict-affected communities. We discovered that people create their own strategies to navigate violent geographies and divided communities. They draw on intimate knowledge of their environment and their societies to do so. People in conflict-affected areas employ local knowledge, and develop diverse tactics and strategies to survive. In our communities in Colombia, Lebanon and Northern Ireland, avoidance is the number 1 navigation strategy, whilst other strategies are also used. We are developing a typology and database of civilian agency at present that will develop considerably innovative theoretical frameworks for understanding post-accord life. These civilian strategies and tactics represent the first line of defence of a peace process. Our study also shows how ordinary people may play a role in prolonging conflict, by encouraging division in their communities and reinforcing the power and authority of armed groups and entrenching cleavages. Specifically, we also discovered that, under catastrophic economic conditions, disillusionment with the state, horrific violence and frequent stigma: - Peace deals signed in faraway metropolis mean very little to local residents, where repression and violence are often driven by converging national, international, and transnational logics and dynamics, especially as conflicts evolve (e.g. drug-trafficking, mega-projects, smuggling). - National-level political divisions don't necessarily filter down to local communities, where people are concerned with daily survival. Here, people may be as affected by intragroup divisions and tensions as by intergroup. - Where state institutions aren't trusted, are fragile and deliver mandates slowly, people may approach illegal armed groups in their communities, which (illegally) provide quicker justice and offer protection or reward. - Alertness and vigilance that civilians display vis-à-vis their surroundings pervades their everyday and often mundane decision-making in interactions within and across communities and in their use of public space. - People living in conflict-affected communities may collaborate with illegal armed groups, further entrenching polarisation and prolonging sub-threshold conflict violence These research findings suggest that, to be more responsive, peacebuilding policy must take civilian preferences and behaviour seriously. |
| Exploitation Route | Our research is likely to have significant impact for practitioners and policymakers working on post-accord peacebuilding. Specifically, we are developing further the following recommendations (which remain at an early stage for now): • International and national level policymakers should co-design programmes with relevant NGOs and community representatives that build local spaces for inter- and intra-group dialogue. • To avoid reliance on armed actors, international and national level policymakers should use local knowledge to identify and support effective alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. • International actors and governments should develop programmes to address conflict- affected and trauma-related mental health within communities. These should cover complex post- traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, interpersonal and inter-group trust and suicide risk. • International actors, national and local governments should develop programmes addressing the changing causes and consequences of inter- and intra-group divisions, especially at the local level. • Policymakers should craft initiatives that build on and respond to the everyday knowledge, tactics and strategies local people use to coexist and get on with life in violent and divided communities. • Peacemaking and peacebuilding must be adaptive. To address evolving conflicts, international actors and national/sub-national governments should facilitate ongoing dialogue between relevant powerbrokers at the subnational level, including illicit armed groups, and civilians. |
| Sectors | Education Government Democracy and Justice |
| Description | Colombian Post-Accord Process. |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Colombian Truth Commission. |
| Geographic Reach | South America |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| URL | https://www.comisiondelaverdad.co |
| Description | Discussions with Policymakers and Practitioners in Corrymeela, Northern Ireland. |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Influenced practicioner engagement with regional peace talks in Colombia |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Our collaboration with local partners and the findings we coproduced on the daily patterns of live and micro-dynamics of post-accord relations directly inform the conversation and dialogue at the peace talks occurring at the regional level of Nariño. Nariño, as one of the most conflict-affected regions of Colombia, has a million and a half inhabitants who would all benefit from a lasting and sustainable peace accord between the major non-state armed groups in the region. |
| Description | Intergroup Contact. |
| Geographic Reach | Asia |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Northern Ireland and Ireland Constitutional Frameworks. |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | UN Women |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | At present, we are awaiting the specific evidence of change. However, it is clear that the project has begun to shape how UN Women engages with the themes of sexual and gender based violence. |
| Description | Yale University and University of Notre Dame. |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Title | New Innovative Research Methodologies. |
| Description | We believe this project to incorporate a wide range of innovative qualitative research tools, which have so far included life histories, walking ethnography, and community mapping. Significantly, we have developed a micro-dynamics mapping methodology to collect data on individual-level interactions and degrees of safety in conflict-affected communities. This method combines visual and oral elements - co-produced with participants from the affected communities - to generate data on changing relationships between people across the community and over time. This mapping method relies on a series of interview questions posed that the participant is able to answer through visual diagrams and story-telling practices. In follow-up sessions the participant will also take and share photographs that represent the micro-dynamic interactions collected through the mapping method. For the life history and semi-structured interviews, a small number in Lebanon, Colombia and Northern Ireland have included a walking portion around the neighbourhood of the participant. This was not always possible due to high traffic in some areas, or due to security concerns in others. Regarding our walking interviews and walks, there have been two general types: 1) walking interviews formally with participants, either as a portion of the interview or as the interview itself. These have been carried out in the neighbourhood where the participant is resident or works (if semi-structured). It has been more challenging to do this in Lebanon (rather than our other cases) because of traffic in urban areas and/or security concerns in some urban/rural areas; 2) walking autoethnography of researcher, to embody the socio-spatial context where the research is conducted. Examples have included, free walking and observation; counting the number of certain religious or political symbols within a space; driving or taking public transport through a rural area with free observation. In terms of the life history interviews, most have included a portion of mapping or map-making: identifying one's micro-level everyday routines and interactions geographically on an existing map (e.g., google map) or drawing one freehand. This also included identifying areas that the individual deemed personally safe/unsafe. This exercise was a tool that benefitted the interview process by uncovering micro-level interactions, stances, routines and behaviours. We are about to implement a second which is a mapping exercise of comfortable/uncomfortable (safe/unsafe) interactions that individuals encounter regularly or periodically. The tool we have developed allows for an in-depth examination of multiple micro-level interactions as a follow-up phase to Study I. We believe that the "Map" or visual method allows for greater freedom in listing and discussing interactions. Second phase of this study involves inviting willing participants to photograph scenes (excluding identifiable individuals for privacy purposes) that represent a submit of the interactions they have discussed during the interview. In the end, the diverse series of different methodological tools has helped us to garner innovative and original data that we will subsequently analyse further. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Completed interviews thus far: Northern Ireland: - Interviews with laypeople (life histories): 20 - Semi-structured interviews (local community members/leaders): 15 - Focus groups: 2 - Informal interviews with 'experts' (academics; journalists; historians; NGOs): 18 In Lebanon: - Interviews with laypeople (life histories): 29 - Semi-structured interviews (local community members/leaders): 21 - Focus groups: 2 - Informal interviews with 'experts' (academics; journalists; historians; NGOs): 19 In Colombia: - Interviews with laypeople (life histories): 40 - Semi-structured interviews (local community members/leaders): 53 - Focus groups: 3 - Informal interviews with 'experts' (academics; journalists; historians; NGOs): 43 |
| Title | New Database and Dataset |
| Description | The micro-dynamics mapping method described in the previous section generates a micro-dynamics database. This database stores hundreds of micro-dynamic interactions experienced by individuals in conflict-affected communities that lead to feelings of comfort or discomfort, safety or unsafety. This database will permit analysis to how interactions between different individuals as the local level change over time and space during the course of conflict and after the signing of a peace accord, permitting a more nuanced analysis of what insecurities persist after conflict officially ends and what aspects of daily life have changed. The database will also allow both within- and cross-country comparison to examine what similarities individuals in conflict-affected share and what factors might drive differences. We are developing the following Datasets: 1) transcribed interviews; 2) maps from Study 1 (for reference alongside transcripts); 3) field notes from observational walks and general ethnography; 4) upcoming dataset: transcripts and maps from study II (visualisation) Databases: In progress, as we have begun creating a main database of micro-level stances/actions/reaction/behaviour; a second, related database will be based on the mapping of micro-level interactions |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | We are developing this new collection of datasets and database at present. |
| Description | Collaboration, Jackson School for Global Affairs, Yale University |
| Organisation | Yale University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I have been appointed as International Programme Affiliate. Conflict, Resilience and Health Programme, MacMillan Center for International Area Studies, Jackson School for Global Affairs. Yale University. I work with the Programme to develop research on local agency in peacebuilding. |
| Collaborator Contribution | My partners at Yale have sustained key insights into local agency in the aftermath of peace accords. |
| Impact | I have worked with colleagues at the Programme on a publication (published by Yale University) and through participating at two conferences. All outcomes are multi-disciplinary, and involve, Politics, International Relations, Anthropology. • The Role of Local Agencies in Sustaining Peace. Yale University (April 2024). • Inclusive Peace Processes: Challenges in Design and Implementation. Jackson School of Global Affairs, Yale University (November 2022). • (2023) Strategies for Sustainable Peacebuilding: Implementation and Policy (With Alexandra Paige et al.). Jackson School of Global Affairs, Yale University, and Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Committee on the Administration of Justice, Northern Ireland. |
| Organisation | Committee on the Administration of Justice |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We are working with the Committee on the Administration of Justice to design policy on inter and cross community coexistence and reconciliation throughout Northern Ireland. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The CAJ has supported the project by providing expertise on local politics and inter-communal relationships, introductions to actors in the wider policy sphere, and by providing our post-docs with an office space. They will also assist us in data gathering in 2023. In Northern Ireland, we have been also working alongside two local level community organisations along interface areas, including a not-for-profit organisation that seeks to encourage cross-community development. |
| Impact | Not as yet. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame |
| Organisation | University of Notre Dame |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Roddy Brett has been invited as a Visiting Fellow to the Kroc Institute for International Peacebuilding, University of Notre Dame, USA, where he has been sharing the developing and ongoing insights from the Getting on with It Award with colleagues at the Kroc and at the peace Accords Matrix. This has been of fundamental value in supporting the analysis of the empirical data so far gathered and strengthening our project's conceptual framework. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame has contributed to the project by providing key conceptual, theoretical and empirical knowledge and expertise to the team. |
| Impact | Not yet |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Ohio State University (Mershon Centre) |
| Organisation | Ohio State University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I am working closely with OSU (Mershon Centre) to investigate reconciliation processes in Northern Ireland and Colombia through a partnership with the Mershon Centre. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Support in analysis of data and discussions of theoretical approaches to reconciliation. |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Tampere University, Peace Research Institute |
| Organisation | University of Tampere |
| Country | Finland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are working closely with colleagues at Tampere to develop research on the embodied impact of reconciliation process in the wake of peace agreements. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Colleagues - particularly Professor Elise Feron - have provided very important insights into the way in which people live lives in the wake of a peace agreement. |
| Impact | I have been appointed Visiting Social Sciences Professor (during 2024). |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | UN Women Lebanon |
| Organisation | UN Women |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We have contributed expertise for the development of an internal UN Women policy framework pertaining to sexual and gender based violence in Lebanon. |
| Collaborator Contribution | In Lebanon, we have developed some very exciting collaborations and partnerships at local levels, including with UN Women and other local organisations. a. We have been working informally with UN Women. One our of team members interviewed her and the diplomat subsequently connected the team to several people and we provided expert advice to UN Women regarding forms of transitional justice for sexual violence perpetrated during the Civil War in Lebanon (mainly against women, but also men). b. We have also been running informal collaboration/partnership with Action Research Associates (ARA). The collaboration has included use of their networking expertise (introductions to potential key people and participants in research regions for example) and use of their premises for running two focus group sessions. We have also introduced and connected the attendees of our research focus groups (with their permission) to ARA for their own focus group on research that these people are conducting regarding dealing with the past in Lebanon. c. We have developed some very useful informal collaboration with a prominent peace activist (anonymous). She participated in a formal interview and introduced and connected us to several key individuals within history/politics/human rights/justice circles. d. We have been collaborating with local teachers in Beirut. The team assisted in a community project with the teacher's final year students and gave the teacher informal feedback on some of her work that has a political/peace and conflict angle. We also carried out several 'ethnographic' walks around neighbourhoods in Beirut, both guided and unguided. We have been working as a team with doctoral students. For example, one of our team members has been collaborating with a PhD student who is looking at archival data of collective action in Lebanon from the 2019 "Thawra". This collaboration will be formalised further in the future. |
| Impact | Internal UN policy framework on sexual and gender-based violence. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Universidad Autonoma del Occidente, Cali, Colombia |
| Organisation | Autonomous University of Occident |
| Country | Colombia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We work with the Universidad Autonoma del Occidente, Cali, Colombia to develop our methodological approach to data gathering in Colombia after signing a collaboration agreement. We have begun to design a framework through which we can contribute to emerging research agendas within the university. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We work with the Universidad Autonoma del Occidente, Cali, Colombia to develop our methodological approach to data gathering in Colombia, as well as in terms of developing co-analysis of the empirical data. The university has been supportive and given our post-doc a space when she was in Cali. |
| Impact | Not yet - but we will be co-authoring research. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | A panel on history education in conflict/post-war contexts in Eastern Mediterranean |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited expert on a panel about history education in post-accord Lebanon, attended by 20 professionals and academics in Nicosia, Cyprus |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | A talk on dealing with the past in post-accord Lebanon at WPS regional hub meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 60 professionals and academics attended a panel organized by the Women Peace and Security Regional Hub at the IFI, American University of Beirut. The panel was organized around the theme of dealing with the past, transitional justice, post-accord impunity, and with special focus on the August 4, 2020, post blast in Beirut. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | An interview for local Belfast TV station about research in N. Ireland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A local Belfast studio TV interview about the research project, and research in general in post-accord Northern Ireland. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Cambridge University Conference on Legacy |
| 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 public talk drawing on the Getting on with it project that addressed the Geographic Legacy of Violence in Post-Accord Societies, sparking conversation on the meaning of peace and why landscape isn't neutral. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Closing Project Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We launched the findings of the Getting on with it project at the Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, in the presence of practitioners, policymakers, and academics, including from the UN, transitional justice mechanisms and national and international NGOs. We had a fascinating debate about our findings and lessons learned across the diverse case studies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Conversations with Gensler Architects |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | I am in dialogue with colleagues from the organisation / charity Never such Innocence and Gensler Architects regarding the Local Dimensions of Violent Geographies and how we might respond by rebuilding infrastructure in a manner that responds to the interests of local actors. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024,2025 |
| Description | Discussion on current status of Colombian peace process |
| 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 | Invited to participate in a discussion on the current state of the Colombian peace process in Berlin, drawing on experience and findings from the project to discuss current trends to an audience of academics, policymakers (including members of the Colombian Embassy in Germany, members of transitional justice bodies in Colombia, and German NGOs). The discussion assessed the accomplishments and obstacles facing President Gustavo Petro's goal of Total Peace in the country. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Engagement with Colombian Academics and Policymakers. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Dr. Roddy Brett presented and debated the project with colleagues from the Western Autonomous University, Cali, Colombia, building an important network with local scholars and policymakers who work on peacebuilding and conflict transformation. The meeting led to wider engagement from within the university and with core policymakers in southern Colombia. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Engaging with NI Politcians |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The team presented our project as part of the launch of the report of the citizens' assembly concerning alternatives to forced consociation in the Northern Ireland Assembly. This debate included Dr. Sean Haughey (University of Liverpool) and Dr. James Pow (Queen's University Belfast). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Establishment of a New Research / Policy Network: FuturePeace. |
| 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 | On the grounds of the research insights developed through the GOWI project, I founded the FuturePeace Network (University of Bristol; University of Notre Dame; Peace Research Institute, PRIO, Norway; Javeriana University, Colombia; Hekima Institute of Peace Studies, Kenya). We are participating in the United Nations consultation process to contribute to the design the UN's New Agenda for Peace (replacing the 1992 Agenda for Peace). We have sent recommendations to the UN, and aim to present evidence to the UN in Kenya and at the UN General Assembly (2024). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Everyday peace and its micro-dynamics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Talk for about 70 people at the Kennedy Centre for International Studies at Brigham Young University, Utah, US. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Jackson School |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Roddy Brett, PI, was invited to present the project at the Jackson School of Global Affairs, Yale University, and Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame (Yale University, 14 November, 2022). The project was presented during the workshop Inclusive Peace Processes: Challenges in Design and Implementation. Colloquium. Strategies for Sustainable Peacebuilding: Implementation and Policy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://jackson.yale.edu/jackson-events/strategies-for-sustainable-peacebuilding-implementation-and-... |
| Description | Launch of Findings at SOAS. |
| 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 | We launched the findings of the Getting on with it project at SOAS in London, in the presence of diplomats, practitioners, and academics. We had a fascinating debate about our findings and lessons learned across the diverse case studies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Panel on Measuring Peace. Ohio State University |
| 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 | Myself and Professor Roger Mac Ginty (Co-I) presented a paper on Measuring Peace at the Mershon Centre, Ohio State University (September 2023). We discussed the data gathered from our GOWI project. As a result, I have been invited to participate in a further project with the Mershon Centre on reconciliation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Panel on future of peacebuilding (University of Bradford) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Peace Studies at Bradford as the UK's oldest centre for studying peace, I was invited to speak at a roundtable on the future of peace studies, the relevance for contemporary peacebuilding, and how to bridge the gap between academia and practice. I drew on the findings and experience from work on Colombia and Northern Ireland and partnerships with local organisations to discuss how to translate findings in to helpful guides for practitioners. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Participated in Peace Summit and civil society and practicioner discussions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Peace Summit was held in Londonderry as part of a series of open forums on the 25 year anniversary of the Belfast Agreement. I attended as representative of the "Getting on with it" team to discuss insights from our research within groups of policy-makers, civil society leaders, and members of third sector organisations. A Peace Summit Report was released 23 May 2023 based on the insights and discussions generated between attendees over the series of meetings across Northern Ireland. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://humefoundation.org/peace-summit-2023-report |
| Description | Participation in Workshop on Post-Accord Violence. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to participate in a roundtable on post-conflict violence. This took place at City University, specifically with the Violence, Health & Society Consortium, which include the Violence & Society Centre. I spoke about Preventing Post-Accord Violence (February 2024). We will follow up with a further meeting, where we will discuss continuity of violence after an agreement, rather than legacy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Policy Workshop, University of Bristol. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | In October 2023, the GOWI team held a policy workshop at the University of Bristol, with the participation of government officials, officials from international inter-governmental agencies and international NGOs. The team presented our insights and received very important feedback from colleagues in policy and practice. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation at Conflict Research conference CRS |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to approximately 30 people on the findings from our study. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation at European association of social psychology meeting - EASP |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 40 academics attended a presentation on key findings from research at an international meeting - EASP - in Belfast, UK |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation at ISA - international conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 30 academics and practitioners attended presentation on key findings from the research at an international conference at Montreal, Canada. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation at conference on conflict research - CRS |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 30 academics and practitioners attended a presentation on key findings from research at an international conference in London, UK. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation international conference ISA |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 30 academics and practitioners attended presentation on key findings from study in international conference at Montreal Canada. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation on Colombia to policy-makers/practicioners Berlin |
| 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 | approximately 60 participants attended a two-day event to discuss post-Accord Colombia and steps towards peace. The presentation sparked questions and the workshop participants discussed a possible follow on collaboration for publication. The coordinator of the workshop wrote an article for national Colombian newspaper el Espectador based on the discussions of the workshop. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.elespectador.com/colombia-20/analistas/apuntes-de-la-paz-total-i-colombia-una-democracia... |
| Description | Public lecture, University of Notre Dame |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Public lecture. Well attended. Sparked discussion on meanings of peace. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Talk at the University of the Arctic on conflict sensitive research methods |
| 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 | Cedntre for Peace and Cponflict Studies invited talk |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Talk to practicioners on micro-level conflict data with ACLED |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This discussion was designed to help inform ACLED's conflict mapping tools for practitioners and improve micro-level data collection to guide policy-makers and aid organisations in understanding shifting conflict dynamics and peacebuilding. The meeting was attended by a group of academic researchers and practicioners from different third sector organisations to discuss what would be most helpful. These insights were taken by the ACLED team to help refine the mapping tools they offered practicioners. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Talk to scholars |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Talk to small group of architects and geographers. Sparked inter-disciplinary discussion |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Tampere Workshop. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Talk to PG students. The discussion of Getting on with it precipitated discussion on meanings of peace and how policy might better deliver sustainable peace. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Teaching on SSR course on trust and peace building - Invited expert |
| 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 | 40 German nationals working security sector reform attending a course on SSR and peace building attended two sessions covering topics of trust building and contact between groups in conflict/post-war contexts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | University College Dublin |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Co-I Mac Ginty was invited to present the project at the inaugural event for the opening of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Research, University College Dublin. Mac Ginty gave a talk on "Simultaneity and deeply divided societies", drawing on the datasets of the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Wider Engagement by the GOWI Team |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | In Northern Ireland, our team presented the project at a local women's community group in Belfast and to a local pipe band. A team member also led a small group of Conflict Research Society attendees during the CRS 2022 conference in Belfast on an informal walking tour around north Belfast along part of the interface to tell them about the project. In Lebanon, the team presented the project during a local community project with final year art students who were mural painting in a local neighbourhood. We also presented the project and engaged with the general public during two Sunday morning hikes with a group of residents from the area. In Lebanon, the team gave a guest lecture at a senior psychology seminar at the University in Beirut. The focus of the talk was on what we can learn about intergroup contact research carried out in England and Northern Ireland and how it might apply to Lebanon. The research drew on examples of work that takes a micro-level and everyday living approach in contact research. This issue of comparative lessons learned across our case studies is key to the intellectual and policy outcomes of the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| Description | Wider engagement by the team |
| 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 | Clara Voyvodic-Casabo, post-doc, presented the Project at a bi-lateral workshop entitled "Towards Total Peace in Colombia?', at the Frei Berlin University. This cross-stakeholder workshop included members of the Colombian government, non-governmental oranizations, and Colombian and European academic researchers to discuss lessons from past peace negotiations and their current relevance in addressing renewed peace efforts by the Colombian government |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Yale University (Jackson School) |
| 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 dialogue with Yale colleagues and practitioners / policymakers concerning understanding the dynamics of violent post-accord geographies with the ai of thinking about developing a wider policy framework. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Yale University Conference. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Talk to public to policymakers, practitioners and academics. The discussion of Getting on with it precipitated discussion on meanings of peace and how policy might better deliver sustainable peace. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |