Cohesion & the Creative Economy: Inclusive Arts-based Programming for Peace, Stability and Conflict Prevention in Contexts of Protracted Displacement
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: International Development
Abstract
In 2020, over 86 percent of displaced people around the world were living in so-called "developing" countries, where governments and host communities have limited capacity to accommodate them. Shared experiences of economic hardship can be a basis for refugee-host solidarity, but they often give rise to inter-communal tensions as refugees are scapegoated for local and national problems, such that small-scale personal disputes can erupt into xenophobic violence. In response to this reality, there has been a proliferation over the past decade of aid projects that promote peaceful coexistence and social cohesion between refugees and host communities.
The SoCHO ("Social Cohesion as a Humanitarian Objective") project is an ongoing interdisciplinary study funded jointly by the AHRC and the FCDO which aims to improve the evidence base upon which such programmes are designed and implemented. The study focuses on Lebanon and Kenya, two countries that have for decades hosted large refugee populations from across their respective regions. Our research design involves conducting participatory project assessments of selected projects, to compare the impacts of different models.
However, the early phases of research have yielded rich storytelling far beyond what we anticipated from participants. While useful for research, storytelling is also a means of challenging divisive narratives and building understanding across social boundaries. This is especially important in light of the parallel crises that have unfolded in our sites since the project began: the collapse of the national currency in Lebanon, and the threat of forced refugee repatriation in Kenya as the government pushes to close its camps.
This follow-on project would incorporate local filmmakers in Kenya and Lebanon into ongoing SoCHO activities, mobilising their creative capacities to enhance the impact of our participatory research, while also re-working the stories that emerge during research into non-academic film content produced for local audiences. During Phase 1, local filmmakers will be trained in participatory methods, and will conduct "guided filming" at 3 in-depth assessments in each country. In guided filming, assessment participants drive the narrative, while the filmmakers apply their craft to convey these stories effectively, affectively and sensitively.
In Phase 2, filmmakers will also extend guided filming to a demographic that is often excluded from research and evaluation on refugee issues: pastoralists. Both Bedouin in eastern Lebanon and Turkana herders in northern Kenya make up a large part of the local refugee-hosting populations, yet they are notoriously difficult to reach for surveys and structured interviews, due to their high rates of non-literacy, shifting locations, and differences in communicative style. Our "guided filming" method offers an innovative, non-textual approach to engaging pastoralists in an extended participatory process. This activity draws upon an early observation from the SoCHO project, which is that pastoralist identity and heritage cross-cuts the refugee-host boundary in both sites, and may offer an under-appreciated avenue peace-building.
In line with SDG 16 ("promoting just, peaceful and inclusive societies"), our film outputs will be produced for and screened to local communities. The Phase 1 film outputs depict shared challenges and experiences that traverse the refugee-host divide, and which counter popular narratives that scapegoat refugees. The Phase 2 film will focus on shared pastoralist heritage as a bridge-builder, and will be screened to communities in both countries, sent to peace-building organisations, and presented at the Dana+20 meeting on Mobile Peoples. Alongside our project partner, the Jesuit Refugee Service, we will also use roundtables to "demystify" film-based assessment, and to promote incorporation of local film-makers into programme evaluation processes and conflict assessments.
The SoCHO ("Social Cohesion as a Humanitarian Objective") project is an ongoing interdisciplinary study funded jointly by the AHRC and the FCDO which aims to improve the evidence base upon which such programmes are designed and implemented. The study focuses on Lebanon and Kenya, two countries that have for decades hosted large refugee populations from across their respective regions. Our research design involves conducting participatory project assessments of selected projects, to compare the impacts of different models.
However, the early phases of research have yielded rich storytelling far beyond what we anticipated from participants. While useful for research, storytelling is also a means of challenging divisive narratives and building understanding across social boundaries. This is especially important in light of the parallel crises that have unfolded in our sites since the project began: the collapse of the national currency in Lebanon, and the threat of forced refugee repatriation in Kenya as the government pushes to close its camps.
This follow-on project would incorporate local filmmakers in Kenya and Lebanon into ongoing SoCHO activities, mobilising their creative capacities to enhance the impact of our participatory research, while also re-working the stories that emerge during research into non-academic film content produced for local audiences. During Phase 1, local filmmakers will be trained in participatory methods, and will conduct "guided filming" at 3 in-depth assessments in each country. In guided filming, assessment participants drive the narrative, while the filmmakers apply their craft to convey these stories effectively, affectively and sensitively.
In Phase 2, filmmakers will also extend guided filming to a demographic that is often excluded from research and evaluation on refugee issues: pastoralists. Both Bedouin in eastern Lebanon and Turkana herders in northern Kenya make up a large part of the local refugee-hosting populations, yet they are notoriously difficult to reach for surveys and structured interviews, due to their high rates of non-literacy, shifting locations, and differences in communicative style. Our "guided filming" method offers an innovative, non-textual approach to engaging pastoralists in an extended participatory process. This activity draws upon an early observation from the SoCHO project, which is that pastoralist identity and heritage cross-cuts the refugee-host boundary in both sites, and may offer an under-appreciated avenue peace-building.
In line with SDG 16 ("promoting just, peaceful and inclusive societies"), our film outputs will be produced for and screened to local communities. The Phase 1 film outputs depict shared challenges and experiences that traverse the refugee-host divide, and which counter popular narratives that scapegoat refugees. The Phase 2 film will focus on shared pastoralist heritage as a bridge-builder, and will be screened to communities in both countries, sent to peace-building organisations, and presented at the Dana+20 meeting on Mobile Peoples. Alongside our project partner, the Jesuit Refugee Service, we will also use roundtables to "demystify" film-based assessment, and to promote incorporation of local film-makers into programme evaluation processes and conflict assessments.
| Description | This project was conducted as a Follow-on to the Social Cohesion as a Humanitarian Objective (SoCHO) Project, and added further findings to some of the cohesion-oriented aid projects that we were examining during the earlier project. On the World Food Programmes joint farming project, we conducted a film-based participatory assessment to accompany the survey conducted during the earlier project. While the survey had highlighted various positive effects of the project, the interviews and focus groups discussions for the film-based interviews spotlighted how the project was also causing new forms of tension. During the dry seasons, many Turkana farmers left the project due to lack of available resources to continue cultivating; during this time, some refugee farmers would take over their plots to cultivate their own crops. However, when new resources were available for distribution, there was a lack of clarity about who should receive the new support: the original farmer to whom the plot had been allocated, or the person who had taken over after their attrition. This highlights the need for more investment in the governance of the farm project, especially the refugee and host leadership structures. For our assessment of the Norwegian Refugee Council's shelter support programme in the Beqaa, we found that the project had actually created new tensions as Lebanese landlords increasingly saw Syrian tenants (many of them displaced families) as a way to source income through the aid programme, rather than people in need of support. This study provided an example of aid-induced tension, wherein introduction of humanitarian resources in response to one problem inadvertently cause new problems, and will be a case study in an upcoming journal article (also possibly a chapter in a book that is still in proposal stage). |
| Exploitation Route | The film-makers who have helped to conduct the film-based assessment are using our outputs to market their skills to aid providers for future assessment activities. We are also exploring future projects in which refugee-run groups could provide independent assessments of projects, as they would not be subject to censorship like the assessments run by aid providers as part of their monitoring and evaluation procedures. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | Findings form the film-based assessments are primarily for use by humanitarian aid providers in Lebanon and Kenya, to inform their choices about improvement of existing aid programmes and design of new projects in the future. The World Food Programme, Norwegian Refugee Council, Search for Common Ground, and the Jesuit Refugee Service have all been engaged in regard to a particular project that was studied as part of this project. We are also using the findings to engage other aid providers in the relevant sectors for dialogue about best practices in regard to conflict sensitivity and promotion of social cohesion. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |