Sustaining Peace 2012
Sustaining Peace: Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Showcasing cutting-edge interdisciplinary work in conflict resolution, violence prevention, peace and sustainability at Columbia University
This Event Occurred on
Wednesday, November 7th, 2012
from 2pm to 8:30pm
Teachers College, Columbia University
Highlights:
- Morton Deutsch and Peter T. Coleman present their most recent book: The Psychological Components of Sustainable Peace–along with a panel of experts from the field
- Information tables of peace, conflict and sustainability related centers and programs at Columbia
- Poster session highlighting the latest research from AC4 fellows and projects
- Workshops: nine 50 minutes sessions
Book Launch and Keynote from Peter T. Coleman “What if We Took Peace Seriously?”
AC4 co-director, ICCCR director, and professor Peter T.Coleman discusses the question “What if We Took Peace Seriously?” with panel speakers Beth Fisher-Yoshida, Susan Opotow, Evelin Linder and Eric Marcus. Talk presented at Teachers College, Columbia University during the event “Sustaining Peace: Interdisciplinary Perspectives,” November 7, 2012.
Poster Session
Featuring presentations from:
Ethos of Peace and Conflict [Click the (+) for more information about this poster]
Title: Mapping Peaces: Investigating Mind Types for Preventing Conflict and Promoting Peace in The Middle East
Presenter: Nora El Zokm
Summary: This study, led by Dr. Peter T. Coleman, seeks to understand the drivers for, and the constraints against, destructive conflict and sustainable peace within Israel and the Occupied Territories. Employing the new methodology Rule Development Experimentation (RDE) (Moskowitz & Gofman, 2007), we identify unique clusters of motives for peace and conflict in both Israeli Jewish and Palestinian communities in the Middle East. We have recently completed collecting data from 300 participants in our third round of studies in the Middle East, both in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Our goal is to learn what induces individuals’ investments in conflict and peace, what detracts from their interest, and what factors have no impact on their interest.
Fortune Society Participatory Action Research [Click the (+) for more information about this poster]
Conflict Resolution Working Group: Trip to North Korea
Sustainable Peace and Land Tenure in Haiti [Click the (+) for more information about this poster]
Title: Designing Watershed Restoration and Monitoring Programs in Haiti
Summary: Earth Institute multi-sector teams are committed to providing support in conducting baseline integrated socio-economic research based on the Millennium Development Goal framework in Haiti.With hundreds of reforestation and agriculture programs across Haiti and numerous watershed restoration programs, large landscape-scale positive impacts are still not being observed. Without comprehensive monitoring platform, deriving mutually beneficial goals is challenging, including common agricultural priority zones, targets for reforestation that are geographically and environmentally significant or spatially-sensitive investment strategies for social services ranging from health care programs to education.
The Earth Institute launched an ambitious research project to collect data in ten communes along Haiti’s southwest coast in the South Department through a socioeconomic household survey, land tenure analysis, land degradation and land use mapping and numerous other focused research projects. The research analyzes core variables related to sustainable development and pathways to reducing state fragility and disaster vulnerability.
Engaging Governments in Genocide Prevention [Click the (+) for more information about this poster]
Title: Genocide Prevention: Initiatives and Emerging Architecture
Presenters: Ted Perlmutter, Katy Kasmai-Nazaren
Summary: Prevention of genocide and mass atrocities requires collaboration of networks of people who practice and do research on genocide prevention and relevant fields. We aim to facilitate state engagement of genocide prevention and advancement of its research agenda. Our approach is to integrate the emergent genocide prevention systems at the international, regional, national and local levels.
and from AC4 Fellows:
Jonathan Blake – Political Science – Northern Ireland, Nationalism
Joe Brown – Political Science – States, Non-State Actors and Conflict
Christine Webb – Psychology – goals, strategies for reconciliation
Workshops
(Click the ‘+’ to the left of each workshop for the description)
(+) Facilitation Skill Building in Conflict Settings
Presented by: Danielle Goldberg, Program Coordinator, Program on Peace-building and Rights, Institute for the Study of Human Rights
Location: 150 Horace Mann
Summary: Participants will explore basic facilitation skills as a tool for teaching about conflict resolution and social harmony in conflict settings. The workshop will draw on the presenter’s experience training educators in Sri Lanka and the Western Balkans on Columbia’s Conflict Resolution and Social Harmony curriculum, which she co-authored.
(+) Urban Public Spaces and Community
Presented by: Michelle Jackson
Location: 152 Horace Mann
Summary: This workshop will look at the physical transformation of urban public space and its impact on community. A specific focus will be given to community gardens in Harlem.
(+) If the Wheels Fall Off: Competing Arguments on the Prevention of Mass Atrocities
Presenter: Mark Whitlock, Adjunct Instructor, Negotiation and Conflict ResolutionLocation: 109 Zankel Building (Trustee’s Room)
Summary: A growing literature exploring mass atrocities debates the plausibility of, and prospects for, early warning and prevention. Drawing on theory and recent field research in Africa, this workshop examines challenges and opportunities for regional EW and prevention. Important elements to be presented include developments in predictive modeling, crowd-sourced crisis mapping, political will, decision-making, and the explosion of big data.
(+) Taking a Communication Perspective for Sustainable Peace
Presented by: Beth Fisher-Yoshida, Faculty and Director of the MS in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution and Co-Chair of AC4 and members of the Cosmopolis 2045 team
Location: 150 Horace Mann
Summary: This workshop is designed to provide participants with an introduction to Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) and how it can be used to transform conversations for sustainable peace. Our relationships are made in communication and we, therefore, need to be mindful of the dynamics we are creating with how we speak and communicate with others. Communication is made in turn taking and the turns we take are fateful for what will happen next. All of this influences the social worlds we are making.
(+) Culturally Relevant Urban Wellness: Bridging the Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal Divide among Youth in Vancouver, British Columbia
Presented by: Jeffrey J. Schiffer, PhD Candidate Special Projects Officer at Vancouver Aboriginal Child & Family Services Society (VACFSS)
Location: 152 Horace Mann
Summary: This workshop will share challenges and successes from the inaugural year of the Culturally Relevant Urban Wellness (CRUW) program in Vancouver, British Columbia. CRUW engages Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth in a 7 month, 16 session program at the University of British Columbia farm. Youth work together with Aboriginal elders and knowledge keepers, and program staff and other professionals, in a curriculum around: 1) Ancestral Aboriginal knowledge; 2) Holistic & Sustainable Urban Wellness (emphasizing healthy life transitions); 3) Emotional & Cultural Competence (with an emphasis on honouring our diversity); and 4) Mentorship (across many axis: elder-youth; staff- youth; youth-youth). This workshop will explore CRUW’s successes in breaking down stereotype and discrimination, as well as empowering youth to develop skills for conflict resolution and sustainable peace in their communities.
(+) Applying Dynamical Systems Theory
Presented by: Stephen Gray and Josefine Roos, AC4 Fellows
Location: 109 Zankel Building (Trustee’s Room)
Summary: This is a presentation on the practical applications of Dynamical Systems Theory in the field of conflict resolution and peacebuilding. We will provide a brief description of the theory, and then provide an overview of ongoing developments of DST applications using a range of sources in Africa, Asia and the Americas.
(+) Is the environment a good tool for peacemaking?
Presented by: Shahar Sadeh, Visiting Scholar, AC4, Earth Institute.
Location: 150 Horace Mann
Summary: In recent times an international consensus has grown among policymakers and practitioners that the environment can play a role in the stability of international relations and can even promote peace. One example of “environmental peacemaking” is peace parks: trans-boundary protected areas dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, natural and cultural resources, and to the promotion of peace and cooperation. The workshop will question the possibilty of the environment to serve as peacemaking tool and will demonstrate past trials for peace-park creation in the Middle East.
(+) Designing Teaching and Training Tools for the Emerging Fields of Peacebuilding, Fragile States and Natural Resource Management
Location: 152 Horace Mann
Participants:
Moderator: Alex Fischer, Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)
Presenters: Tucker Harding, Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL); Alexandra Varga, E3B/Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC); Marc Levy, Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN); Tatiana Wah, Center on Globalization and Sustainable Development (CGSD)
(+) Applying Dynamical Systems Theory to Support Myanmar’s Peace Processes
Presented by: Stephen Gray, Nikolas Katsimpras, and Josefine Roos, AC4 Fellows
Location: 109 Zankel Building (Trustee’s Room)
Summary: The workshop presents findings from three months of field work in Myanmar. Through interviews and facilitated data collection workshops conducted throughout the country the authors have produced maps which reveal the complexity and interdependcy of Myanmar’s conflicts and the wider reform process. These maps present stakeholders with a more holistic understanding and novel opportunities for conflict transformation, successful peace agreements, and effective, integrated peacebuilding strategies.