Peacebuilding and the Arts

What would it take for the arts and peacebuilding field to develop evaluation strategies that honor both artistic processes and peacebuilding imperatives?

What changes would allow the arts and culture sector to be even more effective than they already are in achieving peacebuilding outcomes? When artists, peacebuilders, funders, policy-makers and researchers consider this question, monitoring and evaluation considerations figure prominently.

In an April 25, 2018, Learning Exchange, 13 scholars and practitioners were convened to explore similarities and differences between the monitoring and evaluation approaches of two broad wings of the Arts, Culture and Conflict Transformation field: arts/arts-for social change and peacebuilding/peacebuilding-and-the-arts.

This Learning Exchange was organized by IMPACT: Imagining Together Platform for Arts, Culture and Conflict Transformation, a planning initiative based at Brandeis University, funded by the Andrew J. Mellon Foundation, joined by DME for Peace, a program of Search for Common Ground (a global peacebuilding NGO) and Animating Democracy, a program of Americans for the Arts that promotes arts and social change.

This highlights some of the key take-aways from the April 25 exchange. As you read them, please consider the following questions:

• Do these insights and questions resonate with you? What do I agree or disagree with — and why?
• What should IMPACT and its partners explore in the future in the arts and peacebuilding space – especially in relation to Monitoring and Evaluation?

Preliminary Takeaways from April 25 Learning Exchange

Similarities in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) approaches between arts-based social change and peacebuilding-based initiatives

• Similar issues in communities: Community problems that arts- and peacebuilding-based work seek to transform are often similar.
• Complexity: M&E systems need to be responsive to dynamic, complex contexts, and attend to emerging theory on complexity.
• M&E at multiple levels: Approaches must consider changes both in people and in systems.
• Minimizing harm: The goal of minimizing harm in arts- and peacebuilding-based initiatives needs to be intentionally preserved in M&E activities. Important principles include conflict sensitivity, as well as centering community concerns and priorities in any intervention and evaluation.
• Focus on building human capacities: An M&E approach needs to consider changes in people's capacities for imagination, listening, communicating, embracing paradox and others. In other words, there is a need to understand what's going on in people's heads.
• Focus on building organizational and community capacities: An M&E approach needs to address groups' capacities to ask questions of their own practice, and to work collaboratively, to build coalitions, to embrace paradox and complexity, and to think flexibly and creatively.
• Process is critical: Much of the potential transformative benefit of both arts and peacebuilding initiatives is in the process — as much or perhaps more than outputs and some outcomes.

Significant Differences and Questions for Moving Forward

• Emergence: Both arts-based social change and peacebuilding-based initiatives are characterized by emergence in issues and relationships. However, peacebuilding organizations tend to operate — and evaluate — based on pre-articulated goals and plans. Many initiatives based in the arts prefer for issues and goals to emerge from the practice itself. Can evaluation questions and protocols be designed to honor the emergent dimensions of arts-based peacebuilding initiatives? Can evaluations be designed to honor both goal-driven and emergent imperatives?
• Replicability and scale: Peacebuilding organizations often ask about replicability and address questions of scale. Arts-based social change organizations tend to value originality and uniqueness of each effort. Are there aspects of arts-based social change practices that are replicable and scale-able? (Perhaps underlying ethical commitments, such as reciprocity.) Are there examples of excellent arts-based social change practice that respond to concerns about replicability and scale-ability in some ways?
• Differing priorities: Donors to arts-based social change initiatives and to peacebuilding organizations appear to get excited about different factors. What does this mean for evaluation questions that aim to satisfy both arts and peacebuilding stakeholders? How similar or different is the information that each need to make decisions about their programs?
• Accountability versus learning: Although people based in the arts-for-social-change world and the peacebuilding-and-the-arts world all value evaluations designed for both learning and for accountability, some peacebuilding donors appear to require more frequent, more quantitative reporting. This commitment can supersede evaluations that would be of more use to improve practice. Some funders understand evidence of continuous improvement (learning, inquiry, evaluation) to be a form of accountability. Through what strategies could practitioners, researchers and evaluators engage donors in conversations about this? [Note: there is a misperception that the arts field doesn't value numbers or quantitative data.]

Emerging Trends and Bright Spots

• Countering Violent Extremism work is pushing toward greater understanding of how people change, which might validate arts-based social change contributions.
• New insights from Neuroscience are contributing to conflict research.
• Developmental Evaluation is gaining credibility amongst practitioners and donors in this space.
• There is more interest in matching evaluation methodologies to research questions, and embracing a diversity of thought in relation to quantitative and qualitative methods.
• Evaluation approaches are emerging from the creative placemaking arena of the arts field. Theory development is more mature, and there is more emphasis on responsiveness to communities.
• Evaluation frameworks are sometimes being used to look at aspirations vs. realities, especially in terms of community engagement.
• The importance of ethical frameworks is being recognized

Questions and Issues Warranting Further Attention

• Do assessments and evaluations ask relevant questions, especially in terms of what communities care about? Do we know exactly what we want to measure?
• Are we building the capacities of people in communities to evaluate initiatives that intend to support them?
• How can the field better communicate the value of evaluation?
• How can we address the lack of shared language around attributes, impacts, and definitions of peacebuilding? [This absence makes it difficult to compare across programs.]
• In relation to arts-based programs, what are alternative ways of looking at quality?
• How do concerns about equity feature in arts-based peacebuilding practice and evaluation of it?
• How can arts-based initiatives develop frameworks and theories against which to evaluate effectiveness? (Currently, we tend to borrow from other fields.)
• Is it possible to measure, or assess, or document, the intrinsic value of the arts?
• It appears that there is a hierarchy of evidence, i.e. some kinds of evidence are deemed more valuable than others. Is this true? If it is harming the field, how can we challenge it?
• How can the arts be useful as resources for evaluation as sources of information?
• It seems that theories of change often change in the course of initiatives and projects. What can be learned by evaluating how theories of change are transformed in the life of an initiative?
• In complex systems, how do evaluators grapple with questions of attribution vs. contribution (to changes)?
• Do we harbor fears of failure? Fears of rigor? How shall we handle these?

Background Readings

• IMPACT website and project description
• IMPACT values statement

Other Readings

• "How Art Works," NEA
• "Aesthetic Perspectives: Attributes of Excellence in Arts for Change" and "Continuum of Impact", Animating Democracy
• John Paul Lederach's "The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace," Oxford University Press, 2005.
• Monitoring & Evaluation of Participatory Theatre for Change, a publication by Rebecca Herrington (Search for Common Ground in collaboration with UNICEF)
• U.S. Institute of Peace Insights Newsletter: Arts and Peacebuilding
• "Understanding an Enemy is Like Understanding a Poem: Art and Peace in Theory and Practice" by Cynthia Cohen, Brandeis University (attachment)
• Chapter in the forthcoming "Promoting Peace through Practice, Academia and the Arts," edited by Walid Lofty and Cris Toffolo, published by IGI Global]

• Cynthia Cohen, Director, co-convener, Program in Peacebuilding and the Arts, Brandeis University/IMPACT
• Diego Benitez, Program Officer, Planning, Learning and Evaluation, United States Institute of Peace
• Giovanni Dazzo, Evaluation Specialist, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
• Heather Kim, Director of Institutional Research, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
• Jack Farrell, Project Manager, DME for Peace, co-convener, Search For Common Ground
• Jessica Baumgardner-Zuzik, Senior Manager for Learning and Evaluation, Alliance for Peacebuilding
• Kat Athanasiades, Senior Associate, Center for Evaluation Innovation
• Lena Slachmuijlder, Vice President, Programs, Search For Common Ground
• Lisette Anzoategui, Program Manager at Social Impact, U.S. Agency for International Development
• M. Christine Dwyer, Senior Vice President, RMC Research
• Pam Korza, Co-Director, co-convener, Animating Democracy
• Patricia Moore Shaffer, Deputy Director of Research & Analysis, National Endowement for the Arts
• Salem Tsegaye, Assistant Director to Arts Research, Virginia Commonwealth University
• Armine Avetisyan, Program Manager, IMPACT: Imagining Together Platform for Arts, Culture and Peacebuilding
• Germaine Ingram, Steering Committee Member, observer, IMPACT: Imagining Together Platform for Arts, Culture and Peacebuilding
• Jessica Berns, Planning Consultant, IMPACT: Imagining Together Platform for Arts, Culture and Peacebuilding
• Katherine Wood, Steering Committee Member, observer, IMPACT: Imagining Together Platform for Arts, Culture and Peacebuilding
• Rebecca Herrington, Developmental Evaluator, facilitator, USAID Global Development Lab

Thanks to everyone who participated in the first day of our learning exchange on Arts, Culture and Conflict Transformation.

We have had excellent participation with over 65 participants joining in from across the globe! Participants have added some 120 comments so far (and counting).

Today's discussion focused on the definition of the key terms in different cultural and institutional contexts as well as the exchange of stories and examples that demonstrate the positive power of arts and culture in the transformation of conflict. We also explored the risks of doing harm in the arts, culture and conflict transformation field and ways to minimize those risks. Finally, we considered an example of what can go tragically wrong in Arts, Culture and Conflict interventions, and ways we, as a field, might address the underlying issues.

All participants have raised very important issues, and in an effort to summarise today's discussion we have pulled together some of the key points raised to give you an idea of the conversations that are currently taking place. We apologise in advance that we could not incorporate everyone's insights. You can still continue to review and add comments to each of these threads throughout the week, and you are welcome to contribute summary comments on the PeaceDirect platform itself. Many thanks to our guest experts for leading these sessions and for your active role in facilitating the discussions.

Names of those who made comments have been removed to protect participants' privacy.

Topic 1: Meanings of key terms in different cultural and institutional contexts

This first session triggered the most comments and discussions. We asked participants to examine the meanings of the words arts, culture, peacebuilding and conflict transformation and the relationships among them. Some participants explored and questioned the universal dimension of artistic expression, and another interesting thread compared the concepts of arts and culture, as these are understood in different cultural contexts. In addition, we considered the implications of referring to the arts as 'tools' for peacebuilding purposes, with differing points of view on this topic. [We'll continue to explore this on Day 2] A number of participants also underlined the role of art as a resource for communication, likely to reduce tensions by allowing a better understanding of the other cultures.

• "Often dance is referred to as "a universal language" and this is why it is potentially useful in peacebuilding. Through my practice, I have grown to think of dance is "a universal means of expression," or one that continues to have many different languages.
• "Culture in the sense of human mankind. The more you can increase a cultural consciousness (a deep understanding of cultural roots not the populistic, polarizing and nationalistic use of the arts) the less arguments have those who call for conflict"
• "I think arts are a means of understanding the "others" culture, in depth. It is a means to defy stereotypes and mistrust in this dark world. In fact, communication and understanding via arts could be the antidote to hatred."
• "In the Pacific, where I am from, art is an important part of culture in many places. It is a medium through which stories are passed down through generations and which "discusses" traditional practice. Learnings are passed down through storytelling, through dance and song or even through special drawings and carvings. Art is also how people identify their ancestry… The most vulnerable are women and young people, especially in patrilineal societies, where their voices are not factored in decision making spaces but are most affected… In this context, art provides a safe space for the vulnerable to express their concerns and to those that are recipients, it is hearing an alternative perspective of something in a non-threatening way."
• "This "universal language" is an idea that comes up a lot. As in any other language also, I guess there are as many interpretations as those who perceive. Starting with the best-case-scenario where one audience-individual connects with a certain aspect or fragment within the artwork, where something resonates and the connection arises […] and leading to something 'ambiguous,' which allows a different perspective."
• "In the context of art & peacebuilding, 'culture' could refer to the specific way, in which a society shapes the relations between people, or people and their environment. Thus, culture encompasses a society's specific ways of interpreting and ordering reality, and of the corresponding values, norms, and expected behaviour. Therefore: While building on the culture they belong to, artists (and works of art) often challenge the norms and values of their culture. Thus art can be a source of cultural change."

Topic 2: Stories and examples that demonstrate the positive power of arts and culture in the transformation of conflict

The second thread asked participants to think about the power of art in social change and the potential capacity of art to better answer to several peacebuilding challenges. The participants agreed on the potential of change that art brings to issues and experiences of identity, but also expressed concerns about the possible boundaries that can result from this process. The importance of artists making long-term commitments to communities was also a theme that recurred.

Key points:

• "The process of song writing music together seems to be important to participants' connection to each other, suggesting that joint *creation* of music has a deeper impact than shared musicianship/making music together. We reflect a lot on the role of identity, acknowledging that people have several identities while the conflict places the emphasis on ethnic/religious identity only… Our long-term presence and the quality of education are central to the success of the program."
• "I have spent the past few weeks in South Africa, where I have had the privilege of encountering Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones of Handspring Puppet Company in Cape Town… I particularly find their work in the South African community of Barrydale inspiring. There, they made a seven year commitment to collaborating on annual productions in the community in ways that linked divided parts of the town and drew attention to positive ways that environmental and conservation goals could be met."
• "Certain challenges are best addressed using art. An instance is a 'guarded government' that censors media and people's freedom of speech. Art has been used to address such challenges — everyone wakes up to graffiti on street walls!"
• "In my experience, a peacebuilding challenge that can be addressed through arts and culture is building trust and, related to this, empathy. Arts and culture are key in these processes because they are human processes."
• "There is a danger in creating/revitalizing identities with rigid boundaries. However, in my experience, peoples who are in constant danger of being erased by the nation-state (as is the case with many Indigenous peoples in the United States), are pushing back by revitalizing their language, culture, and strengthening their identity as Indigenous communities".

Topic 3: The risks of doing harm in the arts, culture and conflict transformation field … and how to minimize them!

In this session, we asked participants to focus on the risks associated with peacebuilding approaches that use arts and culture based approaches. The participants highlighted the necessity to give importance to the local context and dynamics, and in particular to avoid reinforcing patterns of dominance and hegemony. Further to this was an emphasis on investing enough time and a real presence in order for the initiative to be effective. An interesting discussion was begun comparing "Do No Harm" with "Minimizing Risks of Harm."

Key points:

• "My advice is to take local contexts into consideration, respect local arts and oral history, listen to the locals' concerns and needs (once trust is built), adapt and learn. Sometimes we learn most from people we thought we are there to teach them something!"
• "The very same expression, or gesture, or artwork can have both beneficial and harmful effects. This seems inevitable, because it is impossible to operate entirely outside of existing structures, which are infused with patterns of dominance and exclusion."
• "Lack of knowledge of the local dynamics between local norms of arts and its interactions with local cultures and the domestic socio-political lines".
• "One of the most insidious pitfalls in peacebuilding work that involves arts and cultural practices is what I loosely term as 'art and culture parachuting' — lightening art and culture interventions, some of which are very well funded, that do not invest TIME in transforming the conflict"

Topic 4: A cautionary tale

The last topic was based on a case study extracted from James Thompson's essay "Incidents of Cutting and Chopping." This cautionary tale led to the reflection on the awareness of artists, cultural workers, agency staff and government officials working in zones of deep divisions and violent conflict of the dangers of these art initiatives. What kind of organization, or agency, could be effective in transforming dynamics among local, national and intergovernmental players that contribute to these kinds of tragedies? The participants, echoing lessons recognised the risk of appropriation of the "meaning" of an arts-based or cultural intervention by agencies, governments or other players in service of their own agendas. Therefore, it becomes necessary for artists to learn to understand the interests and agendas of those agencies.

Key points:

• "Write down the lessons learned as simple as possible (with adv suggestions and recommendations...etc.) and may be reflect them and/or put them in simple form like a short documentary, training guide, or/and new theory/diagram of Conflicts and Arts considering to enrich similiar world approach and experience ... distributing them widely to concerned international and regional programs/projects/CSOs/NGOs"
• "Artists, cultural workers, agency staff and government officials, can make great strides toward awareness by asking questions of those of informants and facilitators. However, I believe (and have experienced) that for the finite details one must go step(s) further... listen with the eyes, and don't become confused by others' words. This is particularly true in societally pressurized situations where people are clinging on to life in some way. You as 'as outsider' merely become a conduit for other forces working behind and underneath your feet."
• "When using culture, art and sports, I have learnt the importance of involving the purported perpetrators in order to help the victim who in most cases we get information from them and media as well. This has helped greatly in planning for community action theatre. It is also important to listen to the silent majority what they are saying without saying but can share information willingly or when motivated, these people are not among the opinion leaders, organised groups etc. but they carry very important information."
• "The time used for preparation is essential in conflicts of long existence because there are so many layers to consider and so many ways to create new conditions to put these layers in deeper conflict. And in this preparation, to critically evaluate when to offer sustained access to creative processes and metaphorical language to a group and when to offer conflict transformation mechanisms in other forms."

Thanks to everyone for another vibrant day of debate and sharing ideas!

Discussion on Day 2 focused on the contribution that art and culture can make to peacebuilding, including addressing critical challenges. There was a particular focus on the forms and limits of collaborations among peacebuilders, artists, and cultural groups. But there was also critical questioning of issues of power relations in both the art and peacebuilding fields.

All participants have raised very important issues, and in an effort to summarise today's discussion we have pulled together some of the key points raised to give you an idea of the conversations that are currently taking place. We apologise in advance if we could not incorporate everyone's insights. You can still continue to review and add comments to each of these threads throughout the week. Many thanks to our facilitators for leading these sessions and for your active role in participating in the discussions.

Names of those who made comments have been removed to protect participants' privacy.

Welcome

Several significant comments were made and exchanges took place in response to questions posed in the Welcome to Day 2 section. If you didn't participate in this exchange, it might be worth your time to check it out. Participants here came from Cambodia, the US, Cyprus, Kenya, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Serbia, Switzerland, and El Salvador.

Key points:

• In Kenya for instance, when peacebuilders are faced with a matter that is too sensitive to address or talk about, art is used to break the ice and barriers between groups. When Kenya experienced violence following disputed elections in 2007, images that were taken by peacebuilders were used as a tool to mobilize local and international actors to take action.
• An activist I met in Sri Lanka some time ago shared something I found rather insightful: He said that peace cannot happen in abstract and that it needs a space to survive. His reflected upon their past programs, and noted that the inter-ethnic relationships initiated through programs that worked for peace through another space-such as business collaborations between ethnicities-worked well and sustained on their own, while the relationships initiated during workshops and seminars faded out after a while. The arts do a fantastic job of creating that space: it space it creates for interactions is an in-between space that exists at different levels: in-between politics and everyday life, real and imagined, free and curated.
• I am from Taranaki, New Zealand, and a village of peace, known as Parihaka. We became a community of nonviolent resistance in1867, and have continued to live this legacy today. My meeting house is replete with many types of art; all depicting a different message of peace — inspired by the Maori peace traditions. The exchanges that can occur vary at times, they are also very organic; the gifting process is important, the readiness of the meeting house, as well as the integrity of the artist. Many visitors come and learn the history of the traditions with the art, as the rituals can be artistic as well as religious. The role of the community is to retain the knowledge of the art, the artist and how it relates to the ideology behind our traditions. A challenge that is profound, given the type of cultural deficit the Maori people are in. Revitalising the culture, the message of peace as well as the different types of art; is a typical part of building our emancipatory discourse.
• Another Hello from Cambodia, I am Sotheary YIM, a psychologist and I recently give another title to myself a Peace Activist. I am, in the recent years highly value changes that happened through arts. Poem, Music, exhibition, forum theatre, film screening was used during my latest works with survivors of server human rights violation including sexual and gender-based violence, torture, etc. With these kinds of works, I was also being able to connect the projects and dialogues about the topics to younger generation. Intensive dialogues happen after the creative forms of arts are taken to dealing with conflict and peace building works. From my experience, younger generations reported me that they like to learn the history from the creative arts than a history book or sitting in a lecture. They could relate better to the topic.
• In our work at artasfoundation we often see ourselves as intermediaries or curators, who (1.) make sure that the project can make sense in terms of peacebuilding, conflict sensitvity, etc., (2) build a bridge to the communities the artists can work with and provide some temporal continuity, (3) assist the artists and hold a space in which they can unfold their work with much freedom (that is, hold a space for art, that has as little intentionality as possible).

Topic 5: The contributions of arts and culture to different peacebuilding challenges: Bright spots and challenges

We asked participants to think about the peacebuilding challenges that art and culture can help overcome. Some participants noted the capacity of art in bringing people together despite societal divisions. A number of participants also underlined the potential of mass media, seen as a communication art, to create social capital and allow the integration of a larger part of the civil society. But other participants mentioned some limitations, including the lack of funding, the lack of interest in art initiatives or the strength of ethnic divisions.

Key points:

• "I agree that the arts can contribute the social change a lot. Our organization is using social healing approach for peace building and our healing material consists of painters and poets. One of the healing sessions is talk about story telling to share what happened in the past."
• "A Syrian director in Beirut struggled for month then he put all his savings on a play that he directed in an old ill-equipped theater. Unfortunately this 'outsider's' efforts were not welcomed by many in Lebanese theatrical community. He was harshly criticized, reflecting the growing social racism towards refugees."
• I passionately believe that mass media, as an example of the communicating arts, should be used primarily for creating social capital. It should support-benefit and empower a global society by including all members in the communication process (especially the socially marginalized), primarily through humanitarian means."
• We never thought of any socio-political impact. But the kids started drawing about the environment of war blood conflict and destruction around them […] but it was humble and limited due to our limited resources and lack of even semi-professional channels of marketing and promotion. A strength that leads us to nowhere without any concrete outcomes or outputs."

Topic 6: Strengthening collaborations among peacebuilders, artists, and cultural workers

The second thread asked participants to think about the paradox between the similarities of art and peacebuilding philosophies, especially regarding the search for change, and at the same time their different priorities. This led to the issue of the prioritization of peacebuilding goals or of the artistic quality of the project. Most of the participants agreed on the idea that artistic and cultural integrity and quality are the sources of arts' power for social change. But, in some cases, artistic integrity and quality can be distancing rather than collaborative and inclusive. In terms of precautions, some participants also highlighted the importance of paying attention to the values of the artist on one side and the independence of the project from political agenda on the other side.

Key points:

• "Another key component in striking the balance between artistic integrity and solid peace building, are the composition of groups and team-building: putting together a project group, inviting/connecting artists and peace builders, the 'language barriers' need to be raised, respect between the groups needs to be established, and common principles to be laid out."
• "If we want to harness some potentially strong synergies, then yes a global infrastructure should support peacebuilders and artists to work as equal partners, making the most of their different approaches, considerations and values. The challenge would be in lifting the notion that there is one singular standard for success or excellence in peacebuilding, art or art for peace. A best approach might be to engage in meaningful dialogue and offer tools and strategies to help consider different lenses in understanding aesthetic engagement."
• "Quality is essential. In our case, because we are a school, the quality of education is more important than the quality of the artistic outputs. But we definitely need both — good education and good outputs — to be credible among the local communities."
• "What I love most about Arts is that it is able to communicate what people are afraid of or rather fear communicating. In Peacebuilding, you might find that there are certain words that peace builders would not be able to say to a certain group or community, then this is where Arts comes in and the message the peacebuilders intended to pass across reaches the target audience through Arts effectively."

Topic 7: Working with issues of power within our field

In this section, we asked participants to focus on the issues of power relations (especially regarding the Global South and North) in art and peacebuilding fields, looking at the way the affect their work. We also asked for strategies to address power imbalances. Some participant were concerned that art and peacebuilding approaches recreate or even increase existing power imbalances. Some therefore advocated for creating structures and organizations built upon trust and more equality among actors.

Key points:

• "The structure of a field-building entity, or the activities it undertakes may help build trust and trustworthiness amongst different players in our eco-system but not always — due for sure to the dynamics of power and unequal access to resources that threaten to reinforce rather than transform current inequalities."
• "I get anxious about the ways some projects seem to reinforce unequal power dynamics at the broad level (national level, etc), even while informed by seemingly deep trust-worthy connections at the interpersonal level. As two specific examples: I recently saw a very creative collaborative artistic project that aimed to reexamine multispecies colonialism in a particular location in South America but which ended up (I think inadvertently) reifying indigenous people as 'animal-like' and 'closer to nature' (thus reanimating, not critically examining, really problematic stereotypes)."
• "A global infrastructure for arts, cultural work and conflict transformation could be well poised to support peacebuilding in situations with destructive power and inequality. Coming from a peacebuilding background based in bi- and multi-lateral international development, there are a few crucial areas where such a network can be a huge asset for developing a more equitable ecosystem."
• "For us or at least for me, building relationships 'across institutional boundaries and the hierarchies and power dynamics often associated with them' is so difficult and hard. It means contacts, insight, the big brothers, projects/programs and money, power struggle, with me or against me, part of the team or outside the team, wars western countries and international CSOs... which is which, and it means so many other seen and unseen lines for me to figure out."

Today was the final full day of our learning exchange, and once more we've benefitted from a broad range of perspectives and experiences from around 80 participants over the course of the three days.

Today's discussion focused on the more concrete aspect of the creation of a global or regional arts, culture, and conflict transformation alliance, or consortium, or network. As a group, we considered the priorities, the form it would take, and the resources it would need. We also thought about the limits or risks that such a structure could bring with it.

All participants have raised very important issues, and in an effort to summarise today's discussion we have pulled together some of the key points raised to give you an idea of the conversations that are currently taking place. We apologize in advance if we could not incorporate everyone's insights.

Names of those who made comments have been removed to protect participants' privacy.

Some participants have continued to add further comments to the topics from earlier days. All discussion threads will continue to be held open for comments until 11 a.m. EST May 28 — so if you wish to see how those conversations have continued to evolve, or if any of the below summary prompts you to share more thoughts, please do visit the forum again!

Thanks again to all participants for your time and dedication to this consultation!

On behalf of the co-conveners, we at IMPACT would also like to thank the staff of Peace Direct for creating this platform, and for their enormous skill and patience as we learned to use it. We still have a lot to learn; but in general we feel that this platform offers enormous potential for the arts, culture and conflict transformation field – and for the peacebuilding field more generally. Thanks to this manifestation of your creative imaginations!

Topic 8: Networks, Communities of Practice, Systems of Influence

Based on Meg Wheatley "emergence" theory, which highlights the benefits of connecting local actions to each other, we asked participants to consider how networks and communities of practice can be supportive. Most of the participants noted that a large number of networks and communities of practice are emerging today. Several participants also underlined, based on their personal experiences, the positive consequences of these networks, for example helping to build resilience and humanitarian response in Kenya or supporting the achievement of development and educative objectives in Latin America. Nonetheless, some participants mentioned some limits in the way art and culture initiatives are practiced.

Key points:

• "I definitely think we are in an era (if it's possible to say that) of emergence — the energy that surrounds the interactions among existing 'uncoordinated' networks and communities of practice feels vibrant and urgent. ... One difficulty has been the appetite for immediate results that seems to limit the understanding about how impactful these small group conversations can be. I get dismayed when I see people who were involved initially who then say, 'well that was just talk.' "
• "It is hard, if not downright impossible, to convince the guardians of these canons (policymakers, funders and researchers steeped in quantification) that these evaluation methods can never do justice to assessing the impact of arts and culture intervention projects. Again, the radical suggestion the arts and culture field should throw out these existing evaluation models and develop its own may not be very helpful. The field needs to develop a body of knowledge that articulates, convincingly, why the popular existing evaluation methods are not appropriate for judging the impact of arts and culture programmes."
• "Influence has to be based on a clear identification of need. If needs are neglected, the emergence will be resisted even if silently or will get only superficial loyalty or acceptance. Each person or community has needs, some mulitifaceted or integrated. These needs bring feelings, and must be addressed or the emotional reaction may be elevated to an overflow ... usually violence!"

Topic 9: Priority tasks for a regional or global arts, culture and conflict transformation organization

The second thread asked participants to picture what would be the objectives of a regional or global organisation, and also its form (physical or virtual), its resources, funding and to what extent it could help them in their actual work/initiatives. We also requested that participants consider the possible risks of such a network and most of them highlighted the danger of homogenisation that could be fomented by this kind of structure. Participants reflected that in order to be successful, the project would need to be adapted on the region, time, nature of the conflict it would seek to address. Further, it should be based on existing knowledges, methodologies and experiences of local organisations from those places.

Key points:

• "An area of concern for me is the risk of 'homogenizing' the conversation around approaches and even successes that might have worked in a given region or at a given time, and which may not be applicable to other regions and/or times. I wonder if there is some sort of 'scale' or 'chart' that can be drawn around certain key markers. Geographic regions is perhaps the most obvious, but also others, such as stages of conflict, types of government […] These can be configured in a number of ways to create 'webs of affinity' around socio-political realities."
• "While using geographic region as an organizing principle is important in many respects, I'm wondering if connections may more or less be there already, growing via internal relations or avenues. So while a global IMPACT initiative may want to help identify and resource regions where a resource-lack is evident for connecting and advocating, geographic 'ordering' is how it feels the world's governance structures are already formally organised. And what might happen is that a kind of default 'representative-of-region' distilling and/or hierarchicalising of practice or 'issue' might occur, unintentionally at times, and mask the many diversities of culture, community and conflict that lies therein."
• "I think one of the main concerns for a chief of a global network is to make sure that those steering the network are familiar with the terrain of the arts, conflicts and mechanism of resolution in the different regions. This is likely to help the committee not to have a one-blanket-fits-all kind of strategy."
• "In my opinion, and I hope I am wrong, homogeneity is not a bad thing. It is how homogeneity is practiced that determines whether it is humanising or dehumanising. Humanising homogeneity, I think, is porous, accommodative, democratic and developmental. Dehumanising homogeneity is closed, imposed, dictatorial and stultifying."
• "I think one could be to build on existing knowledge/experience to create methodologies that artists and peacebuilding practitioners are comfortable with for assessing impact. I think building an "evidence" base for this field of work will be vital to is sustainabiility."

Topic 10: Forms that such an organization might take: network(s), movement, membership organization, coalition, centers with regional hubs, etc.

In this section, we asked participants to think about the way of organising and configuring such a network, based on the three possibilities outlined by the members of the IMPACT Steering Committee: (1) a central organization with regional nodes, (2) a membership organization, and (3) multiple working groups focused on particular issues and opportunities.

The majority of the participants agreed on the necessity of mixing these three types in order to create a hybrid that would be more able to coordinate and meet the expectations of different members. This organisation would need to bring something new by feeding on the knowledge and experiences of all the organisations partners and respecting the diversity by preventing the creation of an unbalanced power relation between them.

Key points:

• "A central organization with regional hubs would work better compared to a membership organization. Membership organizations are often difficult to run because; 1) members get into the organization for different reasons (to gain skills, linkages, monetary gains, to raise their profiles etc) 2) Due to the different motivations, it becomes difficult to meet the needs of all and as a result, sooner than later issues of 'marginalization' and 'ownership' start to rise. 3) many members often will demand differential treatment from non-members."
• "A mixed organizational structure(s) of the ones stated above might help. You are in a war zone so the Quick Flexible Multiple Admin Structure might fit."
• "In order to be useful and interesting and even able to create conditions for all of us and to push new frontiers, the central organization will have to develop a logic, strategy, services and processes that are new and different of what any of the members or participants are doing."
• "COPA operates as a network with a central office that coordinates its affairs across the continent. The central office is supported by regional hubs (some with physical locations and others virtual). The regional hubs operate as autonomous units and carry out projects in their specific regions. They also do their own fundraising. But their work is in line with COPA's vision."

This last section was an occasion for the participants to address some of the topics that they consider relevant but have not been considered on the other parts. Following a comment from Melanie Greenberg, the discussion focused on the question of how art might integrate marginalized groups more effectively than other kinds of peacebuilding configurations.

Key points:

• "I think arts are the best way to include the marginalized groups and make their voices heard, especially in conflict zones. Normally these groups are not represented nor taken seriously at the negotiating table at any political process. Arts and alternative media would become their lobbying tools in this case, to influence the political process and make it more inclusive as well to express their concerns. ... I strongly believe in the role of arts in social cohesion and peace building, however I thought we should not ignore this dark side. And, yes, Cynthia, let us call it propaganda not art, or 'weaponized art' like Wendy suggested."
• "I don't believe there is a community in the world that does not have a connection with the arts, it's just a matter of tapping into the genre that resonates with the people we work with and developing a program that fulfills a local demand."
• "Participatory arts are tackling the main current problems in society: poverty, violence, inequality, migration, environmental issues. Transformation is being done through empowerment, self-engagement and community-building. This global needs are addressed by our initiatives with hands-on practice in two ways: 1) in self-organised community-based projects; and 2) cultural Nevertheless various sociopolitical framework conditions need to be challenged for real transformation. We are responsible to start the scaling up of good practices. We need to progress from small grants for artists to large scale project funding for arts for social transformation."

Today's discussion focused on the definition of the key terms in different cultural and institutional contexts in parallel of the exchange of stories and examples that establishes the positive power of arts and culture in the transformation of conflict. We also explored the potentially harmful aspects of arts and culture by considering the intended and unintended detrimental consequences, and ways to minimize those risks. Finally, we considered an example of what can go tragically wrong in Arts, Culture and Conflict interventions, and ways we, as a field, might address the underlying issues.

We had excellent participation on our first day, with over 58 participants joining in from across the globe! Participants have added some 69 comments so far (and counting).

All participants have raised very important issues, and in an effort to summarize today's discussion we have pulled together some of the key points raised to give you an idea of the conversations that are currently taking place. We apologize in advance if we could not incorporate everyone's insights. You can still continue to review and add comments to each of these threads throughout the week. Many thanks to our guest experts for leading these sessions and for your active role in facilitating the discussions.

Names of those who made comments have been removed to protect participants' privacy.

Topic 1: Meanings of key terms in different cultural and institutional contexts

We asked participants to examine the meanings of the words arts, culture, peacebuilding and conflict transformation and the relationships among them. Some participants explored the opportunity, depending on the context, that art represent in conflict transformation processes. Another interesting thread examined the balance to find between creating a space for various cultural expressions and at the same time developing a shared cultural language with a common vision for the future. The participants also gave a deeper reflection on the weight of these terms: art, culture, conflict transformation and peacebuilding by adding to the exchange other notions that are present in the field and also have the power to define visions, actions, interpretations, limits and distortions. Most of these notions came from the donors and founders side and the analysis was about the impact they produce on the daily work. Concepts as quantitative impact, short term results, economic development or even reconciliation and disaster were brought to the discussion. The participants agreed that a global network for art, culture and Peacebuilding, could help overcome most of the challenges identify.

Key points:

• "I connect the arts with a vessel, which holds the culture of people or society. In the environment here, culture is also deeply tied to narrative. The challenge is how to create the space for multiple cultural narratives, while also developing a shared cultural language."
• "Art seems to thrive in the spaces between. In liminal, interstitial spaces between thoughts, feelings, ideas, concepts, beliefs and actions. The concept is called metissage or mixing and blending in that space of between-ness (in a/r/tography). The production of art, like the creation of theory requires living in the question, suspending judgement, challenging assumptions and providing new lenses and mirrors to view ourselves and our cultures."
• "When I think of art, I think of all of the myriad forms of creative expression of individuals and ensembles. When I think of culture, in relation to this field, I am thinking in particular of expressive forms of groups, expressions like folktales, and rituals, and embroidery patterns. I also think about 'cultural work' — supporting communities to value what they know, what they believe, the patterns of life that give life meaning."
• "(…)We need a voice that can stick up for the arts and encourage policy makers not to limit funding to narrow, self-serving definitions and policies. (…)These days it's all about quantitative impact, even when donors understand the emotional & non-tangible impacts of the arts, they still want to see 'scale.' There's also a tendency of putting 'culture' into an 'economic development' framework (…) which can be exactly the type of inflammatory stuff that destabilizes communities and undermines democracy."
• "Many people talk to about how they are fed up with the term reconciliation; there is a sense that it is something that is being imposed on them. Others are more pragmatic and recognize that it is a funding buzzword that they can harness to attract funds. But in many communities these organizations cannot use the term as it has been so manipulated by politicians that people are very distrustful of it (…) They talk about their work using one language to funders and in another language to the communities they are working with."

Topic 2: Stories and examples that demonstrate the positive power of arts and culture in the transformation of conflict

The second thread asked participants to think about the power of art in social change and the potential capacity of art to better answer to several peacebuilding challenges. The participants agreed on the potential of change that art brings by feeding a community feeling despite of the social and cultural differences and by being an effective tool to revive the dialogue between the conflicted parts. But the participants also expressed the necessity for these interventions to be adapted to the context and situation in order to bring actual change. The contribution of arts and culture to peacebuilding has been considered from many perspectives including mourning losses, human rights and transformational dialogue.

Key points:

• "We have come across the idea of the arts as a 'permitted space' — a space permitted for discourse by those with power. I have also argued that the area can create the space for dialogue when such space does not exist. In either case the role of the arts is clear. As you say, it is quite unique in that the powerful might not see it threatening."
• "I understand the need to build youth confidence in themselves and who they are - but question the use of tradition to 'free themselves' — isn't this just another form of cultural indoctrination and constructing identity distinct to other groups? I understand resilience as being able to operate (and flourish?) in a discriminatory environment, but can it bring change? Or is change not the objective?"
• "I agree that the arts are powerful in social change, both as a means of expression that might have a specific literal message as well as a vehicle for continuing dialogue in contexts where it might be more difficult. Tommy, I appreciate the 'trojan horse' idea, the sense that although arts may be perceived as benign they do contain the possibility of much more."

Topic 3: The risks of doing harm in the arts, culture and conflict transformation field … and how to minimize them!

In this session, we asked participants to focus on the risks associated with peacebuilding approaches that use arts and culture based actions. The participants highlighted the necessity to give importance to the local context and situations by adapting the projects to the local cultural nuances and identity. The participants also insisted on the necessity to articulate the art and culture projects with other dynamics (such as community development frameworks) in order to be really effective. Moreover the participants also expressed their worries regarding the potential pitfalls of this nature of peacebuilding. Indeed, they highlighted the possibility of minimizing the diversity and value of the arts.

Key points:

• "Sometimes I feel there's risk in unacknowledged 'cultural blindness' — that sometimes well-meaning processes or practices of the arts are implemented to foster change (particularly in international development contexts), with an aim of doing good, but they inadvertently minimize the value of diverse ways of knowing and practicing 'the arts'."
• "While I strongly support the use of the arts in peacebuilding, I agree with Mary Ann about the risks of well-meaning processes which either inadvertently minimize diverse ways of knowing or even exacerbate issues."
• "Certainly just because there's arts involved doesn't mean it's good process for conflict-transformation! There are so many other factors involved in training facilitators. The power of the arts and embodiment needs to be paired with strong community development frameworks that involve reflective practice. There is a danger if practioners don't ask themselves: Will this process really create a space for listening so I could really hear and understand the context of the group rather than bringing assumptions and messages?"
• "Researching the coexistence field suggests that just ignoring the past and building relationships toward the future rarely succeeds in building sustainable relationships. At the same time, appreciation of common humanity and shared interests can sometimes create spaces where, over time, conflict issues can be engaged productively."
• "The risk of appropriating that which is not yours. If we believe, as so many of us do, that art carries a power to heal, then we must acknowledge that it has equal power to harm. Solutions? Ceaseless rigor. Self-questioning. Permissions and an ever-open door to rescind permissions. Of the principles behind building projects of positive change-making power, perhaps the most important is Agency. Those who are closest to the issue, the pain (even the joy in some cases!) must hold the Agency over how their story is told, communicated, framed."

Topic 4: A cautionary tale

The last topic was based on a case study extracted from James Thompson's essay "Incidents of Cutting and Chopping." This cautionary tale led to the reflection on the awareness of artists, cultural workers, agency staff and government officials working in zones of deep divisions and violent conflict of the dangers of these art initiatives. What kind of organization, or agency, could be effective in transforming dynamics among local, national and intergovernmental players that contribute to these kinds of tragedies? The participants underlined the real necessity for the project to be specialized and adapted to the context of the conflict. The participant also discussed about the role that social media can play in this process.

Key points:

• "I truly agree with James Thompson that we deeply evaluate 'call outs' for victims, rights, kinds and types of interventions. In my experiences living in areas and affected by violent conflicts for years, I heard these words and expressions from people I considered as gross perpetrators of violence. Hence, peacebuilding must seek community's agreement on identities (not easy by any means) in the inclusion of certain persons and for that matter, the timeliness, on aspects of the work on addressing violations, providing support, seeking justice, etc."
• "This story is very profound. And it speaks directly to one of my personal fears (and focuses in terms of training of artists): HOW do we assure the ability of artists to be open, versatile (in relation to adapting to groups and situations), being able to move between disciplines, have critical thinking and practice self-reflection, being open testing their tools and discussing with colleagues. Moreover, for 'seasoned' artists, how do you keep your gaze 'fresh'? How do you not get sucked in to programs and 'easy funding'?"
• "Wow. Something about 'the road to hell,' right? Even with the best of intentions, we can at times empower those with nefarious intent. In the framing of this cautionary story, we're led to believe that the 'Creators' worked with care. It wasn't enough. Is it ever enough? Gandhi demonstrated that the power of non-violence requires that somewhere in the perpetrator there is conscience, that the power of change requires an appeal to that conscience. (…) When that seems absent, we must somehow appeal to a broader conscience that might be less-localized. In essence, finding ways to share the story presented here to a global audience - through writing, sculpture, dance, music, performance, might be the responsible next move. Apply pressure from outside that space. It's not a new thought. Again, Gandhi. Mandela. King."
• "Are there codes of ethics that could be proposed that would prevent the kinds of atrocities James described? Or is it really a matter of painstaking education, monitoring, advocating for more ethical approaches, more conflict-sensitive approaches, on the part of funding and other supporting agencies?"

Thanks to everyone for another vibrant day of debate and sharing ideas!

Discussion on Day 2 focused on the contribution that art and culture can make to peacebuilding, including addressing critical challenges. There was a particular focus on the forms and limits of collaborations among peacebuilders, artists, and cultural groups. But there was also critical questioning of issues of power relations in both the art and peacebuilding fields.

All participants have raised very important issues, and in an effort to summarise today’s discussion we have pulled together some of the key points raised to give you an idea of the conversations that are currently taking place. We apologise in advance if we could not incorporate everyone’s insights. You can still continue to review and add comments to each of these threads throughout the week. Many thanks to our facilitators for leading these sessions and for your active role in participating in the discussions.

Names of those who made comments have been removed to protect participants' privacy.

Welcome

Several significant comments were made and exchanges took place in response to questions posed in the Welcome to Day 2 section. If you didn’t participate in this exchange, it might be worth your time to check it out. Participants here came from Cambodia, the US, Cyprus, Kenya, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Serbia, Switzerland, and El Salvador.

Key points:

• "In Kenya for instance, when peacebuilders are faced with a matter that is too sensitive to address or talk about, art is used to break the ice and barriers between groups. When Kenya experienced violence following disputed elections in 2007, images that were taken by peacebuilders were used as a tool to mobilize local and international actors to take action."
• "An activist I met in Sri Lanka some time ago shared something I found rather insightful: He said that peace cannot happen in abstract and that it needs a space to survive. His reflected upon their past programs, and noted that the inter-ethnic relationships initiated through programs that worked for peace through another space-such as business collaborations between ethnicitiesworked well and sustained on their own, while the relationships initiated during workshops and seminars faded out after a while. The arts do a fantastic job of creating that space: it space it creates for interactions is an inbetween space that exists at different levels: in-between politics and everyday life, real and imagined, free and curated."
• "I am from Taranaki, New Zealand, and a village of peace, known as Parihaka. We became a community of nonviolent resistance in1867, and have continued to live this legacy today. My meeting house is replete with many types of art; all depicting a different message of peace — inspired by the Maori peace traditions. The exchanges that can occur vary at times, they are also very organic; the gifting process is important, the readiness of the meeting house, as well as the integrity of the artist. Many visitors come and learn the history of the traditions with the art, as the rituals can be artistic as well as religious. The role of the community is to retain the knowledge of the art, the artist and how it relates to the ideology behind our traditions. A challenge that is profound, given the type of cultural deficit the Maori people are in. Revitalising the culture, the message of peace as well as the different types of art; is a typical part of building our emancipatory discourse."
• "Another Hello from Cambodia, I am Sotheary YIM, a psychologist and I recently give another title to myself a Peace Activist. I am, in the recent years highly value changes that happened through arts. Poem, Music, exhibition, forum theatre, film screening was used during my latest works with survivors of server human rights violation including sexual and gender-based violence, torture, etc. With these kinds of works, I was also being able to connect the projects and dialogues about the topics to younger generation. Intensive dialogues happen after the creative forms of arts are taken to dealing with conflict and peace building works. From my experience, younger generations reported me that they like to learn the history from the creative arts than a history book or sitting in a lecture. They could relate better to the topic."
• "In our work at artasfoundation we often see ourselves as intermediaries or curators, who (1.) make sure that the project can make sense in terms of peacebuilding, conflict sensitvity, etc., (2) build a bridge to the communities the artists can work with and provide some temporal continuity, (3) assist the artists and hold a space in which they can unfold their work with much freedom (that is, hold a space for art, that has as little intentionality as possible)."

Topic 5: The contributions of arts and culture to different peacebuilding challenges: Bright spots and challenges

We asked participants to think about the peacebuilding challenges that art and culture can help overcome. Some participants noted the capacity of art in bringing people together despite societal divisions. A number of participants also underlined the potential of mass media, seen as a communication art, to create social capital and allow the integration of a larger part of the civil society. But other participants mentioned some limitations, including the lack of funding, the lack of interest in art initiatives or the strength of ethnic divisions.

Key points:

• "I agree that the arts can contribute the social change a lot. Our organization is using social healing approach for peace building and our healing material consists of painters and poets. One of the healing sessions is talk about story telling to share what happened in the past."
• "A Syrian director in Beirut struggled for month then he put all his savings on a play that he directed in an old ill-equipped theater. Unfortunately this 'outsider's' efforts were not welcomed by many in Lebanese theatrical community. He was harshly criticized, reflecting the growing social racism towards refugees."
• "I passionately believe that mass media, as an example of the communicating arts, should be used primarily for creating social capital. It should supportbenefit and empower a global society by including all members in the communication process (especially the socially marginalized), primarily through humanitarian means."
• "We never thought of any socio-political impact. But the kids started drawing about the environment of war blood conflict and destruction around them […] but it was humble and limited due to our limited resources and lack of even semi-professional channels of marketing and promotion. A strength that leads us to nowhere without any concrete outcomes or outputs."

Topic 6: Strengthening collaborations among peacebuilders, artists, and cultural workers

The second thread asked participants to think about the paradox between the similarities of art and peacebuilding philosophies, especially regarding the search for change, and at the same time their different priorities. This led to the issue of the prioritization of peacebuilding goals or of the artistic quality of the project. Most of the participants agreed on the idea that artistic and cultural integrity and quality are the sources of arts’ power for social change. But, in some cases, artistic integrity and quality can be distancing rather than collaborative and inclusive. In terms of precautions, some participants also highlighted the importance of paying attention to the values of the artist on one side and the independence of the project from political agenda on the other side.

Key points:

• "Another key component in striking the balance between artistic integrity and solid peace building, are the composition of groups and team-building: putting together a project group, inviting/connecting artists and peace builders, the 'language barriers' need to be raised, respect between the groups needs to be established, and common principles to be laid out."
• "If we want to harness some potentially strong synergies, then yes a global infrastructure should support peacebuilders and artists to work as equal partners, making the most of their different approaches, considerations, and values. The challenge would be in lifting the notion that there is one singular standard for success or excellence in peacebuilding, art, or art for peace. A best approach might be to engage in meaningful dialogue and offer tools and strategies to help consider different lenses in understanding aesthetic engagement."
• "Quality is essential. In our case, because we are a school, the quality of education is more important than the quality of the artistic outputs. But we definitely need both — good education and good outputs — to be credible among the local communities."
• "What I love most about Arts is that it is able to communicate what people are afraid of or rather fear communicating. In Peacebuilding, you might find that there are certain words that peace builders would not be able to say to a certain group or community, then this is where Arts comes in and the message the peacebuilders intended to pass across reaches the target audience through Arts effectively."

Topic 7: Working with issues of power within our field

In this section, we asked participants to focus on the issues of power relations (especially regarding the Global South and North) in art and peacebuilding fields, looking at the way the affect their work. We also asked for strategies to address power imbalances. Some participant were concerned that art and peacebuilding approaches recreate or even increase existing power imbalances. Some therefore advocated for creating structures and organizations built upon trust and more equality among actors.

Key points:

• "The structure of a field-building entity, or the activities it undertakes may help build trust and trustworthiness amongst different players in our eco-system but not always — due for sure to the dynamics of power and unequal access to resources that threaten to reinforce rather than transform current inequalities."
• "I get anxious about the ways some projects seem to reinforce unequal power dynamics at the broad level (national level, etc), even while informed by seemingly deep trust-worthy connections at the interpersonal level. As two specific examples: I recently saw a very creative collaborative artistic project that aimed to reexamine multispecies colonialism in a particular location in South America but which ended up (I think inadvertently) reifying indigenous people as 'animal-like' and 'closer to nature' (thus reanimating, not critically examining, really problematic stereotypes)."
• "A global infrastructure for arts, cultural work and conflict transformation could be well poised to support peacebuilding in situations with destructive power and inequality. Coming from a peacebuilding background based in bi- and multi-lateral international development, there are a few crucial areas where such a network can be a huge asset for developing a more equitable ecosystem."
• "For us or at least for me, building relationships 'across institutional boundaries and the hierarchies and power dynamics often associated with them' is so difficult and hard. It means contacts, insight, the big brothers, projects/programs and money, power struggle, with me or against me, part of the team or outside the team, wars western countries and international CSOs... which is which, and it means so many other seen and unseen lines for me to figure out."

Session Summary

Today was the final full day of our learning exchange, and once more we've benefitted from a broad range of perspectives and experiences from around 80 participants over the course of the three days.

Today's discussion focused on the more concrete aspect of the creation of a global or regional arts, culture, and conflict transformation alliance, or consortium, or network. As a group, we considered the priorities, the form it would take, and the resources it would need. We also thought about the limits or risks that such a structure could bring with it.

All participants have raised very important issues, and in an effort to summarise today's discussion we have pulled together some of the key points raised to give you an idea of the conversations that are currently taking place. We apologise in advance if we could not incorporate everyone's insights.

Thanks again to all participants for your time and dedication to this consultation!

Names of those who made comments have been removed to protect participants' privacy.

Topic 9: Networks, Communities of Practice, Systems of Influence

Based on Meg Wheatley "emergence" theory, which highlights the benefits of connecting local actions to each other, we asked participants to consider how networks and communities of practice can be supportive. Participants explored ideas of "inclusion," of to what degree it was important to reach out to those who don't share our values, while at the same time highlighting the need to find what unites people as entry point for dialogue. Some participants were cautious about appearing to have all the answers, leading to a discussion on the extent to which and how any network should seek influence.

Key points:

• "Here are some challenging questions I am discussing with friends- that do not have easy answers. In the current dichotomous cultural climate in the North and West (and perhaps elsewhere) what happens to those who are not in these emerging networks, have no desire to be a part of them and are not like-minded? In Wheatley's model these 'others' could witness those who were once the peripheral opposition becoming the centralized leaders and feel the tables have turned and their voices have been taken away. Does this sound familiar? Our efforts for networking often 'preach to the choir' based on assumptions that we must be the righteous ones. I am currently struggling without much success to find connection and build community across this divide — with those I do not agree with. What is the unifying principle for creating such a network of community, where there is no 'us' and 'them', only 'us'?"
• "The Arts as a process for evaluating current social conditions and being utilized by everyday grassroots people to imagine how change could happened, are rooted in critical and emancipatory peace building models and theories. Such approaches are crucial in producing entire system-wide change and structural transformation. Imagining the future requires reflective collaborations and synergies. The Arts are perfect allies as humanistic responses to the messy social conflicts of our times."
• "[A]ny new network or umbrella that we should avoid the lure of becoming the mainstream, we should avoid the temptation to achieve true knowledge of 'how it should be done', and build into its founding principles that very idea that the path towards 'peace' is never linear, and there's no 'final destination'."
• "Can we think of the 'system of influence' stage as a constantly moving, fluid space that emerges and dissipates according to the needs, defining its boundaries accordingly? Otherwise, as you said, the transformation cycle once it becomes a 'system of influence', can become a new mainstream within the field (that would eventually undergo transformation again as the 'scattered clusters' or networks at the periphery would become new 'communities of practice'). However, if we conceptualise the 'system of influence' as a fleeting space where communities of practice consolidate on a needs basis, with changing actors at the centre, that would mitigate some of the concerns you raise."
• "I would like to see the infrastructure that IMPACT envisions influence the ways that peacebuilders and artists collaborate with one another; the quality and quantity of exchange/communication among people and organizations who choose to be part of/connect with this field; the standards of care and respect that artists and peacebuillders exercise when we enter, engage with, and exit indigenous communities; the ways that foundations, governments, and other funders appropriate resources for arts / culture / peacebuilding efforts... I think that exercising influence in those areas can be consistent with embracing many voices, disciplines and perspectives, being more attentive to engaging with critical questions than to offering up answers, and keeping boundaries porous."
• "The concept of emergence is fascinating. In fact the emergence can be a fasciniating process of discover of self and togetherness. We in South Asia have so much in common, especially the cultural heritage and shared history, that we are still pulled towards each other in spite of the efforts by the political and religious hardliner vested interest. When artists perform, they overcome or bypass the prejudice, propaganda, historical distortion."
• "I find I'm less stymied, though, when the impetus for the conversation does not begin with me, but from elements within the community. Success usually comes when we gather not around what divides us, but what unites us. That uniting factor might indeed be something painful. […] None of these begin with the deep underlying issues of race, inequity, desperation, anger, resentment, but as people across divides gather around the bridging shared story, the opportunity for real dialogue presents itself as more people, compelled by the shared story and the community project to tell it through art, become willing to stay in the room to have the hard conversation. This isn't set up to be manipulative, obliqueness as a tool to gather under false pretenses, though I see how it could become that. I can only say that the hard conversations always rise. And that's what keeps me in the room."

Topic 10: Priority tasks for a regional or global arts, culture and conflict transformation organization

The second thread asked participants to picture what would be the objectives of a regional or global organisation, and also its form (physical or virtual), its resources, funding and to what extent it could help them in their actual work/initiatives. We also requested that participants consider the possible risks of such a network. Participants proposed some key functions such an organization should have, such as offering protection, funding, or resources.

Key points:

• "A proposal for an imagined 'Secretary-General of an ACCT Alliance': take on the task of finding resources and create a fund for supporting field visits of people active in art & peacebuilding in projects of others. (I think, due to the string context dependency of our work, we'd learn most from exchanging on a very practical, field work level.)" — Dagmar Reichert
• "A key contribution of regional and global networks for artists/scholars/activists who work amidst violent conflict is the element of safety such alliances offer. We see this repeatedly in many parts of the world, especially where the 'authorities' — be that the state or other groups — are repressive."
• "Caution: the communication mechanism of the project. what goes 'out' and how? what is the agency? how is the 'curation' made? There is a long experience of international organisations choosing the most relatable (for who?!) for their outreach. How do you balance that?"
• "If an alliance is to be formed, I'm imagining that membership could include both individuals and organizations and even existing networks. And it should include a platform where people can link up with conversations or working groups (or projects?) in multiple different configurations, perhaps based on region, or art form, or shared interest in an ethical dilemma, or whatever."
• "(…) WHAT IF we found a way to celebrate a number of diverse projects, teams, artists, peacebuilders, (artist-peacebuilders!), and communities whose ways of listening, responding, and moving forward have demonstrated rigor and some positive peacebuilding impact. AND THEN, we construct a network, digital and otherwise, so that communities around this glorious troubled planet might interact with some of these diverse models. AND THEN, establish a significant pool of resources so that these communities, by their own choice, might have real, personal, in-person human contact with the people behind these models. (…) And then, with the benefit of documentation, some of these projects then become the models in a spiral of new round of listening, collaboration, learning, and Peace. Whew. Consciously employing the methods of science: lab, documentation, peer-review, back to the late, repeat. (…)"

Topic 11: Forms that such an organization might take: network(s), movement, membership organization, coalition, centers with regional hubs, etc.

In this section, we asked participants to think about the way of organising and configuring such a network, based on the three possibilities outlined by the members of the IMPACT Steering Committee: (1) a central organization with regional nodes, (2) a membership organization, and (3) multiple working groups focused on particular issues and opportunities. Participants shared examples of existing organisations to learn from and explored how such an organisation could be structured. Participants also discussed how to continue the conversations sparked by this learning exchange.

Key points:

• "While I understand the challenges with creating hubs, I did get excited when reading: 'The network would include: an online platform of communication between headquarters, regional hubs and country contact points; a key resources database;and meeting spaces for collaboration, both virtual gatherings (webinars, learning community platforms) and physical meetings such as conferences and workshops.' "
• "I've a few examples of cultural networks/movements from Australia that are working to initiate local/national conversation and change. They do so on a basis of small local meetings/gatherings that are locally facilitated, but contribute to larger national conversations. They are organisations not exactly in Conflict Transformation, but for those of you thinking or questioning systems of 'emergence' and connection, you may like to browse these sites? www.artsfront.com & www.thegroundswellproject.com."
• "Perhaps a global membership organization with some features of a centralized organization might be the most sustainable way to build such an infrastructure... bottom up, with strong local and regional input via hubs. Better to start a small, agile, and strategically focused group that can evolve organically as the network and its goals and aspirations become more ambitious."
• "An existing model, that might give some inspiration, because it tries to de-center from the resource providers and more privileged agents in the West: That of DOEN Stichting with its Arts Collaboratory."
• "I believe flexibility, adaptability, connectivity, accessibility and concrete practical relevance for actors operating directly in the field would be key for such a new global structure/coalition. From my experience of working with cultural community activists in the EU Neighborhood during the past 15 years organic advocacy networks that have the ability to 'morph' into whatever is tactically/strategically, politically or financially needed and possible have the best chances to become sustainable and remain relevant for a longer period of time. One example from Croatia is the so-called Clubture network: www.clubture.org."

This last section was an occasion for the participants to address some of the topics that they consider relevant but have not been considered on the other parts. This discussion focused mostly on participant's experience of the learning exchange.

Key points:

• "I understand it's good for getting a dynamic conversation — but it depends on the purpose. To gather data across the sector or to help facilitate a meaningful exchange? In which case I think having more than just typing comments (video link up conversations) and if typing then at least to have the ability to respond directly to a comment would make it an easier conversation."
• "Question/topic to be added: Communication and outreach, how we communicate the project to our communities (geographic, comm of practice, artistic, academic, and others). This is the pre-beginning of the project, but let's start discussing about the public face of IMPACT, and how we do our outreach. Making it accessible and welcoming, despite its complexity and breadth, will be a challenge. Perhaps a (pre)working group?"
• "Hi - thanks all for arranging this. It has been fascinating and challenging too. I was lucky I had a bit of time, though — I seem to remember somewhere the suggestion that we dedicate at least 20 minutes per day- but it required a lot more than that to get something out of it! I can imagine any other week I wouldn't have had time. Thank you immensely. I hope you manage to make sense of the whole discussion and that you'll be able to share any summary you might make."
• "Thanks for the opportunity and wonderful discussion! The only 'suggestion' I would like to say is that maybe it would be posible to have a 'search' button for key words or a parallel box that can have your own posts so you can continue the conversations or inputs you have gave and know what have been talked about it (Yesterday I posted something and I can't find it, probably I didn't post it properly! :( ) Since it's a 3-full days meeting, I connect and disconnect from the conversations... and sometimes is difficult to keep track. Still, It has been wonderful! Thank you!"