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The Peace Education Initiative 2017 project brought together six Greek and five Turkish Cypriot, educators, academics and other civil young actors concerned with education in two facilitated workshops for the purpose of addressing 'Challenges' facing the respective educational systems and explore 'Reforms' that if integrated into the existing educational systems could promote reconciliation. The workshops were implemented using the Structured Democratic Dialogue Methodology. The project was inspired and designed by Harry Anastasiou and Birol Yesilada and was implemented by Portland State University, in collaboration withFuture Worlds Center. The initiative was funded by the Jubitz Family Foundation and Rotary.
When and where
- First Event: 29 Sept. to 1 Oct., 2017
- Second Event: 7-8 Oct, 2017
Location: Home For Cooperation in the Buffer Zone, Cyprus
Vision and Objectives
- Create an online platform for the collection and exchange of views of young people regarding the concept of democracy and active citizenship
Target Group
The participants were:
| # | Name and Surname | Age | Gender | Occupation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ulus Irkad | 50+ | Male | Primary teacher (Phd student on Peace Education) |
| 2 | Sophia Arnaouti | 31-40 | Female | Global Education Officer |
| 3 | Okan Bullici | 18-30 | Male | Psychologist |
| 4 | Evie Grouta | 18-30 | Female | Freelance Educator |
| 5 | Yeliz Osman | 18-30 | Female | PhD candidate |
| 6 | Hazal Ozaktan | 18-30 | Female | Freelancer |
| 7 | Maria Loizou- Theodosiou | 50+ | Female | Teacher |
| 8 | Zehra Azizbeyli | 31-40 | Female | Lecturer |
| 9 | Katerina Antoniou | 18-30 | Female | Lecturer |
| 10 | Nasia Hadjigeorgiou | 18-30 | Female | University Lecturer (School of Law) |
| 11 | Pantelis Makris | 50+ | Male | Special Education Consultant |
Invited Speakers
- Eleni Tanou, Deputy District Governor, Rotary club of Nicosia-Aspelia
- Andreas Matsangos, President of Rotary Club Larnaca - Kition
- Marios Epaminondas, Officer for European and International Affairs at Ministry of Education and Culture, Founding member of the Association for Historical Dialogue and Research.
Facilitators
Results
The Results are documented in detail in the corresponding SDDP Report
Following two days of deliberations the participants identified the following four as the most influential obstacles:
- Challenge 36: Political instability regarding reconciliation
- Challenge 05: The involvement of motherlands
- Challenge 32: The impact of religion
- Challenge 34: Denial to interact with the other
The second workshop focused on exploring possible actions and/or reforms. As deep drivers with great potential in contributing towards effectively addressing the identified challenges, the following emerged:
- Proposal 06: Encouraging interaction between schools
- Proposal 16: Creating a network of teachers
- Proposal 24: Students’ participation in the program
- Proposal 11: Organising exchange programmes and visits
- Proposal 20: Implementing group working and organising common courses for this purpose
- Proposal 30: Partnerships between schools and the society in general
Following the completion of the two Co-Laboratories, the participants were encouraged to take initiatives to implement actions and a small grant program was announced to support them. The first two actions addressed actions #06 (Encouraging interaction between schools), #16 (Creating a network of teachers) and #11 (Organising exchange programmes and visits).